Davka, Here We Need to Know...

Photo taken in Ma'ale Adumim

Here in Israel, more and more bus stops have these screens which show us which buses are coming and in how much time. Granted there are quirks, like the fact that a bus will show up a couple of minutes early or late. Or like the problem with the Shiloh ones which only show one of the bus routes that come to Shiloh... That means that we must stay on our toes and not trust them 100%. But they are helpful. Last week I left work (in Yafiz, Sha'ar Binyamin) early to catch the bus to my neighborhood, but it didn't come. It wasn't even listed on the screen. Then suddenly it was listed, but the time indicated was about a half an hour late. Yes, the bus was late, so the information there was accurate. We even called the bus company to check, and they confirmed the delay.

There's one Jerusalem stop that really needs one of those screens. It's the "top" of Sderot Eshkol which services all of our Mateh Binyamin and Shomron buses, plus lots of buses to Pisgat Zeev and Neve Yaakov and other destinations.

That stop is usually full of waiting passengers, because it's the bus stop closest to the lightrail Ammunition Hill stop. Many times we need to know if we've missed our bus or not. Should we wait for our bus or take any to the "cityline" or Shaar Binyamin? Not all passengers know the schedule well enough to time travelling, and frequently we can't really time our arrival to perfectly make connecting buses.

Last night when my friend and I were going home from the Women in Green vigil, we were almost glad to see that we had missed our bus, when it escaped the bus stop before we could get to it. At least we knew to take another bus to  the "cityline," aka the Hizme machsom.

Who decides which bus stops get those screens? Please send this to them, thanks.