Is the Rav Kav Smart Card infringing on Human Rights in Israel?

Is the Rav Kav Smart Card infringing on Human Rights in Israel?

The new Rav-Kav smart card now required to be used by public transport users in Israel may infringe the human rights of passengers, Haaretz is reporting.  Human rights are concerned that the Transport Ministry in Israel may be infringing the privacy of bus passengers in Israel by requiring passengers to provide personal details to receive the card including a photograph, name, age, address and identity card number.

When all the personal information is collated in the database together with the travel patterns of passengers, questions may be raised about the protection of the rights of passengers using the Rav Kav cards.  There are currently half a million Rav Kav cards in use in Israel.  Human Rights groups are therefore calling for guideline to be put in place to protect the information of public transport users.

Price of New Car and Public Transport has increased in Israel

The price of a new car in Israel has increased with the turn of the new year, Globes reports, as due to the weakening of the Israeli Shekel against world currencies, vehicle importers have had to increase the price of a car in order to maintain their profit margins.

The cost of a Mazda 3 or Ford Focus has increased by around 3000 Shekels.

The 1 January 2012 also saw the price of gasoline increase to 7.23 Shekels a litre, while bus and train prices increased by about 3%.

Tzipi Hotovely Member of Knesset sits at the front of a bus to protest Segregation of Women in Israel

Following the recent controversy in Israel regarding the Haredi Community's attempt to force women to sit at the back of buses in Israel, the female Member of Knesset, Tzipi Hotovely, protested these attempts.

The Likud Member of Knesset who is the Chairwoman of the Status of Women Committee, on Thursday morning sat at the front of a bus which the Haredi  Community are trying to enforce female segregation, according to the Jerusalem Post.

This followed a further attack against a female solider sitting on a bus on Wednesday.

Could Segregated buses make a return in Israel, Eldan to start leasing Better Place Electric Cars in Israel in 2012, Tel Aviv's Rental Bike Service is Succeeding

Could Segregated buses make a return in Israel?

Israel has this week seen a conflict re-emerge over the issue of female segregation on buses.  The sexist policy requiring women to sit at the back of buses on certain routes in Israel was banned earlier this year.

In order to ensure that this law was enforced, campaigns have been carried out to ensure that women can choose to sit where they like on the bus.  However, the Haredi Community have hit back demanding the right to operate private bus lines where segregation would be enforced.



Eldan to start leasing Better Place Electric Cars in Israel in 2012

Better Place have signed an agreement with Eldan, Israel's largest rental car company to provide hundreds of Renault Fluence electric cars for the car rental market in Israel.  Better Place will also install the car charging operators for Eldan to widen the electric car infrastructure across Israel.



Tel Aviv's Rental Bike Service is Succeeding


Seven months after the launch of the Tel Aviv Bike Rental Scheme, over 13000 people have purchased an annual subscription, with about 5500 bikes being rented every day from the 141 rental stations across Tel Aviv.

It was announced this week that daily and weekly subscriptions would now be offered for casual users of the service.

A daily rental of a bike would be 16 Shekels and a weekly rental would cost 60 Shekels.  It will be possible to pay at the rental station by credit card.

An annual subscription is 240 Shekels for residents of Tel Aviv and 280 Shekels for non-residents.  An annual subscription can only be purchased at the Tel Aviv Muncipality or on the Tel-O-Fun website.

It is also expected that 50 further rental stations will open in the Tel Aviv suburbs.

Rav Kav Smart Card have replaced bus tickets

As previously reported by israeltransport.blogspot.com Egged buses in Israel this week officially replaced the former multi travel 'Kartisiya' and monthly 'Hofshi Hodshi' paper tickets with their new Rav Kav Smart Cards.

As of this week all bus journeys will have to be paid for as a single ticket or using the Rav Kav Smart Card for either multiple journeys or season tickets. Although existing multi travel 'Kartisiya' tickets will be accepted until the end of 2011.

The Rav Kav Smart Card can be received for free at the following places:

- Jerusalem Central Bus Station (opposite platform 22) Sunday to Thursday 7am to 10pm and Friday 7am to 1pm.
- Jerusalem Rav Shefa Mall 2nd Floor , Sunday to Thursday 2pm to 9pm
- Givat Masua Egged Terminal, Sunday to Thursday 7am to 7pm and Friday 7pm to 1pm
-CityPass Light Rail Service Stations

Rav Kav Cards can also be received from:

South & Center
Tel Aviv CBS - Ticket Office (6th floor)	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Kfar Saba CBS - Ticket Office	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Holon, 4 Weizman St	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Holon,  Dar Gat Mall	Sun - Thu 08:00- 17:00 | Fri 08:00 - 13:00
Rishon le-Tsiyon, the old CBS - 63 Herzl St	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Rishon le-Tsiyon, the new CBS	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Rehovot CBS	Sun - Thu 08:00- 17:00 | Fri 08:00 - 13:00
Haifa & South
Haifa Merkazit Hof ha-Karmel	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Haifa Merkazit ha-Mifratz	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Haifa, 8 Hasan Shuqri Str	Sun - Thu 08:00- 17:00 | Fri 08:00 - 13:00
Haifa, The University of Haifa	Sun - Thu 08:00- 16:00
Karmi'el Terminal	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Kiryat Hayim - "Ha-Tzrif" Junction	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Kiryat Shmona CBS	Sun - Thu 08:00- 17:00 | Fri 08:00 - 13:00
Kiryat Shmona, Tel Khai College	Sun - Thu 08:00- 16:00

Once received multi-use tickets and season tickets can be charged to the Rav Kav Smart Card by bus drivers.

Tender opens to provide bus services in Modiin, Modiin Illit and Ramle

The Ministry of Transport in Israel has issued a new tender to operate public transport services in Modiin, Modiin Illit and Ramle.

Currently 340,000 passengers use the existing public transport services within and around Modiin each week and includes approximately 350 bus routes, which are currently provided by Superbus and Connex/Veolia.

Railway Workers in Israel again told to return to work, Jerusalem Central Bus Station Needs to Cut Pollution and Most Israeli's want public transport to work on Shabbat

Railway Workers in Israel again told to return to work

As the dispute between Israel Railways and the Railway Workers Union continued in Israel in the lead-up to Rosh Hashana, the Labour Court again ordered workers to return to work and to continue negotiations during October.


Jerusalem Central Bus Station Needs to Cut Pollution

The Environmental Ministry has ordered the Jerusalem Central Bus Station to install a barrier between the bus platform and the building's interior, after finding the air in the bus station is extremely polluted, according to the Jerusalem Post.  This follows tests which have shown the air in the station to be four or five times more polluted than the acceptable level.


The high level of pollution results from the lack of ventilation around the bus platforms in Jerusalem's Central Bus Station.



Most Israeli's want public transport to work on Shabbat

According to a new "religion and State index" poll, ahead of the Jewish New Year, carried out by the Smith Institute 63% of the Jewish population in Israel supports the operation of public transportation on Shabbat.

New Egged Bus Route between Petach Tikva and Herzliyah

Egged has this month launched a new bus route the 553 bus between Petach Tikva Central Station and Herzliya Arena Mall Station via the Geha Intersection and the Herzliya Industrial Zone.  The fare will be 10 shekels with the overall journey time expected to be 1 hour

Jerusalem Light Rail to start this Friday

Jerusalem's light rail is to start this coming Friday, 19 August CityPass have announced, subject to final approval by the Independent Safety Assessment

CityPass will deploy hundreds of workers during the first few weeks of the train’s operation in order to explain the automatic ticketing system and answer passenger questions.

CityPass would have liked a further delay of a month to update the traffic lights along the route to give preference to the tram.  At present only  20 of the 100 traffic lights along the train’s route have been updated.  This means that at peak travel times, the train will also suffer from traffic jams, and it could take up to three times as long for a train to complete the route from Pisgat Ze’ev to Mount Herzl as it would on the regular route when the traffic lights are updated. It is estimated it would take two or three months for the company to update the remainder of the traffic lights.

A major overhaul of the bus lines, which would change more than 50 routes, was planned to be rolled out simultaneously with the light rail but was pushed off until the traffic lights are updated and the train runs on a normal schedule.

When the traffic lights are updated, trains will depart every five minutes. For the first few months, trains will depart every 10 to 15 minutes.

Egged to improve bus services for blind people in Israel

Egged has started work on on acquiring and installing announcement systems on their bus to help visually impaired bus passengers in Israel.

This follows a recent indictment issued by the Commission for Equal Rights of Persons with Disabilities in court saying that Egged does not follow the law which requires transport companies to announce bus stops so that visually impaired passengers can easily travel on public transport.

Egged also said that their drivers are expected to announce each stop for their passengers.

Intercity bus prices to fall in Israel on Sunday, Minister announces no congestion charge for Tel Aviv

Intercity bus prices to fall in Israel on Sunday


Following the reductions in monthly bus ticket prices at the beginning of April the Minister of Transport in Israel, Israel Katz has announced that from this Sunday April 17, intercity bus ticket prices will be reduced by as much as  30%. 


The aim of the reduction - according to the Transport Ministry - is to encourage more people to use public transport especially at a time when gasoline prices are at their highest ever price, and had been brought forward to before Pesach to help families during the holiday.  


The new bus fares will be see a maximum intercity bus fare (except to and from Eilat) falling from 63 Shekels to 45 Shekels.  Routes include Kiryat Shmona or Tzvat to Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.

While bus fares currently at:


51-56 Shekels will fall to 42 Shekels.  Routes include Karmiel to Tel Aviv or the Golan Heights to Jerusalem.
42-48 Shekels will fall to 40 Shekels.  Routes include Tiberias, Haifa or Bet Shean to Jerusalem. 
37-42 Shekels will fall to 36 Shekels.  Routes include Dimona or Afula to Jerusalem.  




Minister announces no congestion charge for Tel Aviv


The Minister of Transport in Israel, Israel Katz has announced that he has no intention of introducing a new congestion charge for the amount of distance motorists drive in Tel Aviv.

Monthly Bus Tickets reduced by 10% from April

The Transport Minister of Israel, Israel Katz has announced that all monthly 'hodshi-hofshi' bus tickets will be reduced by 10%, in order to encourage greater use of public transport.

In Jerusalem the monthly bus tickets will cost 227 Shekels, 252 Shekels in Haifa.  In Tel Aviv the monthly Egged ticket will cost 200 Shekels and the monthly Dan ticket will cost 324 Shekels.

The prices for monthly bus tickets in other cities will be:

Ber Sheva - 144 Shekels

Bet Shemesh - 113 Shekels

Modiin - Prices can be found on the Connex website

Nazareth - 99 Shekels

The Sharon - 159 Shekels

The price of inter-city monthly tickets will be announced in the next few days following agreements with the different bus operators.  The Israel Transport Ministry is also trying to reach agreement with the different bus operators throughout Israel to install an 'interoperable smart card reader' on all buses.  

Details of Train Suspensions between 4 April and 8 April

Israel Railways have announced suspensions to train services during the week from Monday 4 April - Friday 8 April on train lines in southern Israel between Tel Aviv and the following destinations; Ber Sheva, Dimona, Rishon Lezion, Ashkelon, and Jerusalem.  


These suspensions will allow for maintenance to the train lines along these routes.  


The following stations will not have any train services during the week of 4 April to 8 April.

Kfar Chabad Lod - Ganey Aviv Lod Rishon Lezion Beer Yaakov Rehovot Yavne Ashdod Ashkelon Beit Shemesh Jerusalem Biblical Zoo Jerusalem Malha Kiryat Gat Blade - Rahat Be'er Sheva North University Be'er Sheva Center Dimona During this period bus services will be upgraded between Tel Aviv and Ber Sheva, Ashkelon and Ashdod.

Egged Bus Fares Reduced

Egged has announced that it has reduced bus prices on the following routes

Jerusalem


Route No. 450, 448, 437, 449, 446, 451, 438, 494, 492Jerusalem/Har’el Branching/Shoresh Branching – Beit Khelkiya/Yesodot Branching: NIS 17. 2 (code 8), instead of NIS 19.0 (code 9)
Route 437 & 438Ta’uz Junction – Shimshon Junction: NIS 5.3 (code 1), instead of 8.8 (code 3)



South

Route No. 75ARishon le-Tsiyon Ha-Zahav Mall – Ayalon Mall: NIS 13.5 (code 6), instead of NIS 15.4 (code 7)
Rishon le-Tsiyon Ha-Zahav Mall – Kikar Ilit Ramat Gan: NIS 13.5 (code 6), instead of NIS 15.4 (code 7)
Kholon – Ramat Gan Kikar Ilit: NIS 9.8 (code 4), instead of 11.3 (code 5)
Route No.38 & 434Rekhovot – Kibbutz Khulda Branching: NIS 11.3 (code 5), instead of NIS 15.4 (code 7)
Rekhovot CBS – Khulda Junction: NIS 15.4 (code 7), instead of NIS 19.0 (code 9)
Bilu Junction - Kibbutz Khulda Branching: NIS 9.8 (code 4), instead of NIS 11.3 (code 5)
Bilu Junction – Khulda Junction: NIS 15.4 (code 7), instead of NIS 19.0 (code 9)
Gan Shlomo Junction - Kibbutz Khulda Branching: NIS 8.8 (code 3), instead of NIS 9.8 (code 4)
Kiryat Ekron - Kibbutz Khulda Branching: NIS 8.8 (code 3), instead of NIS 11.3 (code 5)
Mazkeret Batya - Kibbutz Khulda Branching: NIS 8.8 (code 3), instead of NIS 9.8 (code 4)
Route No.012 Rishon le-Tsiyon – PalmakhimRishon le-Tsiyon – Beit Khanan: NIS 6.4 (code 2), instead of NIS 9.8 (code 4)
Ein ha-Kore – Beit Khanan: NIS 6.4 (code 2), instead of NIS 8.8 (code 3)
Route No. 319Rishon le-Tsiyon – Bnei Brak: NIS 13.5 (code 6), instead of NIS 15.4 (code 7)
Route No. 318Bar Ilan Junction – Rekhovot: NIS 13.5 (code 6), instead of NIS 15.4 (code 7)
Rishon le-Tsiyon – Ramat Gan, Ayallon Mall: NIS 13.5 (code 6), instead of NIS 15.4 (code 7)
Ganot Branching - Ramat Gan, Ayallon Mall: NIS 13.5 (code 6), instead of NIS 15.4 (code 7)
Route No.166 & 164Rekhovot – Bar Ilan Junction/Aluf Sadeh Branching/Messubim Junction: NIS 13.5 (code 6), instead of NIS 15.4 (code 7)
cashiers  


North

Route No.222 & 202Pardes Khana, Khadera – Ma’ayan Tsvi Branching/Zikhron Police: NIS 13.5 (code 6), instead of NIS 15.4 (code 7)
Route No.784Haifa – Or Akiva Interchange: NIS 20.0 (code 10), instead of NIS 23.0 (code 11)
Route No. 432 & 833Ashdot Ya’akov – Poriya Hospital:  NIS 9.8 (code 4), instead of NIS 11.3 (code 5)
Tsemakh Junction – Poriya Hospital: NIS 8.8 (code 3), instead of NIS 11.3 (code 5)

Traffic Changes in Modiin during March

There will be various changes to traffic routes in Modiin during March on Emek Zvulun, full details can be found at Modiininfo.  Bus routes operated by Veolia will also be affected by the traffic changes and will be diverted to different roads.