The fight against the sharp increase in public transportation prices in the city of Beitar Illit: The Knesset's Economics Committee, headed by MK David Bitan, held a special discussion on the subject today (Monday), following the demand of MK Meir Porush, who even left the protest camp in front of the Attorney General's Office over the draft decree, in order to participate in the discussion.
In his opening remarks, MK Porush explained: "The important committee regularly discusses the problems of the cost of living, but it seems to me that you have never encountered a story like this. Such a sharp increase in the price of a basic consumer product - bus travel.
""I would like to focus specifically on the increase in prices for young people. Those boys and girls who travel from home to the educational institution. To school, to the Torah Talmud. In total, three years ago. Until July 2022, they paid only 48 shekels for a free monthly contract. About only one and a half shekels per day, for trips from home to the educational institution - and back home, at the end of the school day.
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""Today, with the gradual increase in prices, they pay 157.5 shekels for a free monthly contract, which, as mentioned, is used exclusively for internal travel. Instead of a shekel and a half, it's more than five shekels a day.".
Porush noted the price increases, mainly following the 'Equal Path' reform of former Minister Merav Michaeli, which led to the cancellation of the possibility of purchasing a free-monthly local contract, and to the continued price increases as part of the reforms of the current Minister, Miri Regev.
Porush presented an official map from the Ministry of Transportation, showing how "Beitar Illit is a green enclave. The entire area is painted purple, and only Beitar Illit, for some reason, was decided to be included in the Jerusalem metropolitan area and require residents to purchase a travel contract that they have no need for.".
""I focused specifically on travel prices for youth, since according to CBS data, 55.55 percent of Beitar Illit residents are young people under the age of 18. A gap of 90 shekels for a family with many children, in a city with a low socioeconomic status, is a significant gap that reaches as much as 10,000 shekels a year.".
""I'm here to voice the cry of the children of Beitar. All they want to do is get to school, to the Talmud Torah. They don't travel 225 kilometers, they barely travel to the neighboring neighborhood. There's no reason for the dramatic price increase. There's no reason to force them to purchase travel contracts that are irrelevant to them.".
He emphasized that he "hopes that the discussion here will address the problem, and lead to a simple solution: allowing residents to choose whether they are interested in purchasing only a contract for domestic travel, or also a contract for national travel. To eliminate the injustice, and prevent the absurd situation and the highest price increase we have ever known, especially when it comes to such a basic product, like public transportation services.".
Mayor Meir Rubinstein said in the discussion: "It seems as if they specifically chose the city of Beitar Illit, the city with the best public transportation in the country, and are trying to roll back the situation. Since I entered the Beitar municipality, I have worked hard to improve the public transportation system in the city. We were in a bad state, today we are in a good state and we have accustomed the residents to traveling by public transportation. Now they are actually trying to roll back the situation?""
Rubinstein praised the Ministry of Transportation for its activities to improve the situation of public transportation throughout the country, but wondered why in Beitar Illit, the trend is the opposite. "Some of the travel contracts have increased in price by 300% in the last three years.".
He also presented a table showing the extent of the residents' distress.
""They are making us part of the Jerusalem metropolis. In what other way are we considered Jerusalem except by raising public transportation prices?" he shouted.
""The biggest absurdity is the cancellation of the option to purchase a local travel contract. A father of five children would prefer to purchase a car rather than pay a higher price for bus travel. The Ministry of Transportation should decide whether to encourage travel on a local travel contract or not.".
MK Yisrael Eichler called on the committee chairman, MK David Bitan, to correct the distortion, and not triple the cost of travel for a child traveling to study Torah in Tel Aviv, thereby protecting the people of Israel.
Eichler said: "My sister runs a school with a thousand girls in Betar, and there is no reason to discriminate against them. Betar Illit was a model for envy and a symbol of effective public education, and we must not go backward. It is time to right the wrong.".
Director of the Fares and Ticketing Department at the National Public Transportation Authority, Shlomit Amos, explained the decisions that led to the public transportation reforms, and noted that due to Beitar Illit's proximity to Jerusalem, they decided to define Beitar as a metropolis.
To this the mayor asked: What is the difference between Beitar and Tzur Hadassah?
Committee Chairman MK David Bitan wondered why a city or state in Israel is defined as a metropolis.
At this point, she went on to explain that Beitar residents pay more due to the high level of service and the high number of daily trips in the city. To this, the committee chairman commented that it is impossible to fine Beitar residents because they use the public transportation system more.
Bitan wondered: "Because they improved public transportation, do they deserve punishment?""
A representative of the Ministry of Finance repeated a similar claim, but it was also rejected by the mayor and the chairman of the committee, who noted that the state coffers would pay more if the tens of thousands of commuters in the city of Beitar switched to private vehicles due to the increase in travel prices.
MK David Bitan concluded: "If we're talking about inequality, in this case the situation is clear. The situation needs to be corrected, especially in light of the fact that nearby communities receive the benefit. It's impossible to impose a fine on children because they travel a lot on public transportation.".
Bitan called on the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Finance to reach an understanding between them and solve the problem, and scheduled a follow-up discussion to be held next month.
