Filling Stations

One might think that residents of large cities own a private car to use it only on special trips, and usually use alternative means available in cities, such as public transportation, bicycles, taxis, or walking.

A Secondhand Car from Jerusalem?

Lior Regev

According to data from the Israel Vehicle Importers Association, the year 2016 saw a record high in the delivery of vehicles in Israel. The purchase of new vehicles contributes to the replenishing of the stock of vehicles that travel on Israel's roads: new vehicles equipped with sophisticated safety systems, which emit lower levels of pollution, and are quieter and more economical. However, as long as the purchase of new vehicles is not balanced out by old vehicles being taken off the roads, this isn't necessarily good news. The general rise in the number of vehicles leads to increased congestion on the roads, which in turn leads to an increase in the transportation burden and emissions of pollutants, and further irritates the already frayed nerves of the Israeli driver.

In light of these implications, it is interesting to see where car inventory is renewed and where it lags behind with aging vehicles. With respect to the big cities, the answer seems clear – according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, in 2016, about 40% of the cars whose owners live in Jerusalem were a decade old or older. That is in comparison with 25% of the vehicles in the entire country, 21% in Haifa, 15% in Tel Aviv, and 14% in Rishon Lezion.

The aging of the vehicle inventory in Jerusalem also stands out in terms of the average ages of the vehicles: In Jerusalem the figure stands at 8.6 years. The average in the country is 6.5, with the figure standing at 5.9 in Haifa, 4.8 in Tel Aviv, and 4.6 in Rishon Lezion.

When we examine the annual purchasing trends, dramatic gaps are revealed between Jerusalem and the other large cities. It seems that the newest vehicles of all are driven on the roads of Rishon Lezion: Nearly half (47%) of all the vehicles in the city reached the road between 2014 and 2016, as compared to 43% of the vehicles in Tel Aviv, and a third (33%)of the vehicles in Haifa. The parallel figure in Jerusalem stands at 16%. A review of the previous year reveals that 18% of the vehicles in Rishon Lezion reached the road in 2016, as opposed to 16% in Tel Aviv, 12% in Haifa, and 6% in Jerusalem.

We tried to find various explanations for this phenomenon. Maybe it's the leasing companies that are registered in the center of the country and work tirelessly to renew their inventory; or it might be the result of the generous credit loans and the low interest rates that the banks offered the buyers (the ones that Avi Bar-Eli and Oren Dori wrote about in January 2017 in an article in TheMarker). It may be that unlike the benefits granted in personal contracts from private companies in the central part of the country that encourage the purchase of a new car, the tax benefits in the public sector in Jerusalem and the weak buying power of the residents, encourage people to hold onto their old cars.

Or maybe it's just the Jerusalem nostalgia, the difficulty to disconnect from the past and to embrace change – as embodied in the renowned pun and prohibition against any change to customary Orthodox practice, that "new is forbidden by the Torah," written by the Chatam Sofer in the 1800s – or the innate modesty, and the god-fearing nature of Jerusalemites, that cause its residents to cling to a 1989 Subaru. Perhaps.

Translation: Gilah Kahn

What Would You Like to Buy?

Lior Regev

Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research en.jerusaleminstitute.org.il

One of the indices of a country’s economic status is the rate of ownership of durable goods. Durable goods are purchased once every few years and include, for example, furniture, cars, or electric appliances such as a refrigerator, stove, or washing machine. In the modern capitalist economy, which relies on the market system and private property, ownership of durable goods serves as an indicator of a household’s economic welfare and standard of living.

The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) conducts an annual survey that examines ownership of various goods and services, among other factors (Survey of Household Expenditures). The list of goods whose ownership the CBS examines is updated annually, in accordance with economic development and technological preferences. A review of previous surveys finds that in the past it examined ownership of video players, which was later updated to DVD players. Perhaps future surveys will examine ownership of wrist-band microchips that project movies onto walls….

For some goods, increasing ownership rates corresponded with a rising standard of living, but the increase over the years was gradual. For example, the percentage of Israeli households that owned at least one vehicle was 55% in 1999, 58% in 2005, 62% in 2009, and 65% in 2014.

A comparison across cities finds that differences in vehicle ownership rates are relatively small. In 2005, 50% of Jerusalem households owned a vehicle – very comparable to rate for Tel Aviv (50%) and slightly lower than the rate for Haifa (53%). A decade later, in 2014, 60% of Tel Aviv households owned a vehicle – comparable to the rate for Haifa (61%) and higher than the rate for Jerusalem, at only 56%. The relative consistency of vehicle ownership rates reflects the high cost of owning this means of transportation and the economic stratification of households in Israel.

For other goods, ownership rates saw a dramatic increase over the years, as well as differences across various cities. The most salient example is air conditioners, which were seen historically as less necessary in Jerusalem given its comfortable climate relative to cities in central Israel. In 1999, for example, only 12% of Jerusalem households reported owning an air conditioner, compared with 42% in Tel Aviv and 39% in Haifa.

The rising standard of living alongside global warming has transformed air conditioners from a luxury item into a good that is essential for surviving the interminable Israeli summer. In 2014, a decisive majority (94%) of Tel Aviv households reported that they own an air conditioner. In Haifa the rate was 84%, comparable to the figure for Israel (82%). Jerusalem, too, has shown a significant increase in recent years, from 41% in 2009 to 60% in 2014, but it still has a long way to go to catch up with the coastal cities.

Translation: Merav Datan