Sha-Bus Rider

Erela Ganan

Lately, we have witnessed growing civic activity aimed at expanding the operating time of public transportation to include service on Shabbat. But will there be significant demand for a Shabbat bus? 

To find out, we can first look at the number of people using public transport on weekdays. In its last census (conducted in 2008), the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) found that 41% of the workers in the country commuted to work using alternative modes of transportation, rather than their own private car: 1,115,900 people traveled to work via bus, train, shuttle, taxi, bike, or simply walked. In Jerusalem, the rate is even higher, at 50%. In addition, public transport is used by thousands of school children, soldiers, students, elderly people and others, but data on these groups' rate of use are missing. 

Second, we want to find out the public's position on travel during Shabbat. In the CBS' social survey of 2009, which focused on religion, 53% of the Jewish respondents aged 20 and over stated they support activation of public transport on Shabbat. It is important to note that non-Jewish people, who are not likely to object to Shabbat buses, comprise 25% of Israel's residents, and 38% of Jerusalem's population.

Jewish respondents who stated they were traditional or secular were asked if they ride on Shabbat (observant Jews were assumed to avoid it). Eighty-seven percent of the traditional-loosely observant answered that they do not (or scarcely do) avoid traveling on Shabbat, and surprisingly, as many as 42% of the traditional-observant also stated they do not (or scarcely do) avoid it. Altogether, 84% of these populations stated they do not stay away from traveling on Shabbat, which means that 45% of the Jewish public aged 20 and over in Israel, or 2.5 million people, do not avoid it. This, along with the fact that 41% of the workers use alternative transit to commute to work (as stated above), leads us to assume that approximately 18% of the people in these groups are potential clients for public transportation, should it run on the 61 days every year that it ceases to function – weekends and Jewish holidays (not including Yom Kippur). This population sums up to over a million persons. In the meantime, those who are Jerusalemites can use the East Jerusalem transportation system, active seven days a week.

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics

Apartment prices in Israel

Yair Assaf-Shapira

The average price of a four room apartment in Israel is NIS 1.18 Million for a 2nd hand apartment, and NIS 1.26 M for a new one. Data refer to the second quartile of 2013 (April to June), and were compared with the second quartile of 2012. While prices of used four room apartments showed a small descent (-0.6%) over the year, prices of new apartments rose by 1.9%.

The prices represent a combination of supply and demand, which differ from city to city, and between areas in the country. In Jerusalem the prices of used and new apartments are higher (NIS 1.69 M and NIS 1.93 M respectively), and the price trends are opposite than the national ones. The used apartments' price in Jerusalem rose slightly (by 0.4%) compared to the second quartile of 2012, while the new apartments lost 3.6% of their price. Interesting to note that in Tel Aviv the prices of used four room apartments lost 12%, while in the ultra orthodox cities of Modiin Illit and Betar Illit near Jerusalem, they rose by 10%-11%.

Looking at the three room apartments (only used apartments on this market), one can observe that in most localities their prices are on the rise. In Jerusalem they rose by 3.1% during the year (compared to 0.4% in the four room apartments). Dramatic rises were recorded in Bet Shemesh (13%) and Modiin Illit (12%), as well as in various other localities. On average the prices of these apartments rose by 2.6% (compared to -0.6% in the four room market). While no three room apartments are being constructed (mainly because the profit for the entrepreneur is lower on them), it looks like the demand for them is large.

Data source: ministry of construction and housing, department of information and economic analysis