Nateev Express

Pioneering Group in the Israeli Transportation Industry

The group’s story dates back to 1927, when the forefathers of the Afifi family decided to buy a truck in order to de-liver the agricultural produce from the Tzippori area to large cities in the area, such as Haifa, Tiberias and Nazareth. The inhabitants of the area were excited by this mode of transport, which was advanced for that time, and asked to use it for fulfilling their personal transport and transit needs. The forefathers identified the business potential and installed passenger seats, and afterwards, in 1932, bought the family’s first bus. Over the following decades, the small and pioneering company became a leading and dominant group in Israel’s mass transit market, and nowa-days it is managed by members of the family’s third and fourth generations. Over the years, the group’s areas of operations expanded and it currently specializes, in addition to operating transit lines, in tourism and hotels, com-merce and services, and real estate as well.

Nateev Express Ltd.

Nateev Express Ltd. is part of the Afifi Group, and it was founded in 2001, following the decision of the Israeli Gov-ernment to de-monopolize the public bus lines. In light of the Group’s strength and tremendous longstanding expe-rience in operating public transportation, it won two of the first four public tenders of the Ministry of Transportation (the Netanya-Hadera cluster and the Nahariya-Zefat cluster) and became the first public transport operator in the framework of the government’s competition program. In light of Nateev Express’ efficient management method, it benefits from consistent growth and financial stability.
At the end of 2021, The Noy Fund (Israel’s leading infrastructure fund) acquired 40% of Nativ Express through capi-tal transfers into the company, as part of its growth strategy.

Operating the Clusters in the Galilee and Beit Shemesh

In 2006, the company won the public tender for operating the transit lines in the Netanya cluster (which ended in 2018) and in 2013 it won the Galilee cluster, which was considered to be the largest to that point. Initially, Nateev operated transit lines equivalent to 18 million kilometers annually with 300 buses, and nowadays the cluster includes transit lines equivalent to 40 million kilometers annually, with 600 buses. In 2020, Nateev won a public tender for the operation of the Beit Shemesh cluster. This cluster is distinct since it includes the operation of 58 electric buses, an extent which has no parallel in other clusters in Israel. In the two clusters (Beit Shemesh and Galilee) combined the company operates transit lines amounting to about 50 million kilometers annually about 35 million passenger travels annually through close to 850 buses.

Operating Israel’s First-of-Its-Kind Public Transport Cable Car

In 2019, Nateev bid and won the public tender for operating the “Rachbalit” – a notable project, which is considered to be the first of its kind in Israel and one of the few public transit cable cars in the world, and started operating and maintaining this project in 2022. In total, the line would include around 150 cable cars with a capacity of 2,400 passengers per hour between the Merkazit Hamifrats Station and the Technion and Haifa University.

Buses for Public Transportation, Tourism, Trips and Accessible Transportation

The company has a fleet of about 30 modern buses for domestic tourism and for inbound tourism. These buses are extremely well-equipped for the benefit of the passengers, and are operated by the company’s most experienced and seasoned drivers. The company also offers special transit services that enables driving up to 11 passengers with wheelchairs in each bus. The buses can transport wheelchairs of all types, and have electric lifts with the appropriate lifting capacity. The buses are equipped with sets for anchoring the wheelchairs to the vehicle and safety belts for the passengers until the wheelchair attaches to the car seat.
Also, the company will operate since 2023 26 accessible buses in public transportation lines.

A Fleet of More Than 850 Buses and More Than 1,300 Employees

Currently, Nateev Express and its subsidiaries have a fleet of more than 850 modern buses and more than 1,500 employees including drivers, safety officers, motion controllers, traffic managers, administrators, and more. In the framework of its vast operations, the company aspires to be a leader in its field and to provide public transport ser-vices of the highest level with integrity, safety, reliability, professionalism and compliance with the schedules, to all of its passengers and with a particular emphasis on the needs of disabled passengers (the company sees the provi-sion of egalitarian service to any person, and in particular those with disabilities, as an ultimate value). For this pur-pose, the company operates an online satellite P.A. system that announces the line stations during the travel, in ad-dition to an internal electronic signage system that presents these stations.

Innovation, Excellence and Technology

The vehicles of Nateev Express Group are equipped with an array of CCTV and GPS systems that enable to monitor each trip closely, the company is operating a Next Bus service which monitors the arrival of the buses to the line stations in real time. The company also operates, in all of its intercity buses, free Wi-Fi for its customers. The operation of the buses in the company’s public transport lines is carried out with tight control and ongoing monitoring, and this provides Nateev with a tremendous advantage, which is expressed in the fact that Nateev has been ranked as one of the top-3 companies in the service level aspect, according to the external median reports of the Public Transport Authority. For this purpose, the company operates a control center 24/7 in every day of the year, to enable monitoring each bus location, speed, and travel direction, and issues warnings on deviations. The company also operates a service and information center for the general public, which answers any inquiry on lines, station locations and schedules.

Operating Autonomous Vehicles

As a part of the investment in innovation and technology Nateev Express won, together with the company Imagry that developed a technology for autonomous driving, a call for proposals from the Innovation Authority for the exper-imental operation of autonomous buses, driverless buses in Nahariya and in Sheba medical center. The activating of the operational line in Sheba medical center begins in 2023, and the operation of the pilot public transportation line in Naha-riya is expected in 2024.