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Israeli Public Transit To Be Free of Cost for Seniors Starting on Jan. 1

The chair of the Histadrut’s pensioners union praised the decision to provide free transit for those 67 and older: “This is the age when people can travel, visit their grandchildren, and study”

אוטובוס של חברת מטרופולין (צילום: Igor Rozhkov/ Shutterstock.com)
A Metropoline bus. (Illustrative photo: Igor Rozhkov/Shutterstock)
By Amitai Perez

Amid rising cost of living and numerous difficulties for senior citizens in Israel, older Israelis have one thing to look forward to in the new year: free travel on public transportation. The Ministry of Transportation has confirmed that starting January 1, 2025, anyone aged 67 and older will be able to travel for free on public transportation. This decision follows commitments made by the ministry during the tenure of former Minister Merav Michaeli and coincides with the significant increase in public transportation prices announced last month.

“This is a major achievement for retirees,” said Shmulik Mizrahi, chair of the Histadrut’s pensioners union, on Wednesday. “This is the age when people can travel, visit their grandchildren, and study. There’s no need to use private vehicles. It saves money, reduces congestion, and addresses other issues because the roads are becoming increasingly crowded and dangerous.”

Shmulik Mizrahi, chair of the Histadrut’s pensioners union. (Photo: Pensioners Union spokesperson’s office)
Shmulik Mizrahi, chair of the Histadrut’s pensioners union. (Photo: Pensioners Union spokesperson’s office)

Currently, free travel is available only to retirees aged 75 and above, a policy introduced during the tenure of former Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli. Starting January 1, 2025 those aged 67 and above, regardless of gender, will also be eligible for free public transportation.

Mizrachi said that Michaeli had agreed to implement the discount for all seniors in stages, starting with those 75 and older. “The plan was passed on to the current government, and in the Economic Affairs Committee, MK David Bitan and Minister Miri Regev confirmed they would continue to ensure its implementation,” he said.

Initial announcements had indicated that the fee exemption would apply to all pension-age citizens, defined as 62 and older for women and 67 and older for men, rather than setting the age cut-off at 67 regardless of gender.

When asked about the discrepancy, the Ministry of Transportation responded, “Due to the war and budget cuts, the exemption will apply to men and women aged 67 and above.”

The ministry also released a statement highlighting this achievement and crediting current Transportation Minister Regev’s Transport Justice reform, introduced in March 2024, for the discounted prices initially achieved during Michaeli’s tenure from 2021-2022.

During Michaeli’s term as minister, she introduced the Equal Path program. That initiative provided discounts for groups who tend to rely on public transportation, such as seniors and young people, but also standardized fares throughout different regions, which negatively affected residents in peripheral areas where transportation costs had been lower.

Rising operating costs for public transportation during Michaeli’s term were expected to lead to fare increases, but she opted to forgo introducing additional benefits in order to prevent such hikes. With the introduction of the new government, Regev replaced the Equal Path program with her own Transport Justice initiative. This reform preserved some of the previous discounts while introducing new benefits for peripheral areas and specific sectors in its initial phase.

Possibly due to a lack of budgetary resources for the announced reforms, public transportation fares increased earlier this year. Unlike her predecessor, Regev did not allocate funds to prevent this increase, and the Ministry of Transportation did not formally announce the changes to the public.

Following this price increase, which included raising the light rail fare from 6 to 8 shekels per ride (about $1.67 to $2.22), the chair of the Economic Affairs Committee, MK David Bitan, criticized the Ministries of Transportation and Finance for acting “cunningly” to extract more money from citizens

Under both ministers, the decision to rearrange existing funds rather than significantly invest in improving and lowering the cost of public transportation stands out.

As noted, a significant increase in public transportation prices was announced last month—an additional 2 shekels (about 56 cents) across most fare categories. According to the Ministry of Transportation, this price hike is intended to fund improvements in service frequency and quality while also enabling the second phase of Minister Regev’s reform, which includes the aforementioned discounts.

This article was translated from Hebrew by Nancye Kochen. 

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