Motor Vehicles 2003

This publication presents data on motor vehicles in Israel at the end of 2003. As in previous yearly publications on this subject, the data are based on processing of the vehicle file of the Licencing Office in the Ministry of Transport, which is carried out by the Central Bureau of Statistics.

The publication includes detailed tables of data on the different characteristics of motor vehicles in Israel: type of vehicle, manufacture, country and year of production, place of registration and other characteristics. In addition, the publication includes tables of comparison with previous years and a table of comparison with selected countries and data on hauled vehicles which are not motor vehicles.

This publication also includes, like the previous ones, some data on vehicles involved in road accidents with casualties.

This publication includes tables which specify concentrations and emission of air pollutants caused by vehicles. The air pollution caused by transportation is known to be a sever public hazard in urban areas, especially in the Metropolitan area of Tel Aviv.

More detailed data on road accidents for the surveyed year 2003, are presented in special publication no. 1225: Road Accidents with Casualties 2003, Part I: General Summaries, published by the Central Bureau of Statistics.

The Bureau wishes to thank the Licencing Office in the Ministry of Transport for putting the file at our disposal, as well as to the Air Quality Division at the Ministry of the Environment.

Pnina Zadka

Senior Director of Department

Economic Infrastructure

Jerusalem, 2004

INTRODUCTION

Main Findings

At the end of 2003 there were about 1,982,000 vehicles in Israel - an increase of 1.1% compared with the end of 2002, whereas an increase of t 2.4% in 2002 and an increase of 4.6% in 2001. This is the smallest annual growth since the establishment of Israel. The current economic depression effected especially the tiny growth of the trucks number - 0.5% compared to 2.9% in 2002 and 5.3% in 2001. The number of minibuses decreased by 1.7% and the number of buses decreased by 1.3%.

Of the total number of vehicles, there were about 1,521,000 private cars, about 338 thousand trucks, about 76 thousand motorcycles, about 16,500 minibuses, about 11,600 buses, about 15,800 taxis, and about 4,100 special vehicles.

Near to 40% of the vehicles used in Israel were manufactured in Japan. Japan maintains its place as the main country, but there's indication that its relative share is decreasing while South Korea's and Spain's relative share is increasing. Only 0.1% of vehicles were manufactured in Israel.

Vehicles in Israel, Percentage by manufacturing country (percentages)

Country of Production	2003	2002	2001	2000	1999
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Japan	37.3	37.3	37.6	38.1	38.4
France	11.9	12.1	11.9	11.7	11.8
Germany	9.7	10.4	10.8	10.9	11.2
Spain	9.5	9.3	9.0	8.5	8.0
South Korea	8.1	7.5	7.4	7.1	6.2
Italy	6.5	7.0	7.4	8.0	8.6
USA	4.7	4.8	4.9	5.1	5.4
Other countries	12.3	11.6	11.0	10.6	10.4

In 2003, the number of vehicles increased by about 150 thousand, of which about 132 thousand were new (about 58 thousand of the production year 2003, and about 74 thousand of the production year 2004). During this period, there was a decline of about 128 thousand vehicles. Thus, the net growth in the number of vehicles amounted to only about 22 thousand.

Of the new vehicles that were added in 2003, about 96 thousand were private cars, mostly by the following manufacturers:

New private cars that were added in each year of 1999-2003, by manufacture (percentages)

Year	Total	Mazda	Toyota	Hyundai	Ford	Honda	Peugeot	Renault	Chevrolet	Volks- wagen	Other
2003	100.0	20.3	11.2	10.5	7.7	6.6	5.7	4.6	4.2	4.2	25.0
2002	100.0	15.0	10.9	5.3	6.0	4.7	9.8	6.3	0.8	7.5	33.7
2001	100.0	12.9	7.0	6.0	5.6	3.9	8.1	6.5	1.1	12.1	36.8
2000	100.0	16.7	6.0	8.5	5.3	2.4	5.2	7.0	2.1	9.7	37.1
1999	100.0	18.1	5.4	8.1	0.6	3.5	5.2	4.7	2.2	8.0	44.2

The average age of the motor vehicles at the end of 2003 was 6.5 years (6.3 in 2002). About 814 thousand (41%) of the vehicles are new vehicles (year of production 1999+) up to 4 years old, about 661 thousand (33%) are 5-9 years old, and about 508 thousand (26%) are over 10 years old.

There is a continuation of a constant upward trend in the portion of diesel engine vehicles instead of gasoline engine vehicles. During the last four years, the percentage of diesel engine vehicles multiplied by 1.3. The upward trend is very significant in trucks up to 4 tons (gross weight). The percentage of diesel engine private cars multiplied by 2.3 during said period, but there are still only 38,376 cars with diesel engine, 2.5% out of the total private cars.

Diesel engine vehicles in each year of 1998-2003 (percentages)

Year	Total	Private car	Truck up to 4 tons	Truck over 4 tons	Minibus	Bus	Taxi	Special vehicle	Motor- cycle
2003	16.0	2.5	64.1	99.8	96.6	100.0	99.5	91.5	-
2002	15.5	2.4	60.4	99.7	96.2	100.0	99.4	88.4	-
2001	14.5	2.0	55.9	99.7	95.5	100.0	99.3	84.8	-
2000	13.4	1.5	50.6	99.6	94.1	100.0	99.0	80.6	-
1999	12.1	1.1	44.2	99.4	91.3	100.0	98.3	77.2	-
1998	10.7	0.7	37.0	99.2	87.7	100.0	97.2	74.6	-

The rate of motorization was 294 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants (295 at the end of 2002). Of those vehicles 225 were private cars. The rate is calculated by the address (locality) of the registered owner of that vehicle. Thus, for example, Tel Aviv-Yafo is assigned a high rate of motorization, since state vehicles and vehicles of other large enterprises are registered there, even though they do not necessarily operate in the Tel Aviv-Yafo area.

Rate of motorization in large municipalities Municipalities with high rate of motorization

Municipalities	Rate of motorization	Thereof: Private car	Municipalities	Rate of motorization	Thereof: Private car
Jerusalem (including East Jerusalem)	206	160	Average in all of the municipalities	310	241
Tel Aviv-Yafo	651	461	Petah Tiqwa	512	420
Haifa	342	277	Ramat HaSharon	509	403
Rishon LeZiyyon	347	276	Herzliyya	475	384
			Yehud	436	335
			Kefar Sava	418	328
			Modiin	411	356

Compared with developed countries throughout the world, the rate of motorization in Israel is still relatively low. In 2000, the rate of motorization in Israel was 288 per 1,000 residents compared to 800 in the USA, 732 in Italy, 708 in Canada, 689 in Switzerland, 684 in Japan, 680 in Austria, 620 in Germany, 618 in France and 567 in Norway.

The rate of involvement of motor vehicles in road accidents with casualties differs by type of vehicle.

Involvement of vehicles in road accidents with casualties, by type of vehicle -

rate per 1,000 licenced vehicles

Year	Total	Private car	Truck up to 4 tons	Truck over 4 tons		Minibus	Bus	Taxi	Special vehicle	Motor- cycle
Year	Total	Private car	Truck up to 4 tons	Total	Thereof: 34+ tons	Minibus	Bus	Taxi	Special vehicle	Motor- cycle
2003	17.0	14.6	16.8	23.0	78.3	34.0	45.5	72.8	12.7	32.2
2002	17.6	15.5	17.2	25.1	88.1	33.3	45.5	77.2	14.5	34.6
2001	17.5	15.3	17.1	24.8	85.8	36.4	50.3	81.6	14.0	33.1
2000	19.9	17.2	20.1	28.6	94.4	42.9	59.2	87.7	13.8	38.8

As shown in the table above, the involvement in accidents with casualties of public vehicles (minibuses, buses and taxi) and heavy trucks, 34 tons and more (gross weight) are very high. It should be noticed that they have a high annual kilometers travelled.

Air Pollution from Transportation - Most of the carbon monoxide (CO) emissions result from vehicle transportation. Carbon monoxide is emitted as a result of incomplete combustion of fuels. The relative share of the transportation sector in total emission of CO has increased steadily over the years and presently amounts to 98%. Data from the traffic monitoring stations, as reported by the Ministry of the Environment, indicate zero deviations from the half-hourly standard, from the day the stations started to monitor up to the present. The transportation sector accounts for about 70% of the total hydrocarbons (HC) emissions.

Over half of the total nitrogen oxide (NO_X) emissions are from vehicles. Of those, most (about 80%) are from diesel vehicles. The traffic monitoring stations indicate hundreds of deviations for NO_X. Over the last year, all stations monitored maximal values way above the standards by tens or hundreds of percents. In contrast to this finding, the annual average of NO_Xemission is below the standard level.

In recent years, an upward trend was observed in the relative amount of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the total emission from transportation (of 10%). Almost all of the SPM emission from transportation (about 90%) derives from diesel.

The contribution of vehicles to the total sulphur oxides (SO_X) emissions is marginal (about 5%).

It is difficult to define multi-year trends in concentrations from traffic monitoring stations, because the data relate to a short seasonal period.

Definitions and Explanations

Limitation of data - the data in this publication are based on processing of the "Vehicle File" of the Licencing Office of the Ministry of Transport. Actually, the data are a copy of the "Vehicle File" at the end of the year; therefore, the quality of the processing of the data depends on the quality and level of updating of the "Vehicle File".

Motor vehicles: included are all types of motor vehicles which are registered at the Licencing Office and whose licences were valid on 31.12.03 or expired during 2003. The number of motor vehicles does not include army and police vehicles, towed vehicles, tractors, vehicles of foreign citizens and of holders of provisional vehicle licences, vehicles registered in the Palestinian Authority, vehicles of tourists staying in Israel less than 3 months, diplomatic and U.N. vehicles and the like.

Motor vehicle: any kind of mechanically propelled vehicle, including motorcycles, but excluding vehicles towed by a motor vehicle.

Year of production: The year of production is not necessarily identical with the calendar year. During the second half of a given year, vehicles from the next production calendar year are imported.

A truck (transport vehicle and commercial vehicle): a vehicle used or intended for use in transporting freight, whether for payment or in connection with the business of the owner. As of 1978 this type does not include dual purpose vehicles, which were transferred to the private car type. As of 1993 this type does not include "Minibus" (see definition and explanation below). As of 1996 the Special truck for passengers was included under Bus.

Two main sub-types of trucks are distinguished by gross weight:

a. Truck up to 4 tons (commercial vehicle)

1. Van: a vehicle with a closed back, without separation between the drivers cab and the back load unit. As of 1993 this type does not include "Minibus". See definition and explanation below.

2. Pick-up: a vehicle with separation between the drivers cab and the back load unit (opened or closed).

b. Trucks over 4 tons

1. Ordinary truck: with the back opened permanently.

2. Closed truck: with the back closed permanently.

3. Tip-lorry: a truck for the transport of freight which tips up mechanically in order to unload the freight.

4. Tanker: a vehicle used or designed for use in transport of liquid, cement in bulk or gas.

5. Road tractor: a motor vehicle designed to haul a semi-trailer and/or a trailer.

Hauled vehicle (not a power-driven vehicle):

a. Trailer: a vehicle designed to be hauled by a motor vehicle, whether used or not used for transport. Excluding sidecars.

b. Semi-trailer: a vehicle designed in such way that a part of it rests on the road tractor.

Gross weight: the weight of the truck plus the weight of the passengers and load carried by it, as permitted by the Licencing Office.

Load capacity: load permitted by the Licencing Office to be transported by the vehicle.

Minibus: a motor vehicle, up to 4 tons gross weight, designed to transport up to 15 persons in addition to the driver and described in its licence as a minibus. Up to 1992, it was included under the type "Truck up to 4 tons" (van).

Bus: a motor vehicle designed to transport 16 or more persons in addition to the driver and described in its licence as a bus. As of 1996 the Special truck for passengers was included under Bus, instead of under Truck (183 Special trucks in 1996).

There are three sub-types of bus or minibus:

1. Private - unpaid passengers transportation.

2. Public - paid passengers transportation.

3. Touring - paid passengers transportation - special tours.

Taxi: a public motor vehicle which is not a bus or a minibus, designed to transport up to 10 passengers in addition to the driver and described in its licence as a taxi. There were changes in the maximum permitted passengers: up to February 1993 - 7 passengers, from March 1993 up to December 1997 - 8 passengers and since January 1998 - 10 passengers.

Private car: a vehicle which is neither a public service vehicle nor a commercial vehicle. As of 1978 this type includes dual purpose vehicles.

Special vehicle: a vehicle designed for special services, such as an ambulance, medical van, sanitary vehicle, recovery vehicle, engineering vehicle, crane, etc.

Motorcycle: includes all two and three wheeled motor vehicle, including tricycle and motorcycle with sidecar.

As of 1992 the Licencing Office has ceased classification by type, e.g. scooter, motor scooter and motor cycle and classifies only by engine capacity (in cc). The new classification fits with the driving licence regulations which distinguish four principal sub-types:

1. Up to 50 cc (Scooter or motor bicycle by the previous classification)

2. 51 - 250 cc

3. 251 - 500 cc

4. Over 500 cc.

Rate of motorization: number of vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants (permanent inhabitants at the end of the year). The number of motor vehicles refers to the vehicle fleet, classified by the address (locality) of the registered owner of that vehicle. Thus, for example, Tel Aviv-Yafo is assigned a high rate of motorization, since state vehicles and vehicles of other large enterprises are registered there, even though they do not necessarily operate in the Tel Aviv-Yafo area.

Rate of motorization by municipal status and locality (Table 12) - since final detailed data on permanent population at end of 2003 are not yet available, the rate of motorization of each locality was calculated relative to the permanent population at end of 2002, excluding the "Grand total" which was calculated relative to the permanent population at end of 2003

Additions: vehicles included in the number of motor vehicles (as defined previously) in the year of processing and which were not included in the previous year.

Subtractions: vehicles included in the number of motor vehicles in the previous year and which are not included in the year of the processing.

Vehicles supplied to the local market: The definition "vehicles supplied to the local market", presented in the Transport Statistics Quarterly and in the Monthly Bulletin of Statistics, slightly differs from the definition of "private car" presented in Motor Vehicles. Therefore, when comparing between the data, the different definitions should be noted:

1. Vehicles supplied to the local market are registered upon leaving the factory, or when imported and released from the port. These vehicles will appear in the data on motor vehicles only on registration at the Licencing Office.

2. Vehicles supplied to the local market, by definition, do not include vehicles that had been taken off the road whose licence has been renewed during the year of processing.

3. Vehicles supplied to the local market also include security vehicles and vehicles which were sold to the Palestinian Authority.

Air Pollution from Transportation: quantities of air pollution emissions are calculated in the Environment Division at the Central Bureau of Statistics on the basis of:

1. Annual quantities of fuels consumed by motor vehicles. Data were obtained from the Energy Division at the Central Bureau of Statistics.

2. Annual kilometers traveled by the various types of vehicles, by age of vehicle. Data were obtained from the Transport and Communication Division at the Central Bureau of Statistics. The emission quantities for 2000 were calculated from an estimate of the annual kilometers traveled.

3. Emission factors of air pollutants from vehicles are based on a study conducted at the Technion on the topic.[1] These emission factors were calculated only for private motor vehicles and buses. Emission factors for other types of vehicles and other fuel types were based on data from Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. These emission factors were obtained from the Air Quality Division (mobile sources) at the Ministry of the Environment.

Concentrations of air pollutants from traffic stations were obtained from the Air Quality Division (MANA - Israeli Air Monitoring Center) of the Ministry of the Environment.

Carbon Dioxide (CO₂): originates from complete combustion of fuel. It is considered as a greenhouse gas.

Carbon Monoxide (CO): a gas produced by incomplete combustion of fuels, mainly from emissions of vehicles. This gas obstructs the supply of oxygen to the body, which results in choking; and harms the oxygen supply to the body. Inhaling high concentrations of the gas may cause choking.

Sulphur Oxides (SO_X): originates mainly from emissions of power stations, refineries and manufacturing establishments. These gases may cause damage to the respiratory system, to plants and to metals.

Nitrogen Oxides (NO_X): acid gases that originate mainly from emissions of power stations, manufacturing establishments and vehicles (mainly from diesel). These gases cause damage to the respiratory and the immune systems as well as to plants.

Hydrocarbons (HC): Compounds of carbon and hydrogen emitted during combustion and evaporation of fuels. These compounds originate mainly from emissions of vehicles and power stations. Some of them are suspected to be carcinogenic, and others can irritate the eyes and cause respiratory problems.

Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM): a series of atmospheric materials based on carbon, produced by natural resources (sand, pollen etc.) and by human activity resources (combustion, construction, quarrying etc.). The most dangerous particles are those smaller than 10 micron in diameter, which can be inhaled into the respiratory system (PM10 - Respirable Suspended Particulates). They usually originate from natural resources and they include the fraction of particles which are 2.5 microns or less in their diameter (PM2.5 - Fine Respirable Suspended Particulates), which usually originate from industry, transportation, and domestic heating.

Lead (Pb): A heavy metal which was a necessary additive to gasoline for many years. This toxic metal damages the nervous system, especially in children.

Unleaded gasoline: Cars that use unleaded gasoline also pollute the air with lead, but to a much lesser extent. In Israel, as in other developed countries, cars produced as of 1993 are required by law to use the Catalytic Converter so only unleaded gasoline can be used. Therefore, the relative share of air pollution with lead by cars that use unleaded gasoline is increasing, while the relative share of air pollution by cars that use other gasoline is decreasing.

Air quality standard: defines the maximum concentration of a pollutant permitted at a defined time duration.

Maximal value for half-hour/8 hours/24 hours: the maximum half-hour/8 hours/daily (respectively) value recorded during the year.

Traffic Stations: Monitoring stations for air pollutants originating in motor vehicles, and located next to major highways. Measurement is carried out at the height of the motor vehicle and represents the quality of local air that is actually breathed by people who cross or reside near the major highways. In these stations, air pollutants characterized to emissions from vehicles are measured continuously and automatically by special monitors. These data are stored temporarily at the station, averaged every five minutes, and transferred to the National Air Monitoring Center of the Ministry of the Environment for the purpose of permanent storage and continued processing. Most of the traffic stations have been in full operation since 1998. All of them are monitored by the Ministry of the Environment except two stations on the Begin road, which are monitored by the Jerusalem municipality and Em Hamoshavot station, which is monitored by the Petah Tiqwa municipality.

The monitoring stations on the Begin road in Jerusalem were erected with the intent of evaluating to what degree the road's planning prevents air pollution hazards to the local residents.

The values in the monitoring station in Petah Tiqwa are calculated with moving average.

Uptime of monitoring stations: percent of uptime of monitoring during the year. Uptime rates below 100% can be attributed to daily time devoted to scaling, instrument failure or disruption of work at the station.

Special Symbols

blank space or - = no cases

Staff of the Central Bureau of Statistics who Participated in Preparing the Publication:

The Directorate: Pnina Zadka - Senior Director, Economic Infrastructure

Transport and Communication Sector: Tali Tal - Director of Sector,

Arie Abraham - Director of Transport Division

Environment Division: Roee Abudi

Department of Informatics: Shifra Her - Senior Director, Shlomo Shmaryahu

Publication Division: Sima Noach - Editor

For further information regarding transportation, please contact Mr. A. Abraham, Director of Transport Division, The Central Bureau of Statistics, Tel. 02-6592172.

For further information regarding air pollution from transportation, please contact
Mr. Roee Abudi - Environment and Agriculture Section,
The Central Bureau of Statistics, Tel. 02-6592107.

To purchase this publication on CD-ROM (Word, Excel and PDF),
please contact the Central Bureau of Statistics, Tel. 02-6592032 or Tel. 03-5681932

[1] Tartakovski et al., Estimation of Emission Factors from Diesel Vehicles in Israel (First Stage - Buses), Research Report 277/2000, May 2000, p. 64.