A senior official at the National Public Transportation Authority recommended that Jews across the country refrain as much as possible from traveling to Jerusalem during the three days of Purim Meshulash, Friday, Shabbos, and Sunday – due to a real concern of particularly heavy traffic congestion, which will cause widespread disruptions to the public transportation system within Jerusalem and on the roads leading to it.
Senior officials of the National Public Transportation Authority and the Jerusalem Transportation Master Plan team, together with Jerusalem Municipality personnel, have been working on “Purim Operation” for several months, given the enormous number of passengers to Jerusalem in such a short period, and the complexity of dispersing and collecting passengers on the city’s roads, crowded with private vehicles, which exceeds the complexity of the Lag BaOmer operation.
Twelve public transportation operators are taking part in the large-scale operation, reinforcing existing lines, with over 100 workers who will direct passengers and assist them in locating their stations and bus lines. The train lines to Jerusalem will also be reinforced and additional bus companies were recruited to reinforce the existing companies.
The real concern stems this year from the convergence of all arenas: This year, Purim falls during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan – which creates a severe shortage of drivers in the evening hours [since many drivers are Arabs]. And during the day, the combination of irritable Arab drivers [due to the fast] and possibly intoxicated Jewish passengers can lead to friction.
In addition, this year, the Jerusalem Municipality is holding a large number of “Ad Lo Yada” festivals and events in the city’s streets, which will lead to many closures in the main traffic arteries, which may cause heavy traffic jams. This is in addition to the infrastructure work on Begin Road and in other areas throughout the city, which are already causing traffic congestion these days.
“We don’t want to again see the sights of entire families getting off the bus and walking with their children towards Jerusalem,” said another source in the National Public Transportation Authority. “In years past, there were many cases of empty buses standing for hours in traffic jams and unable to reach the stations to pick up passengers.”
“We are prepared to transport all the passengers, but the heavy traffic congestion expected this year will mean that we will not be able to reach the stations.”
The source added that due to Purim Meshulash, more people are expected to travel to Jerusalem this year due to the Shabbos that falls in the middle.
In light of the great challenges this year, the National Public Transportation Authority recommends to the public to avoid traveling to Jerusalem during the three days of Purim, and those who must arrive in the city should do so only via Israel Railways.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
Typical.
“I get paid to do my job. I’ve been supposedly working at it for months. Don’t travel – because I didn’t end up doing my job. If you do travel and get stuck, it’s your fault because I warned you.”