Residents of various Jerusalem neighborhoods are feeling increasingly frustrated over the Transportation Ministry's failure to meet its pledge to make immediate changes in the city's public transportation arrangements, which have left many chareidi passengers — who ride buses more than any other sector — by the wayside.
The new public transportation system the Ministry has been trying to impose on Jerusalem residents includes the reduction and cancellation of vital routes and mehadrin lines.
At an emergency meeting held by Degel HaTorah's Public Service Center, various problems were raised, all stemming from the Transportation Ministry's failure to coordinate with the chareidi public in advance and to earnestly evaluate its needs by consulting with authorized neighborhood representatives. In response to these claims, the Ministry told Yated Ne'eman that it is engaged in a learning process and will carry out changes accordingly.
Though the Ministry eventually did consult with neighborhood representatives — after the new arrangements had already been implemented — none of the changes it promised to make have been carried out in practice, with the exception of restoring Line 2 to its original route in Har Nof.
