Israel's Transportation Ministry issued a stunning rebuke of Israel’s bus companies, claiming they have evidence that some bus drivers are instructed by their employer to deliberately omit bus stops and not fully complete their routes, and warning them to immediately halt this deceptive practice.
The letter, which was published by Globes Israel, stated that "the (Transportation Ministry) received information that in some companies, drivers are instructed to travel in violation of their license conditions, not complete trips from the departure station, and travel along the first stations only,” adding that some drivers are “instructed to return and/or travel directly to the final station without completing the full route so that the time of departure from the departure station is properly documented in the office systems.”
The ministry discovered the practice by conducting an industry investigation before ultimately determining that there were trips that deviated from set travel routes and reached the end station without passing by or stopping at certain stations.
While this is the first official acknowledgment and reprimand by the Transportation Ministry, anecdotal evidence of these violations by bus operators is abundant around the Israeli population. Israel’s Consumer Council receives numerous complaints every year regarding transport delays and violations – many of which pertain to buses. The Consumer Council has an information page on its website describing violations, passenger rights, and examples of rulings against bus companies.
The ministry further clarified that operating “in violation of the license terms, intentionally and knowingly, is a criminal offense.”