Israeli Public Transportation "Almost Free" for Senior Citizens

We've never had a car. As an American suburban teen, I took Drivers Ed, got my driving license, etc, but my husband didn't. I used to drive my parents' cars when needed.

We made aliyah (moved to Israel) soon after our wedding in 1970, at a time when private cars there were still very rare. In those days the roads were awful and driving culture even worse. Most drivers were "first generation," meaning the first in their families to ever drive or own a car. Having never really enjoyed driving, I was terrified to compete with them on the roads. 

As years went on, I stopped renewing my American Drivers License and didn't bother with an Israeli one. We never made a lot of money, so the idea of having to budget car expenses, especially for one large enough for a family of seven, never appealed to us either. And as everyone can guess, one car wouldn't have been enough.

We've always somehow managed with public transportation. On rare occasions, we paid people to drive us, which cost less than owning a car. 

Now we're senior citizens, and not only has public transportation improved, but it's half price for us. One of the really great improvements is that there are free transfers on city buses within a certain time span and the option of daily, weekly and monthly passes. You just need a RavKav bus pass. There are personal ones which automatically give us our discount and anonymous ones which can be used by anyone including tourists, but they are only full price trips. 

Since we live outside of the big cities, I generally buy an unlimited day pass. For NS13, which is about $4-. If I have to go to Ariel I need to add another district, so it cost NS16- less than $5. This includes buses, lightrail and trains within the district.

Recently I heard of another way of paying which ends up less for short distances. You use an app on the phone. But since my phone doesn't have enough memory I'll have to wait until I get a new phone.

Life in Israel has its advantages for sure, especially for senior citizens.

Life in The Fast Lane, Pre-Shabbat Message

I must get off the computer quickly. Shabbat is soon, and I have lots to do.

Life is too short to put things off. Especially now that I'm now officially a senior citizen, retired and all, I try to take advantage of opportunities. When my friend and I suddenly discovered that we could just go on the new Jerusalem high speed train to the airport, not only for free, but immediately, we did it.

Everyday we're offered opportunities. We just must notice and take advantage. It's important to see family and friends as frequently as possible. There's no guarantee that there will be a tomorrow.

Let's enjoy the sunshine and the rain.

Sometimes it is hard to put that smile on your face, but since smiles can be contagious, they're worth the effort.

Blessings for a Joyful and Peaceful and Exciting Shabbat and Life

A Cause of Delays on the Jerusalem Lightrail

For those of us who travel in Jerusalem and use public transportation, the lightrail is now something we've totally gotten used to.  Most of us have relearned bus routes which had been changed and amputated when the route followed the train for too much of it. We do our best to keep our little yellow rechargeable Rav Kav ticket with plenty of rides magically tucked inside. We also learned how to quickly and efficiently pay immediately when entering the train before any inspector could stop us.



The train is so popular, there are many times of the day when even at one of the earliest stops in the route in Pisgat Ze'ev there are no empty seats.  And in the center of Jerusalem, on Jaffa Road, the train is frequently as crowded as the NYC Subway at rush hour.

An advantage during rush hour is that it runs on tracks and doesn't get stuck in traffic.  Well, honestly, that isn't so true.  There's a place in the Beit Chanina/Shuafat Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem where I've found myself more than once in a train that can't move at all.

Cars turning onto the road which is parallel to the tracks get stopped by a red light in the distance.  The junction at which they are turning doesn't go red quickly enough.

Last week, when I was on the train and standing in the very front, behind the driver, I heard another passenger saying that we should watch, because the driver is equipped with a camera. 

"Watch, the driver has a camera.  He's going to take a picture of the cars licenses  blocking him. And then those drivers get one thousand (1,000) shekel fines."

And yes, the driver did take out a smartphone, and he took pictures of the cars in front and their license plates.  Hopefully this should keep people from trying to sneak past the light when it's turning red.