The Case of the Dead Arab Egged Driver and The Missing Buses

Today, for the first time, I took the bus since the new "company," actually an Egged subsidiary, began running our new bus lines. I actually had a fine experience. I missed a bus, so I went to the Pisgat Zeev Mall, walked around and bought a yogurt in the Super Sal. Then I rather joyously took the 461, which goes right to my street. I'm still having trouble with my Rav-Kav, which seems to be losing trips. It seems like I'm paying for all the tremping which should be free... I must go to their offices, but that's another story.

Just before the bus came, I heard some people complaining that the 468 hadn't come for hours. It's the only bus from Jerusalem to Neve Tzuf and a few other yishuvim in that area, west of Ofra, in the direction of the airport. When we got to Ofra, some girls clamoured on the bus to ask the driver what had happened to the 468. They had been waiting for close to three hours. There should have had been one or two buses during that time.

My husband's trip home also got messed up when it was announced that the 7:30pm wouldn't be in action. So, just like I had been joking, that the new system would encourage tremping, he went off to find a ride. I do that a lot, but it's not his cup of tea, as the saying goes. And he quickly got a ride from a friend after waiting a short time.

There seem to be too many canceled or "no show" buses.

Now, what does that have to do with the dead Arab bus driver?

Despite an autopsy report concluding no foul play had been involved in the death of a Palestinian bus driver, people continued on Monday to argue that the driver was actually murdered.
While Israeli authorities on Monday concluded that 32-year-old Youssef al-Ramouni had killed himself, a Palestinian medical expert reportedly argued that the death was "an organized murder" cause by "hanging and strangulation.......In Abu Dis, a Palestinian town on the outskirts of Jerusalem, shops closed after news of the driver's death and masked youngsters blocked roads with dumpsters. Dozens of youths threw stones at Israeli soldiers, who fired tear gas.
Jerusalem Police accused the Palestinian media and extremists of incitement Monday afternoon, shortly after the autopsy report concluded there was no criminal activity involved in the death of the Palestinian Egged bus driver.
The contradictory accusations resulted in a strike by Arab Egged workers, many of whom did not report for work Monday, and are expected not to show up on Tuesday. In response, the bus company issued a statement apologizing for the disruptions in service. (Jerusalem Post) 

Last week when I attended a meeting to hype up the advantages of the new bus service, they ignored one crucial fact. Many of the drivers are Arabs on Egged Taavura. This can be a security problem, because unlike my working with Arabs in Yafiz and all of the Arabs working in Rami Levy, at least there you have security. And I hope that Egged does a better security check than was done by the restaurant where the Arab terrorist who tried to murder Yehuda Glick had worked.

And even if you don't care about the Arab issue, allowing our buses to be cancelled so easily is a very serious problem. We're not talking about delays, we're talking about having no way to get to where you need to be except for tremping aka hitchingking.