Photos from this weekend and Jlem Light Rail Construction Update

[WMATAGMOAGH]

Here are two photos of an Egged intercity bus enabled with free wifi on board.  Egged is installing wifi on all of its intercity buses, so for now, whether you get a wifi enabled bus is pretty much total luck of the draw.  Other operators in Israel also have wifi enabled buses.  The photos were taken this past Friday at Mifgash Bat Shlomo, near Zichron Yaakov on the slopes of Mount Carmel.  The bus is running Route 845, which offers "direct" service from Tel Aviv to Kiryat Shemona, which is Israel's northernmost city, located 2 kilometers east and 5 kilometers south of the border with Lebanon. 





In other Israeli transportation news, the temporary fencing along the entire route of the light rail here in Jerusalem came down last week.  It was put up to discourage pedestrians from crossing the tracks except at designated locations during testing.  Some parts of the line still have permanent fencing, but Yafo Street, in the center of Jerusalem, really has the feel of a pedestrian mall now (unless the trains are passing by).  I'm wondering how long it is before an Israeli dashing across the pedestrian mall trying to beat a train or not paying attention gets hit.  The train will begin operating a short, 1.5 mile segment in the center of Jerusalem serving 6 stations very soon, possibly as early as this Thursday or Friday, with rides costing between 1 and 3 NIS, I'm not sure they've decided on a price yet.  The entire route doesn't open until August.  I'm hoping the line opens before or after, as opposed to during, my upcoming trip to the US.  Sorry, no photos this time...