How to ride public transportation in Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv runs on a single distance-based fare that covers city buses and the light rail alike, paid with a tap of a Rav-Kav card or a scan of your phone. The one thing that trips up visitors isn’t the fare — it’s the calendar: the entire public transportation network, trains included, shuts down for Shabbat every week.

The basics

Four things get you around the city:

• Buses, mostly run by Dan within Tel Aviv-Yafo and the wider Gush Dan area, with Metropoline covering routes north to Herzliya, Ra’anana, and Kfar Saba.
• The Red Line, Tel Aviv’s light rail — 34 stations running underground and at street level between Petah Tikva and Bat Yam through Bnei Brak, Ramat Gan, and central Tel Aviv. It opened in August 2023 and now carries roughly 234,000 riders a day.
• Israel Railways trains, which connect Tel Aviv’s stations to the rest of the country and to Ben Gurion Airport.
• Taxis and sherut shared vans, which matter more here than in most cities because of the Shabbat gap below.

Two more light rail lines (Green and Purple) are under construction but not yet open.

How to pay

The Rav-Kav smart card is the backbone of the system:

1. Get an anonymous Rav-Kav card for a one-time 5 NIS — no ID or registration needed. Buy one at the Central Bus Station, at kiosks and service stations around the city, or at the Arlozorov Train Station bus terminal.
2. Load it with cash or a card at a service station, or online/in-app through Rav-Kav Online or HopOn.
3. Tap it on the reader every time you board a bus or pass through a light rail gate.

If you’d rather skip the card entirely, Moovit and HopOn both let you pay straight from your phone — open the app, scan the QR code posted near the doors, and it charges your ride.

Fares

Since 2022’s “Derekh Hashava” reform, fares are set by distance rather than by a flat citywide price, with tiers at 15, 40, 75, 120, and 225 km, and an unlimited tier:

• 8 NIS covers a single ride up to 15 km — the tier that covers nearly any trip within Tel Aviv itself, on both bus and light rail.
• Rides taken with the same Rav-Kav tap transfer for free for 90 minutes.
• A monthly unlimited pass covering distances up to 225 km nationwide costs 315 NIS.
• Riders 67 and older travel free on every mode, nationwide, after registering the “Golden Rav-Kav” profile on their card.

Getting from the airport

Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) sits about 15 km southeast of the city, and the fastest way in is the train.

• Israel Railways runs directly from a station on the lower level of Terminal 3 to four Tel Aviv stops: HaHagana, HaShalom, Savidor Center, and University.
• Cost: 13.50 NIS.
• Hours: trains run around the clock Sunday through Thursday (after midnight, only HaHagana and Savidor Center are served) — but no service operates from Friday morning to Saturday evening for Shabbat.
• Bus 445 also runs roughly hourly from Terminal 3 into central Tel Aviv, along Dizengoff, Ben Yehuda, and other central streets — also not running on Shabbat.
• Taxi: a flat rate of 150 NIS from the designated taxi stand on Level 2, available 24 hours. Tipping isn’t expected.

Apps to download

• Moovit — an Israeli-made app and the local default for real-time bus and train arrivals and step-by-step trip planning; also supports in-app fare payment.
• HopOn (Rav-Pass) — the Ministry of Transport-licensed app for paying any fare directly from your phone.
• Rav-Kav Online — the official site and app for loading money onto a physical Rav-Kav card.
• Israel Railways — for train schedules and tickets.

When it runs

Bus and light rail service runs daily except during Shabbat. The Red Line’s frequency runs about every 6 minutes off-peak. On Fridays, service on every mode winds down hours before sundown, and nothing runs again until Saturday night, when a short window of light rail and bus service resumes ahead of a full Sunday restart.

Accessibility

City buses run by Dan and Metropoline have a wheelchair-accessible ramp and a designated wheelchair space. The Ben Gurion Airport train is step-free with no advance notice required, though booking 24 hours ahead gets you staff assistance at the station. The free weekend Na’im BaSof’sh shuttles (below) are also accessible with 3 hours’ notice through their call center.

Etiquette & local quirks

• Shabbat changes everything. From roughly Friday afternoon until Saturday night, buses, trains, and the light rail all stop running. It catches first-time visitors off guard more than any fare or route ever will — plan Friday evening and Saturday trips around taxis, sherut vans, or the option below.
• Na’im BaSof’sh (“Nice on the Weekend”) is a free municipal shuttle network that fills part of that gap — 17 numbered lines (705–729) connecting Tel Aviv-Yafo and 11 neighboring towns, running Fridays 4:30pm–2am and Saturdays 9am–5:30pm, at no charge. It won’t get you everywhere regular transit does, but it covers the city center, the beaches, and the port.
• Tap in every time, even on transfers — inspectors do check on buses, trains, and the light rail.

Good to know

• Watch which service line you board on the Red Line — three overlapping service patterns (R1, R2, R3) share the central section of the route but terminate at different ends, so check the sign on the platform and the car before boarding.
• No ticket machines on board. You can’t buy, load, or validate a Rav-Kav on the bus or train itself — sort out payment before you travel.
• Regular service resumes gradually after Shabbat ends Saturday night, so late Saturday evening can still mean thin schedules.