Waze: Traffic on Israel's roads 23% higher than pre-Covid

According to data from satellite navigation company Waze, the number of journeys on Israel's roads in the first half of this month was 23% higher than before the Covid pandemic began. Waze compared the data from last week with figures from February 11-25, 2020. Over the two periods, the number of journeys by Waze users in Tel Aviv rose by 7%, by 17% in Jerusalem and by 19% in Haifa.

These are substantial rises considering that many people are still working from home or have adopted hybrid practices of working partly from home and partly in the office.

The reasons for the rise are many. Google estimates that public transport use has fallen 11% since the start of the Covid crisis as people prefer the health safety of their own car. In the first nine months of 2021, 248,900 new cars came on Israel's roads, easily a new record and up 38% from last year's record year. On top of all this there are a lot of road works contributing to the congestion - light railways, fast lanes and new roads and Israel Railways keep disrupting services to electrify lines.