All-Palestine Transit Authority

Double-decker bus on the 100 Ramallah route

**All-Palestine Transit Authority** (**APTA**; Arabic: سلطة عموم فلسطين للنقل *sulṭat ‘umūm falasṭīn lin-naqal*) is the state-owned corporation which operates Palestine's public transit system.

The authority operates all public bus routes in the country, organising its operations into regional networks, all of which are centred around a particular major urban commercial core. For example, the largest such network is the East Jerusalem–West Bank service region, which consists of almost 300 routes including 10 express commuter lines; its hub is Damascus Gate Station, located in the Bab el-Zahara borough of East Jerusalem, which is also the terminus of three intercity/regional passenger rail lines operated by Palrail, the national state-owned railroad company. Each regional transit network operates routes connecting to surrounding regions, and the networks are well-integrated, using a single fare scheme.

While the two rapid transit lines of the Port Said Metro are integrated into the APTA system, meaning a separate fare is not required to transfer and the schedule is included in official trip planners, the trains themselves are actually operated and maintained by Palrail. The nation's main operator of school bus routes for primary and secondary students is an APTA subsidiary, and another subsidiary called Handi-Pal runs accessible buses and vans for physically handicapped persons and other persons with severe mobility issues. These programs are completely subsidised by the state via the social security system, which also subsidises regular APTA transit passes for seniors and persons with disabilities. Most secondary schools and colleges also provide annual passes to enrolled students.

The company has a division responsible for routine maintenance of bus vehicles as well as responding to distress calls from vehicles in service along their route and maintaining system infrastructure. The main servicing yard and maintenance centre for the West Bank is located in northern Ramallah on El-Irsal Street near the Mukataa, and there is one in Jabalia near Gaza City and one near Waterfront Station in Port Said; many other cities have a local service yard near their transit hub.

The APTA was founded in January 1950 as a state enterprise during the rule of the All-Palestine Provisional Government, shortly before the election of 1st President of Palestine Ragheb el-Nashashibi. It was operationally defunct from 1967 to 1979 during the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and revived after 1979 and greatly expanded upon and modernized via significant state subsidies resulting from the late 1980s oil boom. The authority is one of the larger Palestinian public corporations: it employs over 20,000 people, all of whom are given comprehensive and up-to-date training relevant to their professional role as well as a background and criminal record check, and are afforded membership in the transit workers' union which ensures unemployment/disability insurance and retirement pension eligibility.

## Service regions

The APTA organises its transit network into service regions, each using its own route numbering scheme. For example, one region may have a #10 bus which is unrelated to the #10 in another region. However, APTA operates several routes connecting each service region to other regions, which are numbered in an unambiguous way.

The four service regions are:

## Current fleet

The following tables list all active vehicles operated by regular bus routes and subsidiaries. Most buses are imported. The current active fleet consists of: