Minister Smutrich explained that in the Corona routine public transport will encounter difficulties: "Do not travel if not needed" • "With 20 people on each bus, demand can not be met"

Minister of Transport Bezalel Smutrich explained Friday that public transport in Israel is experiencing difficulties in the Corona routine and that it will be difficult to return to the service provided earlier, following the Ministry of Health's guidelines. Pertaining to the distance and density between passengers.

Always on the move: Light rail in Corona days // Photo: Ami Shamir

On his Facebook page he wrote that "the Corona routine presents us with a complex and almost impossible challenge to manage. To maintain passenger health, the Ministry of Health has instructed us not to allow more than twenty passengers per bus. This is about a third of the capacity of a bus in the routine. Three buses need to be taken out instead of each bus we got out earlier. "

Smutrich added that he believed these guidelines would be long-lasting and therefore the service would hurt, and demand would not be met. "To give you service at the same level we gave before the crisis, we need thirty thousand buses and forty-five thousand drivers, which of course we have no ability to provide," he said. "Public transport demand is still relatively low, about 30 percent of what it was before the crisis. This is a huge challenge, "but it is expected to rise.

The ministry is now trying to adjust the resources and manpower according to existing demand lines. "Changing lines and routes, eliminating low-demand lines or lowering their frequency to clear buses and overload them. Some map changes are temporary, others will remain with us even after the crisis simply because the system will be more efficient even in routine."

Smutrich also added that they are trying to reach an agreement with the Treasury on the addition of buses from the travel companies, which are currently vacant because there is no tourism and travel. In addition, in the coming days, the lines will switch to a smart route method in advance in the applet instead of a regular route. Thus, the capacity will rise in relatively empty lines and buses will be taken to reinforce busy lines.  

More on:

Gradual return to routine: Public transport lines will be strengthened

Public transportation will return to work in the evening

The government approved a series of additional regulations

The Minister also called on citizens to adhere to the Ministry of Health's instructions, both inside the bus and waiting at docks and stations. "Distance, masks, multi-line charging in advance (you can't pay your driver cash or charge your multi-line), and more," emphasizing "public transportation may take longer in the near future, due to waiting for an increased bus or having to replace a bus in the middle The way is because of the changes we made on the map. Don't travel by public transport if you don't need it, that's my most painful instruction to you. "

With regard to budgets, the minister concluded that the reduction in bus capacity reduces one and a half shekels of passenger receipts, which of course automatically increases the subsidy budget. "And that's even before we talked about hundreds of millions for bus and mile enhancements and additions, tens of millions for driver and passenger separation, for compensating passengers who purchased multi-line or free yearly, and more," he said. "We are discussing all these issues with the Treasury and I hope that we can reach understandings," he concluded.

Recall that this week a budget was approved for the installation of protective partitions between the driver of the bus and the public. The partitions will be installed in the near future. On the other hand, private transport drivers employed by these companies continue to protest the lack of employment.