There are surcharges  for calling a taxi (3.50 NIS approx), for luggage (2.90 NIS a piece approx) and for hailing a taxi at Ben Gurion airport (5 NIS approx). Night rates have a 25% surcharge, and there is a starting fare of NIS 9.10 in cities.

It is best to agree on a price with the driver at the start of the journey and if in doubt to insist that the meter is used (they have to do this legally, however will often try to persuade you not to).

It is also convenient to get a taxi to and from Ben Gurion Airport. Here there are fixed fares and a dispatcher who organizes the process.

As a rule of thumb, Israeli highways are numbered even for north-south, and odd for east-west. The major highways in Israel are:

• Route 1 – Tel Aviv to Jordan River
• Route 2 – Tel Aviv to Haifa
• Route 4 – Erez Border Crossing (Gaza) to Rosh HaNikra
• Route 6 – Kiryat Gat to Barkai
• Route 20 – Rishon LeZion to Herzliya
• Route 40 – Lotan to Kfar Saba
• Route 65 – Caesarea to Afula
• Route 70 – Zichron Yaakov to Shelomi
• Route 90 – Taba Border Crossing to Metulla

Hire cars in Israel can often be older and more heavily used than you might find in Europe or North America because the cost of cars here is so much greater. They are, however, up-to-date models, especially when renting a car from a larger company. Typical rental cars in Israel are the Hyundai Getz/i10, Mazda 3, and Mazda 6. As well as renting the car, it is possible to rent GPS navigation systems which can make travelling far more easy.

Car rental at Ben Gurion Airport is directly operated by Avis, Budgt, Hertz, Sixt and Eldan, all of whom work from a site about a five minute bus ride from the airport terminal. The shuttle bus runs regularly and is shared between the companies (all are next door to each other). Other car rental companies will often enable you to rent a car at Ben Gurion Airport by dropping it off/meeting the client there.

All the major car rental companies in Israel have offices in the main cities – Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, and Eilat, and between them, they cover much of the interim and periphery with one or two companies having offices in smaller towns and cities.

Car rental firms in Israel

Shlomo Sixt are the largest car rental company in Israel

Avis, Budget, and Eldan are alternatives, as is Israel car rental service by Hertz. Car rentals in Israel from Sixt International.

Ben Gurion Airport Train Station is located beneath the taxi station as you arrive at the airport. The station is on the line between Modiin and Nahariya, which means that it is easy to get trains from Ben Gurion Airport to Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Netanya, and Haifa. These trains run frequently, generally twice an hour, and are perhaps the quickest option to get from the airport to many cities.

There are four train stations in Tel Aviv spanning the city from North to South. They are all located on the eastern edge of the city, following the Ayalon Highway. From the station, downtown Tel Aviv is very walkable, however it may be easier to get a bus (which run frequently to many central destinations) or a cab. The main train station in Tel Aviv is Tel Aviv Center (or Tel Aviv Savidor Mercaz) which is particularly convenient seeing as the Arlozorov Bus Terminal (Tel Aviv 2000 Terminal) is located just next door, from where there are large numbers of bus services within Tel Aviv and beyond (including buses to Jerusalem every 10-20 minutes). Other train stations in Tel Aviv include Tel Aviv University which serves the northern neighborhood of Ramat Aviv and the University, Tel Aviv HaShalom which is located next to the Azrieli Center, one of the city’s largest malls, and is within walking distance of The White City and Rothschild Boulevard (20 mins approx), and Tel Aviv HaHagana which is convenient for South Tel Aviv.

As well as the main commuter lines running North to South, there are railway lines to Beer Sheva in the Negev Desert, Ashkelon, and Nahariya. Trains to Jerusalem do run from Tel Aviv, however, until the new fast line opens in a few years time, take much longer than a bus, involving a change of train. Buses between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem run very frequently and take less than an hour.

For further information on train travel in Israel, check out the Israel Railways website which is fully in English and provides timetable, route and ticket information. hwww.rail.co.il/EN

Bike station on Rothschild Boulevard.

The way it works is simple. Users sign up via Internet, toll-free phone number (*6070) or visiting City Hall. For now, only annual subscriptions are available, costing NIS 280 (about $64) or NIS 240 for local residents. Eventually, daily and weekly subscriptions will be sold as well.

When you want to get from Point A to Point B, you visit your nearby Tel Ofun station – there will be over 150 in the near future, if all goes according to plan. Using an electronic key fob, you pick up the bicycle at one station and drop it off at another one near your destination. It’s free for the first half hour, and your “clock” restarts from zero if you leave the bike docked for at least 10 minutes.

“The purpose is that we want people to share the bikes,” explains Tel Aviv-Jaffa Economic Development Authority CEO Sharon Kenan, who heads the project. “While you’re doing whatever you’re doing, someone else will ride the bike you docked.” This is roughly the same way municipal bike-renting programs work in about 200 cities all over the world.

Though the idea may indeed be simple, it took three years of planning from the time Mayor Ron Huldai gave the assignment to the EDA until the pilot program was rolled out at the start of May.

Payment station

The challenge was two-fold, says Kenan. One was to create a stable, sophisticated information technology system behind Tel-O-Fun, and the other was to make sure that when a subscriber randomly arrives at a station, there will always be a bike waiting there in good condition – and there will be an available spot at which to dock it at the destination station.

“This is very hard to achieve,” says Kenan. “But we have special trucks going around the city balancing the inventory of bicycles from full stations to empty stations.”

He even called in the department of mathematics at Tel Aviv University to help. These students established formulas based on typical patterns of how bicycles move through the city, showing the optimum plan for moving them from one station to another. Each station is stocked with about 20 bikes.

To show it is totally serious about making bike riding an attractive alternative for Tel Aviv-Jaffa residents and people from other areas who arrive in the city by public transportation for work each day, the city is investing many millions of shekels to add to its existing 65 miles of bike lanes.

“We need more,” says Kenan. “In the last five years, we’ve invested NIS 10 million per year in this project, and for the next five years the municipality has tripled the budget” for constructing bike lanes.

Learning from the experiences of other cities in dealing with possible theft, damage and vandalism of the fleet, Kenan says there are both physical and electronic protections in place, but did not elaborate for obvious reasons.

Article via Israel MFA. Visit the bike rental scheme at www.tel-o-fun.co.il/en

Egged bus by Flickr user david55king

Israel’s bus network is the country’s most extensive and popular transport infrastructure system. There are two main bus operators, Egged, who is the largest, (and the second largest in the world), run an incredible range of routes across the country (intercity) as well as being the main bus provider in Jerusalem and Haifa. Dan, operates most buses in the Tel Aviv area as well as some intercity routes. Other cities and routes are operated by smaller operators (see below)

City buses

The three largest cities (as below) have extensive bus networks. Other cities have networks operated by smaller, often local operators.

• Buses in Jerusalem – operated by Egged
• Buses in Tel Aviv – operated by Dan
• Buses in Haifa – operated by Egged

Multi-ride tickets, giving reduction of 15-20%, are available in the form of two-ride (or return) tickets and so-called Kartisiya for 5 to 20 journeys with the same fare on the same company. These multi-ride tickets can be used by several passengers. Daily pass (Hofshi Yomi) is available in some cities, including Tel Aviv, and there is a wide range of monthly passes (Hofshi Hodshi) designed for commuters. Recently, Egged and Dan introduced a new ticket for students of unlimited travel for the entire semester or academic year.

Buses between Cities

Intercity bus lines in Israel are mostly operated by Egged who have over 1,000 routes these run between the largest cities, smallest villages and stop at most major junctions on the road network. There is no nationwide fare system, so you can find significant differences between journeys of similar length, however fares are generally relatively cheap, with the most expensive journey, between Haifa and Eilat, costing 70NIS one way.

Intercity bus lines are classified to 3 categories: ‘Regular’ (me’asef), ‘Express’ (express), and ‘Direct’ (yashir).

• Me’asef (meaning collect) bus collects passengers at many stops along its route, which makes it a slow journey. If you travel between major cities you better avoid these buses.
• Express bus usually travels on long-distance routes and might travel at certain sections (or even the entire route) along the same stretch as me’asef bus, but stops at fewer stations. Express bus normally doesn’t pick up passengers for short journeys on which a me’asef bus line is available.
• Direct lines are either pure non-stop routes, or might have few stops in the cities of departure and arrival.

General information about travelling by bus in Israel

Tickets can be bought from drivers on the bus or at ticket booths in bus stations. Payment by credit card is accepted at ticket booths for fares over 22NIS.

In general, journeys with connection require separate ticket for each segment. Transfer tickets are available only in few places (usually when a journey that used to be direct changes and requires connection). Reservation is available only for buses to/from Eilat, and can be done at a ticket booth, by phone or internet or text message.

In many central stations you can find electronic information boards, which provide info on destinations, platforms and times of departures within the next hour. These boards are arranged by Hebrew alphabet, and in big terminals it might take a few minutes until you get the info you need.

Bus stops in cities and on the roads are marked by a yellow metal “flag”. The list of route no. that stop there are marked on the flag, generally accompanied by the destinations. If you see it in Hebrew only, check the other side and you might find the English version there. (Sometimes, though, the English version is incomplete.) You may also find route maps posted on the wall of the stop shed. If you need help reading this info or just clueless, don’t be shy to ask other passengers.

Most companies provide information by phone and internet and Egged and Dan both have very comprehensive English language websites:

• Egged: Dial *2800 from any phone, or send an SMS message to *2800. Call center hours: Weekdays 6.30-21.00, Friday 7.30-15.00, Saturday from end of Shabbat to 23.00. There is service in English, Hebrew and Russian. www.egged.co.il
• Dan: Dial 03-6394444 (Bezek), *3456 (Cellcom/Orange) or *4444 (Pelephone). Call center hours: Weekdays 7.00-21.00, Friday 7.00-13.00, Saturday 18.00-22.00. Computer service available 24/7. Languages: Hebrew, English, Russian and Spanish. www.dan.co.il/english

Bus routes are designated by a number, that consist of 1 to 3 digits. Urban and suburban lines usually have 1 or 2 digits, while intercity lines normally have 3 digits. The last digit of intercity lines often suggests its category. The fastest routes usually have digit 0 or 5, while the digits 1 and 3 are associated with slow lines. Digits 2, 4, 6 and 9 are usually express lines.

Sherut by Flickr user Flitzy Phoebie

Sheruts are shared taxis which run across Israel. Generally 9 or 10 seater mini-buses, they run both between cities and within cities, and are a popular means of transport especially between the airport and major cities as they can deliver you direct to your destination.

How does the sherut work?

You can get a sherut either from a fixed starting point (for example the airport arrivals area or the Central Bus Station of major cities) or direct from your address (especially for airport journeys where you can book in advance).

When you get on, you tell the driver where you would like to be dropped off, pay (a fixed fare), and then wait for the rest of the seats to fill up. This varies greatly depending on the time of day and location.

Once full, the driver then heads towards your destination, stopping along the way at the destinations of the other passengers. Depending on where they go, the journey’s length can vary significantly, however, destinations can only be within set parameters and so are unlikely to take you too far from your route.

Sheruts from Ben Gurion Airport

Sheruts run from Ben Gurion Airport to Jerusalem and Haifa. They can be picked up from the ground floor arrivals area (near the taxi rank) and run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, making them especially useful on Saturday when public transport is otherwise minimal. As there are constantly flights arriving, you should rarely have to wait more than half an hour for the sherut to fill up, but this obviously depends on how many passengers are on it when you arrive.

To go to the airport, you can call the local sherut providers office 24 hours in advance to book a sherut to pick you up from where you are staying and drop you at the airport.

Sherut to Jerusalem

Fare Information:

To: Jerusalem – Givat Ze’v, Moshav Ora, Moshav Aminadav, Even Sapir, Kiryat Anavim, Beit Nekofa, Abu Ghosh, Zova, Sho’eva
NIS 36.1 (to city center)
NIS 56.15 (to personal destination)

To: Har Adar, Netef, Ma’ale Hahamisha, Kiryat Ye’arim, Neve Ilan, Shoresh, Beit Meir, Ramat Raziel, Kisalon.
NIS 36.1 (to city center)
NIS 60.03 (to personal destination)

To: Ma’ale Adumim
NIS 41.98 (to city center)
NIS 65.07 (to personal destination)

*fare information is correct as of December 2010

Sherut to Haifa

Fare Information:
To: Haifa, Nesher, Tivon, Rekhasim, Yokne’am and Tirat Hacarmel
NIS 53.52 (to city center)
NIS 87.95 (to personal destination)

To: Akko, Mishmeret, Check Post, Kiryat Haim, Kiryat Motskin, Kiryat Yam, Kiryat Bialik and Kiryat Ata.
NIS 64.96 (to city center)
NIS 102.75 (to personal destination)

To: Naharia, Lokhamei ha-Geta’ot and Rosh Hanikra
NIS 69.16 (to city center)
NIS 108.2 (to personal destination)

*fare information is correct as of December 2010

Sheruts between cities

Sheruts run between all major cities in Israel regularly. Similarly to the airport journeys they drop passengers at their individual destinations and start generally at the city’s central bus station.

Sheruts within cities

Some cities, for instance Tel Aviv, have sheruts running within the city following routes and letting passengers off along the routes.

El Al CEO Eliezer Shkedi said, “This is a breakthrough and good news for tourists entering and leaving Israel. El Al’s scheduled flight, inaugurated today for the first time, will boost the number of number of tourists, improve service, and bring the periphery closer to the center of the country to everyone’s benefit. We believe that El Al’s regular service between Tel Aviv and Eilat will substantially boost both domestic and international tourism to Eilat.”

To serve Israelis and tourists making follow-on flights to El Al’s international destinations, the airline will provide shuttles between Terminal 1 and the international terminal, Terminal 3, at Ben Gurion Airport. Check-in for the follow-on flights will be carried out at Eilat Airport.

To mark the first month of the launch, El Al is offering special single-segment fares of NIS 189 based on a booklet of 14 midweek flights for residents of central Israel, and NIS 149 per segment for residents of Eilat who buy the 14-midweek flights booklet

El Al is not yet offering market-breaking fares to Eilat. Although both Arkia Airlines Ltd. and Israir Airlines and Tourism Ltd. charge up to NIS 400 one-way fares to Eilat, they both make dozens of flights every day between Ben Gurion Airport and Eilat, compared with three daily flights by El Al.

In addition, Arkia CEO Gadi Tepper launched the Arkia Express service a few months ago, which offers starting fares at NIS 80, not including luggage costs, for advance reservations.

The options: Airlines flying between Tel Aviv and Eilat

Arkia: Offers flights every couple of hours between Eilat and Tel Aviv’s domestic Sde Dov Airport as well as two/three a day from Ben Gurion Airport

Israir: Offers slightly less flights, but still very regular through the day between Eilat and Sde Dov, as well as less frequent flights to Ben Gurion Airport.

El Al: New to the domestic market, El Al is now flying two/three times a day between Ben Gurion Airport and Eilat. These flights have been designed to fit in with their international schedules and the extra Eilat leg is heavily discounted for passengers flying onwards after taking an El Al flight to Israel.

[via Globes]