Price cuts announced in public transport fares

Fares on interurban public transport in Israel will be cut Wednesday as part of a plan to provide day passes that can be used on all means of public transportation – buses, railways, light railways and Haifa’s Metronit and at a later date shared taxis. Prices of daily interurban/ urban passes will vary from NIS 18 to NIS 60 according to region.

The measure is part of a reform by the Ministry of Transport aimed at encouraging the use of public transportation, reducing the cost of living, and relieving traffic jams.

A day ticket enables the holder to travel between and within metropolitan areas without restriction for the entire day. Day and monthly tickets are not valid for the Arava region and Eilat.

The day pass fare varies according to the relevant metropolitan area. For example, a day pass between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem will cost NIS 32.50, and a day ticket valid anywhere between Dimona in the south and Netanya in the center of the country will cost NIS 37.50. The latter day ticket includes travel between the cities of Ashkelon, Kiryat Gat, Ashdod, Kiryat Malachi, Sderot, Netivot, Arad, Dimona, Yeruham, Rehovot, Rishon Lezion, Modi’in, Elad, Rosh Ha’ayin, Hod Hasharon, Herzliya, Ra’anana, Tira, Netanya, and all cities in the Greater Tel Aviv metropolitan area.

The Ministry of Transport says that the cut in prices amounts to 40% (weighing round-trip interurban and urban travel). A day ticket between the Greater Haifa metropolitan area and the Greater Tel Aviv metropolitan area, which will cost NIS 40, will include travel from Nahariya to Ashdod on any public transportation (buses, Israel Railways, and Metronit buses in Haifa), including Ma’alot, Acre, Nahariya, Karmiel, Haifa and the Krayot region north of it (which includes Kiryat Ata, Kiryat Bialik, Kiryat Haim, and Kiryat Motzkin), Nazareth, Yokne’am, Hadera, Netanya, Ra’anana, Herzliya, Rosh Ha’ayin, Modi’in, Rehovot, Ashdod, Gan Yavne, and the cities of the Greater Tel Aviv metropolitan area. The price is 60% cheaper than the current price.

A day ticket on any means of public transportation will cost NIS 18 between Ashkelon and Kiryat Gat and NIS 21.50 between Afula, Beit She’an, the southern Golan Heights, towns on the shore of Lake Kinneret, towns in Wadi Ara (Iron), and Hadera, and between Ashkelon and Kiryat Gat and the ring surrounding the Greater Tel Aviv metropolitan area.

For the first time, a day ticket for travel anywhere in Israel from Kiryat Shmona to Mitzpe Ramon (excluding Eilat and the Arava) will be available for NIS 60.