A rights group and Ramle residents on Thursday petitioned a court to order the Transportation Ministry, the Superbus transportation company and the municipality to provide public bus service to the Arab neighborhoods.

The petitioners ? Ramle residents, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the Adaar association, the Ramle housing forum and Shatil ? say the fact that buses do not reach the Juarish and Gan Hakal neighborhoods of the city impinges upon the right to equality and the mobility of some 7,000 residents. This also causes them economic harm.

The petitioners note a particular need for public transportation in Juarish and Gan Hakal because of the dearth of public and municipal services ? such as banks, commercial centers, health services and places of employment ? in these neighborhoods.

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Gan Hakal residents, for example, are forces to walk 1.5 kilometers to the nearest bus stop. Neighborhood students walk three to four kilometers to reach school every day.

The petitioners are demanding Ramle municipality and the Transportation Ministry force Superbus to operate bus lines to the two neighborhoods.

Jamal Salame, a field coordinator for Shatil's mixed cities project, a bus line did run from central Ramle into Juarish up until two years ago. However, the line was halted due to economic considerations.

"Women, the elderly and children are those who suffer the most from this situation. The lack of buses further worsens the situation in these two neighborhoods," Salame said.