Israel Matzav

The worst public transportation system in the world....

I'm a bit behind this morning, because my three youngest children got on the bus to go to school and discovered (because they have no way of checking how many rides they have left until they get on the bus) that one of them did not have any rides left on his new electronic card. So rather than the older one paying for him (which is what they should have done), they got off the bus and called Abba to come down and give the kid with no rides left enough money to refill his card. Of course, Abba did not have exact change, and they are now late for school....

I'm not even going to get into the bus routes - which have been changed over the last few months in ways that make it nearly impossible to get out of your own neighborhood without changing buses at least once. For now, I'm just going to talk about the payment system, because it's designed to ensnare passengers and create system violations where none exist. In order to explain how, I'm going to show you a Charlie card, which is what I use in the Boston public transportation system when I am there, versus a Rav Kav, which is the card used in Jerusalem, and I am going to count the differences.

Here's Charlie:

And here's Rav:

They each have an electronic strip and they can each be used to pay for buses and trollies. The similarities end there.

Rav has a photo ID; Charlie does not. That means that officially each of your kids has to have his or her own Rav. Yes, my 7-year old has his own Rav, which, if he loses, is an incredible hassle to replace. It also means that each person is supposed to pay for themselves on the bus (yes, I know, I said the oldest one should have paid for the younger kid who had no rides left - financially it doesn't matter to the system as long as they are all under 18 so it's not stealing - because usually they would get away with it). Charlie allows you to pay for other people.

Charlie is non-exclusive. If you're visiting for a couple of days, you can buy a Charlie ticket (which doesn't have a discount on the fare) and use that (I have a card because I'm there often). You can even pay cash (exact change only). Rav is exclusive. I don't know what you do if you're visiting - we know someone who managed to buy some blank Rav's without photo ID's, but those aren't easy to find.

Charlie gives you a discount on fares; Rav does not.

You can fill your Charlie with a credit card at every downtown station, at the larger stations in the suburbs and at many stores. You can add as much or as little as you want. You fill your Rav by giving the bus driver cash - no exact change required (one of the many reasons it takes forever to get anywhere in this city - the next one follows). 11 rides for adults; 20 rides for kids, just like the old bus card used to be, and no, the fares are not even numbers.

You tap Charlie on an electronic reader and get onto the trolley or bus.

You put Rav inside an electronic reader and have to leave it in long enough for the driver to push a button and give you a receipt (I kid you not). You must keep the receipt because occasionally an inspector will get on the bus to make sure everyone has paid their fare (no such thing in Boston - it's not worth what it would cost to employ them) and because they used to be used as transfers. But now we're high tech in Israel. Instead of showing your receipt, you put your card into the reader on the second bus and pray it doesn't deduct another fare. The inspector is worse. He goes around with a reader, and if his reader doesn't show you paid your fare - even if you have a receipt(!) - you are fined NIS 180, which is more than 30 times the normal fare. So why keep your receipt? So you know how many rides you have left and so you can try to argue with the inspector....

NIS 180 is also more than most tickets for parking illegally in town. So if you can find a place to park your car, legal or not, most people are driving these days.

And that's just the payment part of the worst public transportation system in the world. Anyone still wondering why I bought another car in November even though gas is over $8 per gallon?

Labels: Boston, Egged bus company, Jerusalem

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:31 AM