And you think a local custom that tells women where to sit on a public bus is OK?
It's not a question of women being inferior, I don't believe. It's a matter of modesty, men and women not sitting next to strangers in public. Certainly women seem to play a stronger role in traditional Judaism than in most other traditional world religions.
I would assume that if a man sat in the woman's section, he would also be asked to move. Yes, it sounds like Jim Crow, sitting in the back of the bus, but Jim Crow involved clear discrimination against blacks, and that isn't the intention here.
I gather from the story that this bus takes religious visitors to one of Judaism's holy places for prayers, so it seems appropriate enough to honor the religious customs of the people who make daily use of it.
If I went into a mosque for some reason (I never have, and probably never will), I would recognize the need to remove my shoes, even though I don't think Allah is really God. In the case of religious Jews, I would respect their beliefs and customs as well, and in their case I think they worship the same God I do.
Yep.
Hey, celebrate diversity, already!