Modern-day Israel is a country where private transport is the norm. In the past, however, public transportation was the main mode of getting around the country and whiling away hours of one’s life at a bus stop — generally an Egged bus stop –was a quintessential Israeli experience.
Those bus stops have taken many shapes and forms, from wooden shacks…
To structures in the International style…
On through rounded Modernist forms.
There are bus stations that serve as billboards…
Bus stations that double as bomb shelters…
And coming your way soon to a bus station near you: clean-lined 21st century stations from manufacturer I.M Segev outfitted with solar-powered signage — a far cry from today’s dingy yellow metal placards with their Byzantine markings.
A word about the bus station signs: every symbol, number and letter is significant.
Paying homage to the humble bus stop, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat today inaugurated a new community book-sharing initiative: the “Reading Station”.
Located in the former Masaryk street bus stop, situated along the old train tracks leading to Jerusalem’s First Station, this is the place for the reading public to borrow, drop-off and donate books. To learn more, visit the Jerusalem Municipality page on Facebook — and “Like”!
Images: PikiWiki Israel, Egged Retirees, I.M. Segev, Operation Lifeshield, Jerusalem Municipality, Tapuz forum
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