The driver of line 378 of Metropolis is messing with the mobile phone while driving/taking pictures of surfers
Only on Thursday, Minister of Transportation Miri Regev launched the "Transportation Justice" reform he initiated, which grants a 50% discount on public transportation fares in the periphery.
But what good is lowering fares when her office has failed to provide a safe and reliable bus service from the surrounding area to the center?
Line 378 of the Metropolitan company has become a major lifeline for the residents of the Gaza Strip, who have returned to their homes for the first time since the Hamas attack, but are having difficulty reaching the workplaces of many of them in the center due to the shutdown of the direct trains from the Strip to the north.
Because of the section exposed to Hamas fire, the section between Sderot and Ashkelon is closed, and residents of the Otaf have to take a train in the opposite direction to Be'er Sheva and from there a train to the center.
Which is false and slower than the bus ride.
But the residents of Otef have serious complaints about the level of service on the line: widespread use of shuttle companies, with drivers who do not know the route, flagging at stations, fiddling with their cell phones while driving, and arriving in run-down buses.
This is after Metropolis makes extensive use of Bon Tour buses, which is owned by Generation Capital, which also owns Metropolis.
"Metropolitan transfers the only line from here to Tel Aviv to private companies and the drivers do whatever they want: they skip stops and don't stop for passengers, and worst of all, every day you have to look for the bus again because the color changes from company to company," says an Ofakim resident.
In a video obtained by Walla Car, the driver of line 378, on a trip made by Bon Tor, is seen repeatedly fiddling with his cell phone and watching movies while driving a full bus from Tel Aviv to the south.
"It's not an unusual Moshe," the passenger who took the video told us, "it's only a matter of time before passengers get killed because of it."
"My friends have already received thousands of shekels in small claims in compensation because the drivers of route 378 did not stop for them. Now when you appeal to them with a complaint they send a gift card as compensation. It is very nice, but we prefer a bus that is in good working order and on time at the station," says a resident of Sderot.
Another common complaint concerns the frequency of the line: some times there are two trips per hour, but at others only one.
A passenger who misses the line is doomed to a long delay in arriving at his destination, or is forced to take a bus earlier than necessary.
The Ministry of Transportation admits that the problem is familiar to it, but it is unable to solve it/Walla! system, photos of surfers
The Metropolin company stated: "Immediately upon receiving the request, we demanded from the contracting company, which employs the driver, to immediately remove him from work with Metropolin, whose passenger safety is a top priority. In order to provide the best service to the public traveling public, the company was asked to increase the volume of trips on the line, and therefore trips are made These are by a private transportation company."
The Ministry of Transportation stated: "The trip mentioned in your request was made through a subcontractor of Metropolin. The Ministry of Transportation's examination and in accordance with the contractual obligation of the operator, when a subcontractor is employed, he walks in the shoes of the public transportation operator who operates him, and as a result he is bound by all the duties of the operator from all the implications Therefore, with an emphasis on maintaining the level of service that is owed to the public who use public transportation.
The case that was brought before us was examined in front of the professional officials at the Metropolin company, from which it was reported that the driver's work was terminated immediately, and after an examination with the company's service and safety department, they were informed that during the past year their work was terminated of approximately 3 subcontractor drivers. Due to the seriousness of the case, it should be emphasized that the Ministry of Transportation has forwarded the matter to further inspection and monitoring by the Ministry's safety officers
. Among them - performing covert controls, distributing agreed compensations as part of an administrative enforcement procedure, running special controls, implementing a 'non-performance' parameter in operator scores, and the like."
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