Chasing the Fionist Dream

If you’re a regular reader of our blog, you probably know that we are happily car-free and have been for five and a half years now. In that time, not having a car has saved us upwards of 100,000 shekels – which has all been invested instead. While we occasionally rent a car-share car, we mostly get around by foot and public transportation.

In case you haven’t noticed, we love public transportation. It’s inexpensive, it’s good for the environment, and it is the only real solution for ridding this country (and others) of traffic jams. It’s the future. (If you can make it work for you – wonderful! If not, we still like you. No worries. 😉 )

Anyway, back to the post.

For those of you who take public transportation in Israel – even occasionally – how do you pay for it? Do you have a Rav Kav? That is the best and cheapest way to pay for public transportation in Israel, isn’t it?

Well… no. It isn’t.

Why not? Aren’t the fares the same no matter how I pay for them?

Yes and no. While the prices of individual public transportation rides are set and cost the same everywhere (except Eilat), you can potentially bring costs down by buying a day pass or monthly pass (or even a periphery monthly pass if all of your rides take place outside of Israel’s metropolitan centers). The trick is knowing in advance when, where, and how often you’re going to travel. Each month, back before the public transportation apps were a thing, we’d count that month’s workdays and try to anticipate what other errands we’d have in order to decide whether it was worth it to buy a cardboard monthly pass (chofshi chodshi) from the driver (remember those days?) or later on, load such a pass onto our Rav Kavs. If you have a Rav Kav, you might still do that mental calculation today. But we don’t! We love the apps. Apps are the best.

We personally use Moovit, but Pango, Rav-Pass, and Cello work the same way. It’s really just a matter of preference. Unlike Rav Kav, there is no need to prepay or calculate anything in advance. At the end of each month, the app will retroactively figure out which plans worked out the cheapest for you and charge you for that. If you traveled enough that a monthly pass is the cheapest, you’ll pay 225 for the month – or 99 shekels if all of your travels took place in the periphery. If you are not eligible for a monthly pass, but it works out that a day pass would have been the cheapest for a particular day, it will charge you for that.

For example, one inner-city bus ride costs 5.50 shekels, but an inner-city day pass costs 12.50. Your third ride on any particular day will cost you 1.50 shekels on the app, while any additional rides would be free. Someone paying with a Rav Kav would end up paying 5.50 for each one of those rides.

Another example: If you decide to travel from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv (or vice versa) for the day, using the app will charge you a maximum of 32 shekels round trip, provided you only take buses, or 37 shekels round trip if you take both buses and trains.

However, (unless they purchase a day pass in advance) someone with a Rav Kav would be charged 16 shekels per direction for the intercity bus or 24 shekels per direction for the intercity train ride. Any innercity busses in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv would be an additional 5.50. Provided that you take at least one innercity bus in Jerusalem and one in Tel Aviv, this same day trip would cost you a minimum of 43 shekels round trip using buses only, or 59 shekels round trip if you take buses and trains. The savings of using a day pass (automatically purchased by the app) really adds up, especially if you travel often.


Are there any other ways to bring down the cost of public transportation?

Yes. Definitely. Make sure that you have the appropriate profile loaded onto your Rav Kav or app. Senior citizens, children, students, people with disabilities, and others are eligible for a discount on public transportation, and people aged 75 or over get to travel for free! By using an anonymous Rav Kav or an app without loading a special profile, you will be charged full price.

I’m too old for this. I’m technology-phobic. I think this is too complicated for me.

A Rav Kav is low tech? We’re technology-phobic too. We were nervous about getting our first Rav Kavs back when they were new, but we begrudgingly did it anyway since we had no other choice. Today, fewer and fewer physical stores charge up Rav Kavs. The best way to do it is via the Rav Kav app on your phone or computer. If you are able to use that app, you should be able to use this one 🙂

Can kids use these apps? What if they don’t have a smartphone?

Kids can use the app and set up a child profile. If they don’t have a smartphone, you can download a different app for them and pay for each of you separately on different apps. We haven’t done this though and use a child Rav Kav for our daughter who rarely rides the bus anyway. (Our son rides free, since he is under five.)

Are there any downsides to using the app?

Like anything app-based, you’ll have a problem if your phone malfunctions or dies while you’re out and about. If you are really worried about it, you might want to carry a Rav Kav with a little bit of money on it to allay your fears – just in case. That’s it.

Okay. You’ve convinced me. How do I use the app?

Start by downloading one of the four apps we listed above. They should all be available for both Android and Apple. Follow the prompts to create a profile for yourself and enter your credit card information. Make sure to upload the required documentation for a discount profile if you are eligible for one.

When you get on the bus, select bus and scan the QR code on the bus door, window, or Rav Kav scanner. Select the ride you want to take and approve. If a ticket inspector gets on the bus, show him or her the QR code linked to the confirmation for that ride.

When you get on a train, select train. The app will create a QR code to scan on your way into the train station. When you get off the train, tell the app you got off the train and it will create an exit QR code for you that you scan on your way out.

For municipal light rail trains, select light rail train. The app will locate your station via GPS, so there is no need to scan a QR code. Confirm the station you are getting on from. In Jerusalem, you don’t have to do anything when you get off. In the Tel Aviv area, you may be required to scan a QR code again.

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We hope this post has enlightened you and inspired you. While this method of paying for public transportation won’t save you big shekels each month, everything adds up in the long run. We love never paying for price for anything as much as we can, and this is yet another way.

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