Every Israeli understands that public transit is essential. For many years, most Israelis shared the dream of owning a car, but the traffic congestions and rising costs of vehicles and gas drove them to look for available, reliable and quality alternatives for getting from place to place.
Since Israel's public transit is still mostly dependent on buses, for passengers to enjoy quality services, we need professional bus drivers, more than anything else. In fact, in the State Comptroller's report, which was published in 2019, it was stated that there is an alarming shortage in professional public transit drivers.
Recalculating the career path
Egged group, which has been leading Israel' public transit sector for many years now, has taken hold of the steering wheel and established a training and employment program for drivers, quickly making Egged the preferred employer among Israel's bus drivers. "The drivers are the heart and soul at Egged; without them, we won't be able to provide our services to passengers and to continue to lead the Israeli public transit industry." Says Amir Keinan, Egged's PT manager, who adds: "In recent years, we have led a significant process which is designed to identify failures in this market, and we have established a training and employment program that addresses these problems, thus giving added value to the drivers. To date, two years after the process was launched, we find ourselves in an unprecedented situation in the local driving industry – we have over 90% of our drivers base with many referrals among bus drivers who made the transition and joined Egged."
The training is on us!
The Egged PT division decided a long while back to delve deeper into its drivers' training activity. Therefore, for many years, Egged has been running three bus driving colleges, in Holon, Haifa, and Jerusalem. The training program in each college includes two phases after the forms have been submitted and the necessary approvals received from the Ministry of Transport.
The first phase includes in-depth theoretical training encompassing traffic laws, driving, geography, human relations, first aid and fire extinguishing, the environment, accessibility for people with limitations and more.
The second phase includes practical training as required by the sought-after license.
Upon course completion and only after the students have passed both the theoretical and practical tests at the college, they are submitted for the Ministry of Transport driving test. The driver training course lasts about eight months.
Qualify as a driver within 60 days!
To respond to drivers who are interested in a shorter training period, the short training course was established, lasting only two months. To join this training course, the drivers go through a unique scouting and recruiting process. Drivers who meet the criteria are accepted into the short course and receive full wages and subsistence allowance during training, to free their time and minds for the training.
Want to fulfill your childhood dream and become a bus driver at Egged?The Egged collective agreement for drivers
Egged drivers are included in the Group’s collective agreement for Egged employees. Within this agreement, they enjoy very good employment conditions, when compared to the public transit sector of the driving industry.
Furthermore, Egged successfully adapted the employment conditions for the changing work environment: it lets students work as drivers while they study, recruits drivers who are 40+ years old and lets all the employees choose their employment framework: part-time, split shits, working on specific days and more.
Drivers' employment conditions include:
- Option to receive funding for the practical driving training, as defined by the program
- Basic wages – 43.5 NIS per hour
- 54 NIS per hour between 8 pm and 6 am the following day
- 87 NIS per hour on Saturdays and holidays
- 97 NIS per hour on Saturday night between 8 pm and 4 am the next morning
- 1% increase in wages every year from the sixth year onwards
- As of 2021, the Egged drivers' salaries will be linked to the public sector
- Monthly incentive pay
- Quarterly excellence bonuses
- Convalescence pay from the first day!
- Tenure at work after three years, including study fund contribution (7.5% employer contributions) and employee health and teeth insurances at subsidized prices for the driver’s family members
- Free rides on Egged buses
- Full-year clothing
- Three daily subsidized meals
- Social activities for the entire family
- Employment across Israel
- Flexible working hours and convenient shifts
Are you a bus driver who wishes to work for Egged? Click here Driver OUT – trip manager IN
Driving a public transit bus is not a task to be taken lightly. The driver is required to drive safely, keep a schedule, provide services to passengers, assist them with special needs, and a lot more... For drivers to focus on driving and servicing the passengers, the driver's environment is undergoing change, which is designed to free the drivers from other tasks to concentrate on providing excellent service to passengers.
Saying farewell to coins
The fact that drivers no longer have to handle payment on the bus is the most meaningful development, which is already apparent in the field. Currently, payment for the trip is done by Rav-Kav, using unique readers which are located next to the front and back doors. This way, passengers can get on the bus through the rear doors as well and use the card readers to validate the ride.
The driver's compartment – a control center
The bus driver's compartment is equipped with command and control technologies that always enable the driver to manage the bus at the touch of a button and receive ongoing information. Closed-circuit cameras, command and control systems to manage the bus's environment, public address systems, and more were incorporated. Alongside all of these, the driver's seat, steering wheel, and control panels were carefully considered in order to allow safe and comfortable driving while maintaining a pleasant and safe working environment.
The autonomous buses are on the way
The autonomous car revolution is already here, but unlike private cars, the bus driver's job is not limited to just driving. Therefore, autonomous bus drivers will evolve into bus managers, who will manage and monitor the vehicle's operation and will be able to improve services to passengers.
The results are already apparent!
How does Egged's employment revolution affect reality? As of 2018, the recruitment rate of new drivers at Egged is up by 30%. Retainment has also improved dramatically, with a 25% increase in Egged drivers' retainment rate.
There is a vast improvement in Egged's performance as a result of these: The group performed 97% of the quota required by the Ministry of Transport in 2018, and it's still going strong.
Chen Sender – HR manager at Egged, says: "Egged drivers are significant contributors to the meaningful improvement in Egged's results. Their devotion, professionalism, and readiness to participate in the critical national mission are what drove us to the position we're in today.
No doubt that our investment in the human aspect, the training we provide, and the drivers’ employment terms have paid off, motivating us to continue to improve our drivers' reality. In recent years we have conducted an open-door policy for all the drivers, lending them an attentive ear and the sense of true partnership. This information travels through the grapevine to other drivers in the public transit sector, who are all welcome to apply to work with us."