405,000 new cars were added to Israeli roads in 2021 and traffic jams are getting longer

The number of cars is increasing, and traffic jams are getting longer. According to data published today (Sunday) by the Central Bureau of Statistics, in 2021 about 405,000 new cars were added to Israeli roads, compared to about 254,000 deducted from it - a net increase of 150,000 cars (4.4%). This increase brings the number of private vehicles to about 3.3 million, out of about 3.8 million vehicles in total.
The level of motorization in Israel has risen slightly, to 406 vehicles per thousand inhabitants (compared with 397 at the end of 2020). The level of motorization in the country has been steadily rising in recent years, but is low compared to Europe. By comparison, in the UK there are 575 vehicles per thousand people, in Switzerland 756 and Italy - the highest in Europe - with 929 vehicles per thousand inhabitants.
The reason for the intensifying traffic jams in Israel is related to another statistic - the average commuter. Data for the travel of 2021 have not yet been published, but in 2019, the last year before the Corona closures, the average travel in Israel was 17.6 thousand km per year for a private car. In Italy, a private car traveled that year about 8.5 thousand km, in Spain 10.6 thousand km And in Germany 13.6 thousand km. These are countries much larger than Israel, but in all of them there has been a decrease in travel over the past few years - while in Israel the trend is the opposite. Not only are cars proliferating, they are also traveling more every year.
The increase in the level of motorization in Israel leaves the average age of cars young compared to Western countries - 7.1 years, similar to the figure in 2020. However, the average age of commercial vehicles is climbing. The average age of 3.5-ton commercials rose from 5 years in 2000 to 11.4 years in 2021. This means that commercial vehicles, which pollute more than private cars, remain on the roads for many years - and emit many pollutants. The age of the trucks has also increased, but more moderately, and stands at 6.3 years on average.
Encouragement can be drawn from the fact that private cars are becoming less polluting. Last year there was a 34% increase in the number of hybrid cars (including rechargeable), and it reached about 300,000 cars. The number of hybrid taxis has doubled, reaching 4,315 taxis (about one-fifth of all taxis in Israel). The number of trams also jumped to 16,251, five times the 2020 data.
Road congestion does not increase the chance of being involved in an accident with casualties. In 2021, only 5.5 vehicles out of a thousand were involved in an accident with casualties, compared to 6.7 in 2016. Buses are most likely to be involved in an accident: 23.8 buses out of a thousand were involved in one last year. Taxis are also involved in relatively many accidents (22.2 taxis out of a thousand), but keep in mind that their commute is very high. The chance of a motorcycle being involved in an accident is also higher than that of a private car - 14.7 motorcycles per thousand were involved in the accident, compared to 4.2 cars.
Finally, the CBS also presents numbers that illustrate what we all see in traffic jams: the common vehicle colors. 36.65% of all vehicles in Israel are gray, 34.7% white and 11.9% black. Only 2.6% of vehicles are red, which is a lot compared to The prevalence of the color green (only one percent) and yellow (0.9%) In 2021, the color white won the premiere, and almost half of car buyers (46.5%) preferred it over gray, where 31.1% of vehicles on the road were painted.