Jerusalem residents have complained about the drivers of the "Extra" company buses for some time, alleging that these drivers endanger their passengers' security and ignore them.
According to Deputy Mayor Aryeh King, in one recent incident, one of the passengers on Route 69 towards Neve Yaakov said that as the bus - filled with passengers - reached the entrance to Neve Yaakov, the driver veered off his route towards Ramallah. There, he dropped off his friend, and returned to the bus route. When the passengers asked why he had veered off the route, he told them that he "mixed up the route."
Approximately one week ago, a traveler turned to King and complained, "I was traveling with a driver on Route 69 towards Neve Yaakov, and instead of continuing towards Neve Yaakov we suddenly saw that the driver is driving in a different direction, not on the route he was supposed to travel. Later it became clear to us that he decided on his own to drop his friend off in the Beit Hanina neighborhood, at a time when the bus was filled with passengers who were very concerned about the change."
King noted, "Due to this inconceivable incident, an investigation was conducted and company management held a hearing for the driver, following which he was fired from his job. But unfortunately I would not be surprised if we found him driving for another company which provides service in Jerusalem."
Another resident added, "Their behavior is reckless, they skip bus stops when they want to. Their attitude towards their passengers is beneath all criticism, and they speak in a very condescending and disrespectful way. We must do something with these drivers, and replace them, and the company with a different company."
"Extra drivers for a while have taken the law and the route into their own hands and treat the buses as if they owned them. They blast very loud music in Arabic in order to undermine the passengers' feeling of safety, some of them disparage Jewish men and women, some of them skip the bus stops and the stops they are supposed to stop at, some of them leave late and the feeling of the travelers and residents that this is being done intentionally and while the other drivers support every single driver. We will be sure to put an end to this."
Extra responded that it rejects King's claims and noted that this was one incident, which was dealt with and the driver was fired.
"We are unaware of additional incidents - and certainly not of a trend," the company said.