Jerusalem Light Rail Passengers Grapple With Concept Of Let-Others-Off-Before-Boarding

Contrast this with even such untamed locations as the urban jungle of New York City, where almost by default, people waiting at a stop will form a neat line.

Credit: Claude Villetaneuse via Wikipedia

Jerusalem, July 22 – Users of the electric trolley system in Israel’s capital continue to encounter difficulty when faced with the need to make room for disembarking riders to exit prior to entering the vehicle themselves, observers report.

The Jerusalem Light Rail serves tens of thousands of passengers daily, according to the K’fir Corporation, which has operated the system for most of the last year, but surveillance footage, inspector reports, and other observations indicate that few Jerusalem residents appear familiar with the concept of getting out of the way before boarding the train so that those who wish to get off may do so without fighting their way through the incoming throng, a company document reveals.

“Statistics in the attached report demonstrate the Light Rail users at large have yet to internalize the idea that the most efficient and effective behavior upon the arrival of a train involves waiting for other passengers to disembark before attempting to enter,” the document states. “Initial analysis of the phenomenon and interrogation reveals that many riders deem it more important to ‘box out’ ‘competing’ passengers on the platform tp prevent them from gaining entry first, than to facilitate the smooth and swift exchange of passengers to and from the interior of the vehicle.”

Experts note that the phenomenon stems from the days when buses constituted the only public transportation option in Jerusalem, and a system developed whereby those boarding used the front entrance, and those disembarking used the rear. “Thus, a crowd tended to form at the front door of the bus,” explained behavioral scientist Everheard Ofqueueing. “This being the Levant, and not Northern Europe, the very notion of an orderly line remains anathema to local sensibilities, in that allowing anyone else to just get somewhere or gain access to something without also attempting to do so as soon as possible brands one a ‘loser,’ a ‘sucker,’ or otherwise easy to exploit. Contrast this with even such untamed locations as the urban jungle of New York City, or the wilds of suburban New Jersey, where almost by default, people waiting at a bus stop will form a neat line.”

“In the ten or so years of its operation, Jerusalem Light Rail users have declined to adapt that approach to the new situation in which people enter and exit from all doors,” he continued. “Instead the mobbing modus operandi still remains dominant, despite earnest attempts by the previous operator, Citipass, to get people to use the doors on the ends only for disembarking.”

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