Modi'in Illit residents will soon receive additional buses
and bus lines and the Transportation Ministry will provide
NIS 100,000 ($22,000) to fund the installation of new bus
stops, according to the Knesset Committee for Public
Inquiries, which recently discussed the issue of public
transportation in Modi'in Illit. The Transportation Ministry
and Local Council have each pledged NIS 100,000 to cover the
construction of a new bus repair facility inside Modi'in
Illit. This funding was promised to Council Head Rabbi Yaakov
Gutterman during a visit with the Transportation Ministry's
head of infrastructure three months ago.
During the committee meeting, MK Rabbi Yisroel Eichler, who
chairs the committee, said it had received many complaints
about Superbus from Modi'in Illit residents, despite numerous
efforts by residents and the Local Council to bring problems
to the company's attention. "This is a lack of respect and
abuse of Modi'in Illit residents, who are totally dependent
on public transportation," he said.
MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni said he has received complaints about
the outdated buses operating on the intercity lines and which
do not meet environmental standards. He asked Transportation
Ministry officials to act to have these buses replaced. Rabbi
Gafni spoke about the many complaints he receives every day
regarding the state of public transportation in Modi'in
Illit, and said that so far all attempts to solve the
problems and improve public transportation for the sake of
local residents, the vast majority of whom use public
transportation and do not own cars, have produced no
results.
Modi'in Illit residents said Superbus began operating in the
town about two years ago after winning a tender. During the
initial period there were many problems with the bus service,
but the public granted them a grace period. Although the
company showed demonstrable improvement, recently bus service
went into decline and attempts to alert the company to
various problems were not addressed satisfactorily. According
to local residents the problems include disrespectful
behavior by the drivers, the buses' inadequate state of
repair and cleanliness, and a lack of bus tickets, change and
hole punchers. On the local lines, they claim, the buses are
old and unsafe, and arrive late or do not arrive at all. The
lines to outside destinations also come late or not at all,
contracted drivers are not properly briefed and the lines
before and after Shabbos are overcrowded. Some residents even
report being fired for coming to work late due to the
unreliable bus service.
Adi Balilius, managing director and owner of Superbus, said
he invested NIS 100 million ($45 million) in the tender for
public transportation in Modi'in Illit and has no interest in
losing his investment. He maintains the company significantly
increased the number of lines, in principle because of the
increase in the number of residents. He says that every day
Superbus transports 6,600 passengers to and from other cities
on 240 runs, along with another 140 runs per day on five
lines inside the city.
Balilius says now the company's general policy is to add more
and more buses, but the main problem is the passenger load
before and after Shabbos. He says the town's roads and
infrastructure make transportation more difficult, saying the
road bumps are substandard and ruin the buses. He also asked
Transportation Ministry officials to allow him to add more
lines in other cities in order to make it worthwhile to boost
the number of buses in Modi'in Illit during peak hours. He
also asked for authorization to purchase used buses from
Egged.
Gidon Hacohen, who holds Modi'in Illit's transportation
portfolio and ranks second on the Local Council, pledged to
the committee that within one month of receiving
Transportation Ministry funding earmarked for the removal of
the speed bumps he would have them replaced.
Nachum Gabai, traffic supervisor for the Judea and Samaria
district, admitted the tender prepared for Modi'in Illit did
not take the large population growth (the number of residents
has quintupled in seven years) into consideration.
