A violent passenger attacks the female visitor on the Egged/Utaz bus according to section 27a
No one likes to pay on the bus, which will lead to a special discussion this morning in the Knesset's Public Inquiries Committee on passenger complaints against the ticket inspectors.
According to estimates from sources in the field, about 20% of passengers do not pay for the trips, which causes them to turn the rest of the passengers into suckers, and harms the state's control over the trips and the identification of passengers' loads and needs.
On paper, the buses look less crowded, and there is no justification for adding more trips, and there is no control over the boarding and disembarking points of the passengers, which can teach the public transportation planners about demands that can be met with additional lines, or changing the routes of the existing lines.
Revenues from app and Barv Ko payments make up about 30% of the public transportation budget.
More money enables the operation of more lines and with a higher frequency, than if they would operate only with the funding that the government decided to grant to the field.
The money that passengers pay for charging Rav Ko and payments in apps is transferred directly to the Ministry of Transportation, which pays the public transportation companies according to the mileage they perform.
The inspectors that the companies are obliged to employ and the audits that are measured by their scope, are designed to ensure this income for the state.
Bus inspectors during the corona epidemic / Reuven Castro
For many years, the Ministry of Transportation has been promising a law that will increase the powers of bus inspectors, to ensure that they can give reports to passengers who have not paid for the trip.
Meanwhile, the office does the opposite.
An updated procedure regarding the powers of the inspectors that was distributed to the public transportation companies and will come into effect this April shows a significant impairment of their powers.
For example, the Ministry of Transportation limits the number of inspectors who can work together as a team on the same bus.
Today, some companies operate 4-5 inspectors together, so that they can back each other up in case they are attacked, which is happening more and more, and to enable a faster inspection of the passengers, and to prevent those who have not paid from escaping through the doors at the nearest station.
However, the new procedure states that the number of inspectors will be "as many doors as the bus", while most buses have 2-3 doors.
In the case of a passenger who refuses to identify himself in front of an inspector, he may invite a police officer, to whom he must identify himself.
However, this requires waiting for the bus to arrive and delaying the rest of the passengers.
However, the new procedure prohibits an inspector from holding up a bus, which practically eliminates the ability to wait for a police officer.
Moreover: the procedure states that from now on in order to give a report to a boy who has not paid, the inspector will have to ask him for his parents' phone number, and report the report to them.
The procedure applies to 12- to 18-year-olds. There is really no requirement for 12-year-old children to pay for the trip.
An official in the field of public transportation told Walla Car: "The only thing these changes will do is a decrease of millions in the state's revenue from the increase in non-payment for travel. On the one hand, the companies are required to carry out enforcement and they are fined if they do not do so, on the other hand, the powers of the inspectors to carry out the work are reduced theirs. The public will understand the message."
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The Ministry of Transportation responded: "The Ministry of Transportation is doing everything in its power to, on the one hand, inspect and supervise the work of the inspectors being carried out in the field with the aim of allowing the public who use public transportation a high and appropriate level of service and reaching the Hafzam district safely and efficiently, and on the other hand, an issue is working to expand the powers of the inspectors in the legal aspect of amending the law in cooperation With the Ministry of Justice.
"Within this framework, the Ministry of Transportation and Road Safety is currently promoting an updated inspection procedure that will come into effect in April 2024, in order to provide a reasonable time for its implementation on all levels, including technological developments on the part of public transportation operators.
"The purpose of the procedure is to respond to problematic issues that arose as a result of complaints received from public inquiries and to regulate sensitive issues, including inspectors who go up in groups and perform the inspection work on buses and create a threatening atmosphere for the traveling public, inspectors who delay the travel times of the service lines, inspectors who prosecute and deal with passengers who are not Collaborate with them and this amounts to verbal and/or physical violence, giving an increased rate to boys up to the age of 18 without notifying their parents so that they are aware of the payment requirement upon receipt of a letter before taking legal proceedings for non-payment of the report."
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