The Education Department of MA distributed a letter to parents of children who attend school in Jerusalem explaining that from the first of November the only option for travel on buses and the light rail will be through the Rav-Kav smart card. As a public service and in order to make it easier on parents and children alike, the CityPass company that operates the light-rail will issue the smart cards in a systematic fashion at the schools.

Parents who are interested in securing a card for their children are asked to fill out, sign, and return the form attached to the letter. The Rav-Kav card will be issued for free. In the next few days, teams from CityPass will visit the schools in order to supply each student with a smart card carrying his or her digitalized photograph.

Deputy Mayor Boris Grossman, the holder of the MA Municipality’s transportation portfolio, said the initiative came about because about 80% of M.A school children do not yet have a smart card. He reminds everyone that starting on November 1st, travel on Jerusalem’s light rail and the issuing of Rav-Kav cards will no longer be free. “Even if you drive to work every day it’s still worthwhile to have a Rav-Kav card in your wallet, just in case,” he said. Grossman has requested that the Egged Bus company help those residents who have not yet been issued a Rav-Kav card by setting up a temporary office in town, at the City’s expense, for this very purpose.