The Car Free Day which is celebrated on the 22nd of September, this year as always is marked with symbolical events from state institutions and municipalities nationwide. As a rule, the officials use this day to photograph themselves as they go on foot to work or as they are driving bicycles. Still, the official statistical data show that the population’s motorization rate is growing exponentially every year, while the number of passengers that are using public transportation (inner-city, intercity bus and railway) is dropping, and the authorities do not make enough effort to convince the citizens to use less their cars.
According to data provided by the State Statistical Office, last year in Macedonia there were 205.2 passenger vehicles per 1.000 citizens. The number of vehicles per citizen has been growing constantly in the past several years. As a comparison, in 2012, there were 146.4 passenger vehicles per 1.000 citizens which is a sign that the number of citizens that own one or more vehicles is constantly rising.
In reality, with this motorization rate, Macedonia is at the very bottom in Europe, comparing to the fact that in EU during 2018 there were 519 passenger vehicles per 1.000 citizens. But also, the fact that should be mentioned is the share of passed kilometers with cars, which is constantly on the rise in Macedonia, while the number of passengers using public transportation is continuously dropping. Unlike the negative situation in Macedonia, in the EU member states, the number of passengers using railway transportation is rising, together with the public transportation in the cities and the use of bicycle transportation.
