Bus Ridership in Israel Grows Slowly Despite Transport Subsidies and Reforms
Translated & summarized from Calcalist by baba
Bus ridership in Israel rose slightly by 1.4% in 2025 to 780.9 million trips, with urban routes dominating usage. Senior citizens increased their bus use following free fare reforms. Jerusalem’s light rail ridership fell due to line closures, while Tel Aviv’s light rail grew. The first segment of Jerusalem’s green line will open next week, though the network remains incomplete. Overall, public transport growth remains slow despite government investments and reforms.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- Bus ridership in Israel grew by only 1.4% in 2025 to 780.9 million trips.
- Urban bus lines accounted for 82.4% of trips, with Jerusalem leading in usage.
- Seniors’ bus trips increased to 110 million due to free fare reforms.
- Jerusalem light rail ridership dropped 23.7% due to a 14-week shutdown.
- Tel Aviv’s light rail ridership rose 21%, averaging 3 million trips monthly.
- Jerusalem’s green light rail segment opens next week but network remains incomplete.
In 2025, bus ridership in Israel increased modestly to 780.9 million trips, a 1.4% rise from 769.8 million in 2024, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics. Although the number of bus trips is growing, the pace remains slow relative to the goal of shifting passengers from private cars to public transport. This comes despite significant government investments and reforms like the "Transportation Justice" initiative, aimed at making public transit more affordable for various population groups.
Urban bus lines accounted for 82.4% of trips in 2025, with 643.4 million trips, while intercity and regional lines made up 15.4% and 1.7%, respectively. Jerusalem led in bus usage with 171.4 million trips (about 22% of total bus trips), followed by Tel Aviv-Yafo with 81.3 million and Haifa with 54.8 million. Peak usage hours were between 1:00 PM and 2:00 PM (61.2 million trips) and 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM (58.7 million trips), indicating buses are mainly used by regular public transit commuters.
Senior citizens showed increased bus usage, rising from 94 million trips in 2023 to 110 million in 2025, representing 14.1% of all bus trips, despite being 12.8% of the population. This increase is attributed to the "Transportation Justice" reform, which grants free public transport to seniors over 67.
Rail transit showed mixed trends: Jerusalem’s light rail ridership dropped 23.7% in 2025 due to a 14-week shutdown of the central red line segment for connection works to the green line. Haifa’s cable car ridership rose 26.9% to 1.4 million trips, while the Carmelit subway declined 7.1% to about one million trips. The Tel Aviv metropolitan light rail (Red Line), operational since August 2023, grew 21% to 29.9 million trips in 2025, averaging around 3 million trips monthly.
Next week, the first segment of Jerusalem’s green light rail line (L3) is set to open, connecting the Tzurim station on Jaffa Street to Malha over 7 kilometers with 13 stations, 12 of which are new. However, this opening marks only a partial completion of the green line and the broader Jerusalem light rail network, which remains unfinished.
These data emerge amid ongoing debates about the future of public transportation in Israel. Despite infrastructure investments, fare reforms, and management changes, public transit still struggles to compete effectively with private car use.
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