The Office of the Ombudsman is constantly striving to make its services accessible to the public, including via reception bureaus situated across the country.
A senior citizen, who lives in the town of Lod, complained to the Office's reception bureau in the town about the location of bus stops in the area of the town's central bus station.
The complainant pointed out that there were several local bus lines running to the Ganei Aviv neighbourhood in Lod, and that she could use any one of them. However, the bus stops of these lines at the central bus station of Lod were not close to each other, but were situated on either side of the road. The complainant added that digital screens had not been installed at the bus stops for providing information about the arrival times of the buses.
According to the complainant, she had often waited for a bus at a bus stop on one side of the road, when another bus to the same destination had stopped at a bus stop on the other side of the road, but she had not been able to reach the other bus stop in time to board the bus.
The Office of the Ombudsman investigated the complaint, both with the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety and with the Lod Municipality.
Following the Office's inquiry, the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety examined the location of the bus stops in the area of the Lod central bus station and decided to place the bus stops close to each other, on the same side of the road; this it did in coordination with the transport companies operating the bus lines there.
Regarding the digital signage, the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety informed the Office that it was working hard to install digital signage throughout the country, and that central bus stations were receiving priority. The head of transport at the Lod Municipality notified the Office that the municipality and the company operating the signs in the town were working to update the existing signs and install new signs, for the benefit of the public.
The complainant thanked the Office of the Ombudsman for its assistance. The Office will continue monitoring the issue, until digital signage is installed in the Lod central bus station area.