A host of new fare discounts on public transportation will become eligible for hundreds of thousands of Israelis at the start of December, Haaretz reports Thursday. 

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz will approve the order extending discounts – applicable on both buses and trains – in the coming days.

The discounts cover minors under the age of 18, parents with strollers, recipients of specific National Insurance Institute (NII) benefits, registered disabled people, blind passengers and those accompanying them, national service volunteers and unpaid soldiers. 

Passengers under 18 will receive a 50 percent discount on all public transportation, while recipients of certain NII benefits – updated to include those who receive survivors’s benefits and income supplements – will get a 33 percent fare reduction. 

Disabled individuals, including disabled veterans, will be granted reduced fares for the first time with a 33 percent discount. 

Blind passengers will not be expected to pay any far on public transportation, while those accompanying the blind will now receive a 50 percent discount. 

Parents with open strollers are now entitled to free transportation throughout the day, even during the morning rush hour from 7 to 9 am.

Also for the first time, national service volunteers and students in six-month pre-army preparatory courses will be able to ride for free.