Egged, Israel’s largest public transport company, will distribute a weekly magazine with Jewish themes called B'Derech (On the Road) on bus lines that serve the hareidi religious public in Jerusalem and Bnei Berak.
Eyal Yechiel, manager of Egged’s Marketing Division, told the hareidi news site LaDa'at that Egged drives tens of thousands of hareidi passengers on bus lines that specifically serve that public. Drivers on these bus lines are instructed not to turn on the radio. In order to make the passengers’ time on the bus more enjoyable on inter-city lines, Egged decided to give the passengers “relevant materials for reading during the journey,” Yechiel said.
B'Derech's permanent features include a column on the weekly Torah portion and some halachic (Jewish law) regulations for travelers; a column on the Daf Yomi (daily Talmud page); a column on places of interest in Israel and a column by Rabbi Erez Moshe Doron. A special page for children and the family will feature a weekly installment from a story by hareidi author Menucha Fuchs.
The cost of production of the weekly will be covered through advertisements by businesses that target the hareidi public. “The magazine will be placed on the seats before passengers board the bus to make sure that every passenger finds one upon reaching his seat,” Yechiel explained. “There is no doubt that for advertisers, this is a very efficient and cheap media, because attention is focused on the weekly and its contents during the trip,” he added.
Egged serves about a million passengers every day.