Jordanian Interior Minister Orders Implementation of Measures to Resolve 'Ticket Crisis' at King Hussein Bridge

SadaNews - Today, Sunday morning, Jordan's Interior Minister Mazen Al-Farayah chaired a meeting at the King Hussein Bridge with the bridge officials and the CEO of the JET Passenger Transportation Company to discuss the issues and complaints related to the electronic booking service for travelers crossing the bridge, including the inability to book tickets for several days, and the exploitation and long waiting times that travelers face, causing congestion and pressure in service delivery.

The minister stressed to all officials and the CEO of JET the importance of receiving all feedback and complaints, studying them, and finding appropriate solutions to address them in a way that reflects the core idea of the bridge, as it is a humanitarian passage aimed at facilitating the crossing of citizens and our Palestinian brothers in both directions, according to humanitarian priorities and the purpose of using the bridge.

In this context, Minister Al-Farayah verified the validity of these observations and complaints and listened to a summary from the bridge officials and JET's CEO, who pointed out that the main reason for the problem lies in travelers arriving at the King Hussein Bridge early, ahead of their travel time, which causes congestion and prolonged waiting times until departure, in addition to the presence of some affected individuals by the activation of the platform who are trying to stir controversy about its utility.

Moreover, there was a demonstration of issues in the nature of the electronic reservation service for travelers, which allows one individual to purchase multiple tickets without a specific limit, and the fact that travelers themselves do not enter the platform to purchase tickets for themselves or their families, but rather acquire them from others, exposing them to exploitation, resulting in tickets being sold at unlawfully inflated prices.

Additionally, there was a mention of a group of individuals who frequently use the bridge for profit-seeking and various purposes that are not closely related to the primary priorities of using the bridge, which increases congestion and delays passenger movement and affects the smoothness of procedures, according to SadaNews, due to the limited daily number of bridge users as per the arrangements with the other side.

In order to address these issues and complaints, the Interior Minister directed the bridge officials and JET to implement a series of measures and instructions, such as not allowing a single individual to purchase more than a limited number of electronic tickets, specifying the card user's name, and ensuring that the electronic card is issued in the traveler's name with high non-falsifiable specifications, matching the traveler's name on the card with the name on their passport, in coordination between JET and the security apparatus operating at the bridge, and not allowing anyone to enter the bridge area without a travel ticket.

Minister Al-Farayah also requested JET to reorganize the V.I.P. service for travelers to become an electronic service, organized through electronic booking via the platform, instead of requiring personal attendance at the service site, as well as to rehabilitate the facilities for this service and facilitate its procedures, in line with the desired objectives.

In a related context, the Interior Minister urged travelers to arrive at the bridge half an hour before their departure time and not to come too early, in order to avoid long waiting periods, aiming to reduce congestion and ease the procedures followed until departure.

The minister emphasized to the relevant authorities the necessity of working, in coordination with the Directorate of Information Technology at the Ministry Center, to identify categories of individuals who frequently use the bridge for private purposes in a way that disrupts work and delays ordinary travelers, and the need to take a series of measures aimed at restricting their illegal use of the bridge.

Additionally, Minister Al-Farayah directed the Balqa Governor and the West Balqa Police Director to carry out sustainable security campaigns in the areas surrounding the bridge to control individuals who act outside the law, according to a statement from the Ministry of Interior that reached SadaNews, and who exploit travelers in illegal ways, and to coordinate with the Al-Shuna Al-Wasat Municipality to rehabilitate the area surrounding the bridge and establish a parking lot for vehicles instead of parking along the roads.

The Interior Minister conducted a field tour of various bridge facilities and observed the services provided there, listening directly from travelers about the nature of challenges and observations related to using the bridge, and emphasized to the relevant authorities the necessity of addressing all observations and complaints, promising to monitor the actions taken in this regard continuously to ensure optimal service for travelers.

It is worth mentioning that JET announced the launch of the passenger booking service at the King Hussein Bridge through electronic booking only, starting from last June, via a specialized booking platform prepared in coordination with the Ministry of Interior, as digitizing ticket booking services has improved procedures in various aspects.