If you come to Israel after 2017, make sure you get a Rav-kav card! In Haifa, when you buy a single ticket with Rav-kav card, you can have unlimited transfers in 90 minutes! This includes using Metronit (the long bus seen below) and buses. In this article we will cover:
- How to buy a single ride ticket
- The experience of transfers
- Things to know before you board Metronit
If you don’t have a Rav-kav already, then buy one from Metronit ticket machine. It costs 5 NIS.
Click the third option if you are buying a single ticket, “Choose a ticket to use”.
It will show your balance. And then click “Select”!
Then choose your zone that you’d like to travel. The cheapest option “5.9NIS” is for Haifa city. It includes going to Mt.Carmel and Bahai Gardens etc.
Then you can choose how many tickets you’d like to buy (up to 9 I think)
My Experience: Elijah Cave + Bahai Gardens
Once you buy your single ticket, the ticket will be loaded to your Rav-kav. The validity is for 90 minutes. I took Metronit 1 from Haifa HaShmona to Allenby (where Elijah’s Cave is). The ride was 14 minutes. It would have cost 5.9NIS for this ride already.
Instead of paying again, with this ticket I took Metronit 1 from Allenby to Dolfin. Then I took bus 136 to Bahai Gardens for the Upper Terrace Tour. The ride was 20-30 minutes. I didn’t pay again because of the 90 minutes rule!
So for 3 rides, I paid once. 5.9NIS. And plus when you load Rav-kav stored value, you get 25% extra. So I think the real cost was 4.7NIS!
Things to know before boarding Metronit
When we board a bus we know we should look for a sensor or the driver, but the rule for Metronit is different!!! Please know:
- Validate your card BEFORE you board Metronit
- Validate AGAIN when you make a transfer
There are 3 devices you’d see in a Metronit station
The one on the left is the validation sensor. The one in the middle is sensor plus you can pay with credit card. And the last one on the right is the ticket machine introduced in the beginning of this article.
This is the validation sensor device. Just ‘beep’ it! I bought 2 single tickets with this Raw-kav. There’s no discount but at least you only need to beep it once!
If you try validating again, there will be no deduction. “Already validated” will pop on the screen! 
The device in the machine. The one that allows you to pay with credit card! How cool!
You don’t need to validate when you get off the Metronit or bus.
References：
https://www.anglo-list.com/general-3/transport-18/haifa-metronit
http://www.metrobus.gov.il/documents/10180/1044219/Mapt_Reshet_Metroint%2848×33%29-eng.pdf/09219129-13a0-44e0-9981-6a743df2c413
