Tel-O-Fun bike rentals to be restricted for Yom Kippur

Annual subscribers may rent bikes before the holiday in order to ride them during the restricted time at no extra charge.

By SHARON UDASIN
Tel Ofan 370 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Tel Ofan 370
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
The Tel-O-Fun municipal bike system will shut down on Yom Kippur, disabling bike rentals and prohibiting employees from working during the day, the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality announced on Tuesday.
Although the city biking service will not operate for the duration of Yom Kippur, annual subscribers will be able to rent bikes before the holiday and ride them during the restricted time at no extra charge, the municipality said.
To avoid any additional charge, however, the subscribers must pick up and drop off their bikes during a limited window of time: Annual subscribers interested in riding the bikes during the holiday must rent them between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Friday, the eve of Yom Kippur, and must return the bikes by 12:59 a.m. after the holiday ends on Saturday night, the city said. Subscribers who return their bikes later than the specified time will incur an additional fee – already reaching NIS 5 at 1:01 a.m., the municipality explained.
Tel-O-Fun customer service and maintenance will close at 2 p.m. on Friday, while all rental terminals will shut down at 3 p.m.
that day. The following evening, after Yom Kippur ends, the bike rental terminals will once again begin operating at 8 p.m., while service and maintenance will resume at 9 p.m., the municipality said.
The municipality stressed that subscribers who intended to keep their bike rentals during Yom Kippur must make sure to keep the bikes in a safe place, and even recommended practicing locking and releasing them.
“It is the renter’s responsibility to maintain the bicycle and to return it following the end of the holiday,” a statement from the city read.
A weekly or daily subscriber who keeps his or her bike during the holiday will be charged for regular use – a full day or a full new week, depending on the subscription, the city added.
Since its establishment two years ago, the Tel-OFun program has accumulated 17,000 annual subscribers, 1,700 bicycles, 170 docking stations and 4.9 million bike rentals, according to the municipality.