(haipo) - About 33,000 students will start the school year today (Sunday 10/11/24) at the University of Haifa and the Technion, with the challenging security situation in the background, which no one knows how to predict how it will develop.
Shutting down the cable car, which has become a major means of transportation for many students. While it has already established itself as a fast and convenient means that allows savings of up to 18 minutes between the northern settlements and the campuses, it is not clear when it will resume operation.
Return to studies under the shadow of fighting in the north
The 10 academic year opens this morning - Sunday 11/24/XNUMX - in the shadow of the ongoing war with you when the studies will be held in accordance with the directives of the Home Front Command.
At the University of Haifa, approximately 18,000 students for various degrees will begin their studies, at the campuses on Mount Carmel and in the Lower City, including at the School of Design.
At the Technion, whose ranks are joined by about 3,100 new students, about 15,000 students in total will study this year, of which about 4,700 are in advanced studies.
With the start of the school year, over 1,000 students at the Technion are in reserve service, some of them even in a third round of combat, with the university and the Technion offering them support on various levels, which includes academic benefits such as extending the time for submitting papers, postponing the date of tests and tutoring, along with emotional and financial support in various tracks.
An essential service is down with no known return date
The absence of the cable car, which has been closed since 21/9/24, disrupts the routine of students and lecturers who are used to relying on the service. An official announcement on the cable car website announces in three languages about the closure of the service until further notice, and official sources said that the reason for this is the directives of the Home Front Command. However, when we contacted the Home Front Command, a surprising response was received - according to the IDF, no such directive was given.
From the cable car it was delivered to Lai Pa:
"The service does not operate in accordance with the directives of the Home Front Command, and it is not expected to be renewed at this stage. We await further updates."
The IDF spokesman in response to Lai Fa:
"The allegations mentioned are not true, and the directives of the Home Front Command are available and updated on the official website."
The students and lecturers are looking for alternative transportation solutions
In light of the suspension of the cable car, students and lecturers are forced to rely on public or private transportation, while waiting for the renewal of the essential service. A number of students expressed disappointment that there is no clear prospect of a return to activity, while many expressed fear that they would have trouble getting to classes on time due to being forced to use alternative transportation.
The cable car, which was inaugurated in April 2022 after quite a few postponements, brought an efficient transportation solution for students from the north of the country and the Kiryat studying at the Technion and the University of Haifa. Thanks to its short travel route, you can get from the Gulf Central Terminal to the Technion in about 10 minutes, and continue to the Technion to Haifa University in just nine more minutes. Thus, the cable car became a fast and economical transportation solution for thousands of students.
The cable car stretches for 4.4 kilometers and includes six stations, of which three are passenger stations for public service - at the Gulf Center, at the Technion and Haifa University - and three operational stations at Check Post, on Dorey Road and at the west of the Technion. Cable car passengers can pay with any transportation payment method, including multi-line tickets and periodical subscriptions.
The importance of the cable car as a vital means of transportation in the Haifa and Kiryat region
It is important to note that in a survey conducted last year 2023 when the cable car was shut down for 6 days, it emerged that the shutdown of the cable car led to a significant extension of the travel times of 67% of the passengers, who had to deal with an addition of over 20 minutes to their journey, and 32% of them even reported a delay of half an hour and more. These data emphasize the importance of the cable car as an essential means of transportation in the Haifa and Kiryat region.
The cable car, which has been used over time as an accessible and available tool for students and faculty at the Technion and the University of Haifa, is a very valuable means of transportation, especially during rush hour. Against the background of previous shutdowns, including a shutdown that took place in April 2023 for maintenance purposes, the representative of the "Haifa Railway Updates" WhatsApp community, Orien Saburai, conducted a survey aimed at examining the impact of the shutdowns on the passenger public.
From the survey, which was held as mentioned following complaints that arose in the community and conversations on campuses, it emerged that even though the operating company announced the shutdown of the cable car and the Ministry of Transportation was prepared to reinforce lines 142 and 146, many users who rely on the cable car as fast and efficient transportation were still affected.
From all of these it is possible to understand the level of impact of shutting down the cable car on the student body and the city as a whole, especially at the beginning of the academic year.
In addition to this, the Technion has blocked Shaar Nesher in the evenings for exits, which prevents two lines 76/77 from passing through the Technion in the evenings. Prevents students from the Yagur area from reaching their place of residence and minimizes the transportation options to the Technion.
It's a type of civilian attack, and those who understand will understand.
It's better to disable these convection cubes until they install air conditioners in them. A nightmare to enter them the hot Ritz.
You see you didn't take the cable car.
There are 2 windows on the sides of the door and there is plenty of air..
No conditioning required. Not even in the height of summer. I rode the cable car for a long time both last summer and last winter and it was a pleasure. Short, fast, and efficient.
In order to emphasize the importance of the cable car, the word cable car is mentioned many times in the article, but the article does not present numbers to back up the need for the cable car, for example how many passengers use the cable car and how much it is in numbers 67% are disappointed (perhaps 67% of 10 passengers) gives the impression that the writer is trying to justify the existence An efficient means of transportation in a place where very few people need it
As a student - a lot of people use the cable car. Beyond the multitudes of students (at least hundreds and even thousands) who use the cable car daily during each semester, other populations such as tourists and school students also use it as a fast and efficient means of transportation to visit the Technion and the University of Haifa (the Hecht Museum, observatories, etc.).
In short, 67% - at least several hundred students
The reinforcement of the lines did not help at all today. I can testify that it took me half an hour longer than usual to get to the university and that there were significant delays on most bus lines.
If there are no instructions from the Home Front Command to stop the operation of the cable car and if they are forced to return to frontal studies anyway, then at least it will be faster to reach a protected area than to be stuck on the road for another half hour or more
Do reserves for Hamas not count?
At the University of Haifa there are about 8000 students in the SMP for Hamas and Hezbollah they just discriminate against them and they don't have concessions in exams and completing classes.
A bus to the Technion takes 10 minutes. A bus to the university takes 20 minutes. And they even save a lot of time compared to the cable car, because they are even scattered at all the campus stations instead of an extra walk.
I warned like many others that with any strong wind in the winter, and there are always strong winds in the university, the crazy cable car will be closed immediately and in any event of fire, war, earthquake, the crazy cable car will again have to be disabled and strength tests of the entire system will be conducted.
Dismantle the crazy cable car and quickly pave a bus-only public transportation route between the two campuses and from them on Dori Road to the central station. Such a route will further shorten the journey to the university by fifteen minutes. A bus, unlike a cable car, is air-conditioned, comfortable, flexible, and can be repaired and replaced.
The cable car is a dangerous vehicle, expensive to maintain, insurance and effects and many shortcomings, intended for vacation spots and not as a means of urban transportation.
You seem to conveniently forget that a bus does not go directly from the heart of the bay to the Technion, but goes around the city, stops at stations, and significantly lengthens the trip in a distressing way
A lie, no student is upset that the cable car doesn't work regardless of the war, it barely works, it's either under maintenance or it doesn't work because of winds or some kind of holiday and it's full of children (this is the only time it's full) or the Muslim workers have time off or arrive late on their holidays so it doesn't work. For a short time it does not shorten a bus would do it faster and more efficiently in all seasons in routine and emergency
Roy what are you talking about? For students at the University of Haifa, it shortens by at least twenty minutes in the mornings (and can be even more with the bus delays as happened today)!
All the students at Haifa University who have used the cable car until now are nervous about its lack.
Of course it has its drawbacks and of course there are nervous people who use it for fun trips during the school months but that really doesn't mean it's easier and better without it!
We would be happy if you would start publishing articles that are really significant to the situation happening in the country and in the city of Haifa, things that will advance us and you will use your advertising space to criticize and bring the truth to light and not for articles about some students who did not check and did not use their logic to know that the cable car has been disabled for some time. Thank you Haifa resident
As usual, the students and lecturers who stayed in Haifa think only of their own asses, the careless ones are recruited for the war and they have no complaints or problems traveling on a bus that takes 5 minutes longer...
Father, it's not about five minutes longer, if the cable car is a 20 minute ride and is available all the time, the buses have proven themselves today to be not available at all and to waste at least 20 to 40 minutes more time than the cable car (especially in the mornings).
Of course, we thank the reservists, summarize for them, record for them, but they are not at all related to the argument here