Channel 12 News has reported today that Minister of Transportation has been working to get Uber operating in Israel. She gave the green light with official permits 3 months ago. Uber service is planned to be allowed to start operations in Israel in the first quarter of 2026.

According to Kikar, Rav Yitzchak Zilbershtein, rav of Ramat Elchonon neighbrohood of Bnei Braq, was asked an old question that was famously discussed by Rav Moshe Feinstein.

Today's uproar is about an incident on a bus in Hod Hasharon in which a woman started telling off a Haredi passenger for his appearance and for being on that bus in that neighborhood. The Haredi fellow responded saying he serves in the army and he has a right to be on the bus and to dress however he wants. It turned into an argument with tones raised. After the video of the incident was made public it obviously went viral, with many defending the Haredi fellow and scoffing at the woman because this fellow actually served and continues to do reserve duty and actually served in a very significant combat role.

The news is reporting that UTJ has demanded from Netanyahu as part of the coalition negotiations that a law will be passed that will allow gender-segregated events in Haredi areas (I dont know the exact wording). The justification is that there are many cultural events that Haredi women will not attend if they are mixed (ie the women will stay home from the concert, or whatever, while the men go to what will essentially be a mens only event). 

Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli announced today that she is going to put together a team of inspectors to secretly check bus line sin Jerusalem, Bnie Braq and Bet Shemesh to see that women are not being discriminated against and forced to the back of the bus.

I just wrote about the reforms in the rates of public transportation a few hours ago. It sounded good. It sounded like this would really promote the use of public transportation by significantly lowering the prices for most people. 

Minister of Transportation Meirav Michaeli today introduced a new reform for public transportation. When it goes into effect (some time this summer), anyone 75 years old and up will travel for free. Senior citizens above the age of 62 will be able to a country-wide monthly pass for 112.5nis. 

Minister [of Transportation Merav] Michaeli wants to implement public transportation on Shabbos. I plead with her to start first with public transportation during the week.

MK Uri Maklev (UTJ) has announced that with the increase in prices, due to cancellation of public transportation discounts in certain areas including some Haredi areas, he is going to work on establishing a private bus system for the Haredi community.

I dread having to go to Modiin Ilit Thankfully it is only a rare occasion that I need to go there.

Yesterday the CoronaVirus Czar, Nachman Ash, said that while they decided not to put limitations on the numbers of people allowed to go to Meron and Kever Rashbi for Lag B'Omer, each person should take responsibility for himself and keep in mind that infected people (who have not been tested) might be there walking around - each person should consider that and decide for himself to go or not to go, and how to behave while there.

As is generally done for election day, the Electoral Board in conjunction with the Ministry of Transportation has arranged free public transportation around the country on buses and trains to enable people to travel to their official polling station to vote, even if located far away.

This is such a weird government. The left hand ignores what the right hand says and the right hand ignores what the left hand says.

Just last week the Corona Cabinet decided on new regulations, including that swimming pools and gyms must shut down. The head of the Coronavirus Knesset Committee, Mk Yofat Shasha Biton, along with some others, wants to overturn the decision and allow pools and gyms to remain open. They say the Health Ministry never proved or showed any numbers that consider the gyms and pools to be a place of common transmission of the virus. This is now a fight within the Likud and they are trying to pressure her to not overturn and reverse the decision.

Another decision by the Corona Cabinet was that buses will stop operating at 10pm every night. Miri Regev, Minister of Transportation, has now announced that she is instructing the bus systems to continue operating as normal, past 10pm, until the regular closing times, starting tonight.

And these are all Likudniks ignoring each others decisions. Yuli Edelstein, Minister of Health, is responsible for the decisions on the new regulations, and is a senior Likudnik. Miri Regev, ignoring Edelstein, is a senior Likudnik. Shasha Biton, ignoring Edelstein, is a Likudnik.

This government is chaos.

And if the government and its representatives refuse to follow the guidelines and regulations that they themselves set, they expect citizens to be more faithful to the rules they don't even like and only begrudgingly accept in the first place?

After MK Tamar Zandberg's (Meretz) law proposal for operating public transporation on Shabbos was voted down, she proposed a new law.

According to Zandberg's proposal, government issued cars would not be allowed to be used on Shabbos. Meaning, ministers and anyone else issued a government car would nopt be allowed to drive that car on Shabbos. if they have a personal privately owned car, they could drive that, but not the one issued from the government.

Zandberg explained that the Ministers should show responsibility and set themselves as a personal example to the public and let their government issued cars sit idle on Shabbos. These cars are financed by the public, and if the public can't have public transportation,  on their rest day and on holidays, the ministers should not have this type of public transportation either. This would lessen the inequality, she says.

Zandberg adds that the law would include a clause that the law itself would expire if public transportation would ever be allowed on Shabbos.
source: Haredim10

I dont know that a few dozen cars taken off the road is significant enough to lessen the inequality, but the other points are fair. Not only are those a form of public transportation, and if they are voting against it for the general public they themselves shouldn't benefit from it when they dont allow others to, but in general ministers are encouraged to not desecrate Shabbos publicly. Every time it happens a big deal is made and the minister issues an apology or explanation.... just dont let them use the car on Shabbos for private business. Obviously if there is a crisis with an urgent need requiring governmental intervention it would eb allowed, but not for general use.

Public transportation on Shabbos is a tragedy specifically for those who do not keep Shabbos. What is left from the Shabbos atmosphere for a Jew like that? The quiet outside, the rest. Those who want to operate buses and malls on Shabbos are turning their workers into slaves who will not merit the gift of Shabbos... the wealthy and workers in the public sector who do not work on Shabbos go out on tiyulim and shopping and thereby steal the right to rest on Shabbos from the weaker sector of employed workers who have to work on Shabbos like slaves. The Torah says "so that your slaves and maidservants will rest like you"

  -- MK Yisrael Eichler (UTJ), during the big public transportation on Shabbos debate in Knesset today.

Funnily enough, MK Suva (Yisrael beyteynu) proposed during the debate that there should even be public transpiration on Shabbos to the Kotel.

The Health Ministry in conjunction with the Transportation Ministry has announced new guidelines. I can't keep track of all the changes being announced with requirements for quarantines and people flying in from various countries, as every day things change in a matter of hours with new guidelines posted, but this one is significant and important and easy to follow.

They announced this morning that public transportation will start to be limited in service. For now they are going to prevent crowding on the bus lines.

Intercity buses will allow no standing at all by passengers. The bus will fill up its seats and allow nobody else on. As well, the row of seats behind the driver will have to remain empty.

Inner city buses will allow standing passengers, but only from the second row of seats and inward. The first row of seats will remain empty and nobody can stand in the are aof the driver or adjacent to the first row of seats.

Windows will be kept open as much as possible to allow ventilation. Bus drivers will be given hand sanitizer to keep his hands clean from the area and equipment by him. Any driver not feeling well will have to report it and will only be allowed back to work after medical testing. Bus schedules will continue as normal, for now.

I did not see anything about changes regarding the use of trains or the Light Rail in Jerusalem.

This is going to create chaos for a lot of people who rely on public transportation. With the same amount of buses but less passengers per bus, a lot of people will not be able to get to where they need to go. People already complain buses are too overcrowded at peak times, and now they will let fewer people on. We are going to have to change our lifestyles, hopefully only temporarily. Go less, travel less. Not just because of the inconvenience being created, but also to prevent spreading of the virus as much as possible.

The other day the Ministry of Transportation announced changes to some of the bus routes in Bet Shemesh, including changes to the very popular bus #419. This bus serviced mostly the residents of RBS C (Gimmel), but it also serviced the residents of RBS A by exiting the city via the outskirts of RBS A with a few stops on the peripheral road. Along with many residents who live near that part of the route, many residents form all over RBS A would go to bus stops along this route because it was a much more efficient mode of transportation into Jerusalem, as it did make its way winding throughout the city before leaving. A resident of RBS A would save a minimum of 30 minutes by using the 419 over other lines, and often much longer especially during rush hour traffic.

The announcement raised an outcry on social media. Residents of RBS A were upset because a great bus route was being taken away from them. Using the other bus lines will increase transportation time by 30-45 minutes in each direction. Another problem is that the residents of the Ramat Shilo neighborhood within RBS A would now have another bus route taken away from them, with almost none left passing by their part of the neighborhood.

A better solution was requested, rather than a solution that helps one area by taking away from another. The real problem is that with no real government for the past year, there are no new budgets for adding lines, and no new tenders being published. Until elections will bring about a definitive government, all they can really do is put some band-aids on the bad situation.

Deputy Mayor of Bet Shemesh Rena Hollander took notice and took it upon herself to try to find a solution, temporary as it may be. She expressed the urgency of the matter to Minister of Transportation Betzalel Smotritch (it helps that they are both members of the same party and have an interest in helping each other to help the public), and today they announced a temporary resolution.

According to a notice put out by Minister Smotritch, posted by Rena Hollander on Facebook, he was made to understand the gravity of the situation by Rena Hollander and Yisrael Mendelson and Nisim Bariach, he has decided that for now half the buses on the 419 route will remain in operation according to the original route, and half will operate along the new route. As well, at some point int he next week, half oof the buses on the 417 line will continue along its original route and half will collect passengers in RBS A and then leave to Jerusalem without winding its way throughout the city.

Minister Smotritch expressed his hope that the legal situation will soon come to an end and they will be able to publish the tender for renewing the public transportation of Bet Shemesh. This will increase the lines by nearly 50%, and will be a resolution for the needs of all the neighborhoods and communities and the continued development of the city.

kol hakavod for this temporary solution!

The bus situation in Bet Shemesh is pretty lousy, and the Iryah has been fighting with the government to improve it as much as possible.

Bet Shemesh is a growing city, a very-fast growing city, with new neighborhoods being built and populated like nowhere else in Israel (though the problem is similarly prevalent in many new areas and not just Bet Shemesh or parts of Bet Shemesh.

As soon as new neighborhoods become populated, they need public transportation. The existing amount of public transportation serving existing neighborhoods was already barely adequate, and adding new neighborhoods whose residents will rely largely on the existing lines, with slight changes to the routes to extend them into the new neighborhoods, make the bus lines intolerable for everyone. The bus route extended to the new neighborhoods becomes a longer route that nobody likes, the bus fills up sooner and by the time it reaches the later stops it might not have space to let more people on, and everything becomes uncomfortable. In the meantime, no new lines are added, or few new lines are added, and they continue to extend existing lines.

For now, they built a bus depot between some of the new neighborhoods, to lessen the bus traffic on the roads, and to make it more viable to send some of the lines through the new neighborhoods. As a result of the new depot, many of the bus routes have had to be somewhat altered. For example, my house is relatively close to what used to be the first bus stop in RBS A, and the last stop as well, for most RBS routes. Now that they built the depot, most of the routes have been moved to the depot and the bus lines no longer use the bus stops near my house. Along the way, a few other stops have suffered the same fate. Some do, but many do not. If this is better for the greater good, for more people, so be it, even though it inconveniences some people. The problem above, of longer and fuller routes, is the bigger issue.

I do not know what the solution is - maybe the city is just too big by now for every neighborhood to have its own set of buses, each with local lines and lines going to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and a variety of other cities. As well, having so many more buses on the roads just continues to make traffic int he city worse, as each new set of bus lines servicing the different neighborhoods clogs up the roads. Maybe it is time for a Central Bus Station for inter-city travel, with buses from the neighborhoods going to the CBA and then from there out to the different cities. It makes it less convenient for many, as everyone wants the bus to stop right next to his own house, but the current situation has gotten really bad.

In the meantime, the best bus from RBS to Jerusalem is now being changed. The 419 line ran from RBS C (aka Gimmel), up Tzeelim into RBS A, up Kishon and out of the neighborhood to Jerusalem. it avoided most of the city and even in RBS only ran on the peripheral street. It was a very popular bus because its route was much quicker than many of the others. Now the route of the 419 is being changed to include one of the new neighborhoods, and it is also affecting how it leaves the city. Instead of coming up Tzeelim and Kishon, it will now come from the bridge of RBS C and go up Hayarqon, cutting out the first few stops in RBS A (and it only had several to begin with!), and leaving just the last two before heading out to Jerusalem.

This is a big change that will affect a lot of people, so I am posting it here, so everyone can plan their trips accordingly and go to the right bus stop (and get off at the right bus stop on the way back)..:

From Shemesh Online:

Sam Waterson is quoted as having said "If you are not moving forward, you are falling back". Mikhail Gorbachev is quoted as having said something very similar, "If you are not moving forward you are moving backward".

The point of both is that people always need to be look to progress, how to improve, how to move forward. If you take it easy and rest on your laurels, you are falling behind. You are falling behind all the other people who are moving forward and you are falling behind yourself and your own advancement.

The rav kav system for public transportation finally seems to be running pretty smoothly, but that only means it is time for the next great advancement in transportation technology. Within a few months the next greatest thing since sliced bread will be released to the public, and it will basically put the rav kav system to rest.

The new apps soon to be released will allow passengers on public transportation in Israel to pay using the phone directly, with no rav kav or anything else. According to JPost,

public transportation users will need to open up the app after getting on a bus or intercity train, choose which form of public transport they’re on and then scan a QR code that will be placed on every bus and train that will let the app know which line they’re on, according to Calcalist. The user will then need to indicate how long they’re planning on traveling on the line in order to be charged the correct fee. The app will then provide a payment confirmation, which users can show to inspectors if they’re asked to prove that they paid.

Another benefit of the new system will be that at the end of the month it will analyze the trips the passenger normally takes and recommend the cheapest travel package it thinks is appropriate, whether it be some combination of daily or monthly packages, or accrued money, or bundles of rides...

Interestingly, because many Haredim (and some others) do not use smartphones, a solution for them is also being developed so they can use, and benefit from, the new system. According to the Bizness website, an official within the Ministry of Transportation has said, unofficially for now, that a special bracelet is in development that will work with the new devices on the bus for paying for rides. Other possible "smart" solutions are also being looked into that would not be smartphone-dependent.

I find it cute that they think that Haredi men are going to wear this special bracelet so they can pay on the bus. Obviously it can be kept in a pocket or in a backpack (or gal paz bag), but then why make it into a bracelet rather than just a small coin shape or a disc (similar to a dog tag disc) or something else that can go into the wallet or pocket?

I hope they will make it easy for people to transfer the balance of money people have on their rav kavs onto the new system, be it phone or bracelet or whatnot...

A number of cities around Israel, including Bet Shemesh, went to the Supreme Court today with a lawsuit regarding the poor bus services provided in these cities, saying the people are being held hostage by the shortage of buses and the poor service provided. The petition to the court was accompanied by the mayor, Dr Aliza Bloch, and by support and assistants of MKs.

I know how bad the service is. Buses that don't come on time. buses that just don't come at all. Lousy schedules. Neighborhoods that only have buses that make extremely circuitous routes through the city, making a potentially short trip take a very long time. Overfilled buses, especially with school children. And more.

And the funny thing is that in Bet Shemesh the bus system is so much better than it used to be. And it is still lousy. I remember the days when the only local bus was pretty much the #14 and that took ages to wind its way through every single neighborhood of the city. Today there are so many more bus lines and so many more buses running on each line, and it still is not even close to adequate in supplying the needs of the city residents.

Now I am really not sure what the court is going to do, or is expected to do. Are they going to order the State to supply more buses? What is the role of the court in such an issue?

the bus companies cannot make any changes to their schedules, add or subtract buses or bus lines, without the approval of the Transportation Ministry. These are coalition MKs supporting the petition, so I am not sure why they have just not pushed the Ministry of Transportation, held by them for ten years now, to increase the number of buses and bus lines or do whatever is necessary to solve the problems in these various cities. They are petitioning the courts against themselves? They want the courts to force the coalition they sit in to improve the situation - why not just do it without the courts? I am not really sure how this works and what they are doing and what they expect to happen here.