Egged Bus Cooperative

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Egged "Long (city) bus" in Israel. These buses are especially seen very often in Jerusalem.

Egged intercity buses during a break at a gas station near Afula.

Egged Bus Cooperative is the largest bus company in Israel, and the second largest in the world (after London Buses). A cooperative owned by its members, Egged employs 6,117 workers and has 3,303 buses for more than 1,038 service routes and 3,984 alternative routes all over Israel. Egged makes 44,957 trips every day, transporting about a million passengers over 810, 519 km of roads. Egged's bus routes reach most settlements, kibbutzim and cities in Israel and the occupied territories. Egged also runs local bus networks in most Israeli cities and towns.

Egged was created in 1933 through a merger of four smaller bus cooperatives. In 1951, Egged merged with the northern Shahar bus company and the southern Drom Yehuda bus company, creating a cross-country public transportation network. After the Six Day War, Egged merged with the Hamekasher bus company of Jerusalem. The name Egged (lit. Union) was given to the cooperative by the Israeli poet Chaim Nachman Bialik, in reference to the original merger.

During the wars of 1956, 1967 and 1973, Egged buses and drivers helped to reinforce the logistics system of the IDF and drove soldiers and food to the battlefields.

Egged's bus fleet include a wide variety of bus models of Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and MAN, including bulletproof versions used mostly for travel in the West Bank/Judea and Samaria.

Other notable Israeli bus companies include Dan Bus Company.

See also

• List of Egged bus lines
• Jerusalem Central Bus Station

External links

• [Egged Official website]
• [About Us - Official Egged Website]
• [Picture of Egged buses]

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