Nostalgia Sunday – Egged Bus

June 14, 2009 - 12:29 PM by · 3 Comments
Filed under: design, General, History and Culture, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture 

My car broke down irretrievably last year and, as a result, I have been taking the bus quite a bit. In-between cursing public transportation, cultivating nascent misanthropic tendencies, and swearing that next week I am absolutely buying a car — bank balance be damned — I also find time for nostalgic reverie. Or is that better termed a bad flashback? Let’s face it, today’s buses are far, far better than the non-air conditioned, bouncing, bulky tin boxes on wheels of yesteryear. My coccyx bone aches just thinking about it. Ouch.

Transportation cooperative Egged also remembers those days, (with more fondness than do I), and maintains a museum in Holon, the niche museum capital of Israel. The display is also online with a gallery of photos, posters, video clips (like this one of the first Egged tour of Sinai) and articles about Egged’s history. For example, this photo of a few of the drivers who joined the Egged cooperative in 1933.

egged_first-drivers_1930s

And here’s the Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv! No, not that one. This was located at 1 Rothschild Boulevard.
egged_ta_bus_station_30s_sm

And then there was Tel Aviv’s Bauhaus design bus station that was Egged’s main base until the new bus station opened in 1993.
egged_ta_bus_station

The classic 1970s Egged bus designed by British Leyland:
egged_1970_leyland-yavaniya

Here’s the 1980s upgrade, designed by Mercedes — introducing air-conditioning!
egged_1980_mercedes

Egged’s bus for the new millennium. In a classic “greenwashing” move, Egged made a very big deal about how this model was environmentally friendly. Why? Because of the green paint? Oh well, at least they’re roomy and the air-conditioning works well.
egged_2000_man.

And now, introducing the new bus for 2009, the Saar-31. I bet the air conditioning is super-sonic. Ahhh…
saar31

As with all Egged buses, the Saar 31 is manufactured and assembled locally by the Haargaz company. The design of this bus, says Haargaz, is the most advanced of its kind. But what I like is their video clip about the history of Haargaz-constructed buses in Israel – to the tune of Born to Be Wild. So rock on… and leave the driving to us!

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