Tel Aviv Central Bus Station

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A view from the sixth floor of the mall

The Tel Aviv Central Bus Station is the primary bus station in Tel Aviv, Israel. It is located in the southern part of the city. The station serves Egged, Dan, Kavim, Connex, and Metropoline intercity bus routes as well as local Dan and Egged city and suburban buses.

The Central Bus Station is the largest central bus station in the world, with a built area of 230,000 m² and a total area of 44 dunams (44,000 m²). Construction began on 14 December 1967 but was stopped prematurely due to financial difficulties of the contractors. After stoppage of about 20 years construction was resumed and the station opened on 18 August 1993. Plans have surfaced recently to expand the station - according to the original plan, a 10 story office building was to be built above it.

The Bus Station building also features a public retail mall over 7 floors, serviced by 29 escalators, 13 fast elevators and featuring more than 1,000 shops and restaurants. Intercity buses leave from a departure hall on 6th floor, while most local buses leave from 7th floor. Several local buses leave from 4th floor. The main entrances are on 3rd and 4th floors. Sherut taxis leave from outside the station on the 4th level. The bottom 2 floors, which originally served local buses, are now virtually abandoned.

Tel Aviv Central Bus Station is located near Israel Railways' Tel Aviv HaHaganah Train Station, but there is no direct link between them.

The Central Bus Stop is known for it's problematic structure. Some of the floors can not be reached easily, but general navigation through the station is difficult due to a lack of maps and guiding signs. The entire building has became a synonym to bad design. For example, the fifth floor can only be reached from the sixth, or by a some-what hidden staircase from the fourth. Most of the visitors to the station are forced to climb up to the sixth floor via a long staircase which "skips" the fifth, and then descend one floor.