[netcan]

Israel has always had 'Sherut' taxi vans. These usually follow regular bus routes and actually pot the bus route's number. The biggest use case is Saturdays, when public busses don't run, but it's not unknown for a 'sherut' van to arrive in some terminal trying to put together a route for any potential travelers sitting around or even to go along a long haul bus route 5 minutes ahead of the official bus and pick up passengers.

Different areas/routes have different conventions. Price is sometimes by negotiation, sometimes the bus fare and sometimes twice the bus fare.

Makes sense to the people who use it regularly but very hard to penetrate for a newcomer. Virtually impossible for tourists. Ironically, a lot of guide books tell tourists to use these.

[aaronreiss]

Hi there! I'm Aaron Reiss, the author of this map and article for the New Yorker. First, thank you so much for reading and discussing it! Second, I'm actually going to be in Israel next week and would love to ride some sherut... If you (or anyone) would be willing I school me a bit in where to catch them and where they go, I would love to hear from you. My email is reiss.aaron at gmail dot com. To any one else who reads this, I'm excited I respond to the rest of hear comments once I'm back in states and in front of my trusty laptop later this month!

All my best, Aaron Reiss @erinreiss

[netcan]

It's been a very long time since I last used them so others may have better advice than me.

Option 1: Go to high traffic bus stations along major North-South roads (roads #20,#4,#2 are good choices) or the Jerusalem-TV highway on Friday evening or Saturday before sestet.

Option 2: Go to central stations (eg 'New Tel Aviv Bus Station') area and ask around.

Option 3: Find backpackers/teenagers with bags (it's summer break) & at regional central stations.

Option 4: WB or eat jerusalem settlements (it's a bad week for these). I think many of the smaller settlements have semi-private or informal bus networks on some different informal system.

Option 5: is transport to and around Arab towns int the Sharon/triangle region. There are spots in Raanana, Kfar Saba, Netanya and the rest of the big towns in the area that serve as Terminals for Sherut Taxis to nearby arab towns. These will usually have a station master type of guy. He will most likely be smoking a nargilla.

Watch for Taxi vans with route numbers. These are the Sherut taxis

[acjohnson55]

Most places in the world have this concept. I used shared taxis all over the Middle East. The biggest issue I think is poor documentation and standards, which can make it challenging for visitors to know how to get around.

[feralmoan]

I've probably done 6 of these types in my travels http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Share_taxi#Traditional_systems_...

...didn't know they were so prevalent. Love the Jeepney's though they're just like little Chicken Bus'

[davidf18]

Yes, the "Sherut" taxi vans(that hold only 10 people) in Tel Aviv are great and far more frequent than the buses that travel the routes with fewer stops.

There are frequent Sherut taxi vans that travel between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. As soon as there are 10 passengers, they go.

I wish NYC had Sherut vans. People would probably taking far fewer taxis and be much greener if it did.

[findingMyWay]

NYC does have these. Called commuter vans. I know of at least one that I used to take down to Wall Street from the Upper East side. It was great. Fast service and a fraction of the price of a cab.

There are also Taxi shares in NYC, which are similar, but hold less people (4). These are somewhat informal affairs and you have to know where to go / stand. But if you're going downtown anyway, why not split the fare with 4 strangers?

[grkvlt]

I loved those, but the payment mechanism was confusing as hell the first time - you have to pass your money to the person in front, who passed it on until it got to the driver, and then your change got passed back the same way. People would just tap you on the shoulder and hand you a bunch of shekels...

[brandonr05]

Please see above reply to @netcan. I am seeking some advice on Sherut vans on behalf of the author of the article.