We were in Ashdod in Nov 2022. We took the shuttle out of the port (which they made wait to leave until after the ship's tour buses so be aware). It dropped us off in Ashdod just down the street from the bus station. The bus left right on time and moved right along into Jerusalem. We spent the day and then retraced our steps. The bus from Jerusalem to Ashdod also left right on time. I had not seen such on time buses in my life! We had purchased the Rav-Kav cards at the airport when we flew into Tel Aviv and we used those on the buses and then the light rail in Jerusalem. There is an office at the bus station in Ashdod where you can buy tickets though as a lady from our port shuttle did that.