The closure is tightening tonight, but forget about compensation for the “monthly free” you bought

Tonight at 00:00 Israel will enter another closure in which non-essential jobs will be closed – but public transport passengers will not be compensated for the travel arrangements they have purchased.

After the first closure, in which public transportation was significantly reduced, the train was completely closed and so were the non-essential jobs, the Ministry of Transportation announced compensation for those who purchased travel arrangements that sometimes amount to hundreds of shekels. For example, a free monthly in Gush Dan costs NIS 213, a free arrangement for the Hadera and Haifa area climbs to NIS 423 and for those who live in Be’er Sheva and work in Tel Aviv – the cost is no less than NIS 624.

However, during the current closure, as in the second closure, passengers will not be entitled to compensation, so those who purchased an arrangement only a week ago relying on initial closure guidelines that left many jobs open – were left with an irrelevant arrangement following the closure and closure of jobs.

At the beginning of the closure, Omri Henderson-Mayo purchased a monthly free arrangement for NIS 450 for himself and his partner. Both work in high-tech and their offices have operated since the closure restrictions last Sunday, and will close starting tomorrow. “This is the third time this has happened,” Omri said. “In the first closure we still got a refund, but in the second closure we did not. We purchased the arrangement earlier this month when our workplaces announced they would operate in the closure, but when they started talking about tightening we already realized our money was thrown in the bin again, and it’s just delusional no one cares.”

According to Omri, there is no value to the free monthly arrangement he purchased in the month of the month. “From tomorrow we actually have no use for it, because we will be at home and we also go shopping. It is almost a whole month, no one takes responsibility and it is just frustrating that we are all in the corona cauldron for ten months, and there are hundreds of thousands of passengers injured for the second time. It’s not just the money but the attitude towards public transport passengers. ”

Those who are particularly affected are students who have purchased a student arrangement that costs more than NIS 1,500. Yaron, a student from Lod who worked in Be’er Sheva, purchased such an arrangement before the first closure, after which the Ministry of Transportation announced compensation. But according to Yaron, the compensation given was also particularly poor.

“At the beginning of March, I bought an arrangement for NIS 1,500, which is a lot of money for a student. The Corona crisis has just begun, the train has been shut down for three and a half months and of course the workplace has closed,” said Yaron. “I continued to pay each month the amount I set aside for payments. They offered me compensation as offered to everyone: either a two-month extension of Rabbi Kav or compensation of 340 NIS in accumulated value. This is a joke, because I rode the train five times in all that time. The contract is for four and a half months and I paid NIS 1,500 for five trips. Since then I have not repeated this mistake, and in recent months I have been charging money in accumulated value and I am content with that. ”

Eleaz Makrkur said that before the first closure he only had time to travel by train for one day, and after paying NIS 400 for the monthly leave, he was offered compensation in the amount of NIS 100 in accumulated value. “The alternative was an extension of the free month, . “It’s like I’ll ask to qualify for a shirt and they will agree to win me only a sleeve,” he said in frustration.

Shimrit Notman, executive director of 15 Minutes, expressed concern that the lack of compensation for passengers for travel arrangements they could not use at all would lead to a lack of trust in public transport. “The message sent by the Ministry of Transportation to passengers is that the service it provides cannot be trusted.” “Many travelers have approached us and asked if they should purchase periodic tickets, such as free monthly or flexible 30, or if it is an unnecessary risk these days. Passengers would like to know for sure that the service they have been paying for since the beginning of the month will be fully provided. Make sure it does happen. ‘

The Ministry of Transportation claims that “the public has adapted to the new reality,” and that public transportation apps can be used instead of purchasing arrangements. However, the ministry’s claims do not stand the test of reality: many passengers claim to have relied on the initial closure guidelines published about two weeks ago, rather than the tight closure guidelines under which many jobs will be closed. In addition, many populations are excluded from public transportation payment apps – the elderly, the ultra-Orthodox, bank account holders and others, and in many cases the free monthly arrangements pay off significantly more for travelers than using apps.

Meanwhile, in the current closure public transport will not be reduced, but bus occupancy will be only 50% to maintain social distance. This is a significant policy change in light of the failure to reduce public transportation in previous closures, which has led to congestion and congestion on buses.

From the Ministry of Transport was reported: “In contrast to the first closure, public transport in the second and third closures continued to operate fully and provide service to all passengers in the country. The public transport users have been dealing with the Corona crisis for about a year. The public has adapted to the new reality and is purchasing a travel contract.

“As proof of this, in recent months there has been a 50% decrease in the number of monthly subscriptions purchased by passengers, while in the purchase of a free daily, free weekly subscription or accumulated value – there has been an increase. It should be noted that the Ministry of Transport “We recommend that travelers try these apps, which allow you to pay by public transportation only for actual trips made, and without purchasing futures contracts in advance.”