Brussels to encourage ‘inclusive car sharing’ for all residents

With the ‘Green Deal Inclusive Car Sharing’, the Brussels Region wants to encourage as many Brussels residents as possible to share cars. Launched by Brussels Environment Minister Alain Maron (Ecolo) and his Mobility colleague Elke Van den Brandt (Groen), the project aims to make car sharing in Brussels more significant, sustainable, and inclusive.

The project will last three years, and the government, socio-cultural associations, citizens’ initiatives, and the business world are also stepping in. Car sharing is clearly on the rise in Brussels and Belgium in general. By the end of 2022, more than 5% of Brussels households had subscribed to a car-sharing system. That’s 50 178 car-sharing users in the Brussels Region, or 47% more than the previous year.

Besides being good for your wallet – you can save up to 3 000 euros a year – car sharing also frees up public space to make the city more pleasant, sustainable, and resilient. Moreover, gradually reducing polluting engines helps protect the health of the capital’s residents.

“About 50 shared electric vehicles have appeared on the streets of our city in recent years,” says Alin Maroni. “This is a positive development, helping to reduce air pollution and achieve our climate goals.”

50 participants

Yet the Brussels Region wants to persuade even more families to opt for car sharing. Therefore, the Green Deal Inclusive Car Sharing focuses explicitly on target groups that have not yet found their way to car sharing, such as people with limited mobility, the digitally vulnerable, senior citizens, single-parent families, large families, and short-skilled and lower-income people.

Therefore, the Green Deal Inclusive Car Sharing seeks at least 50 municipalities, companies, and organizations with expertise in inclusion, sustainability, and mobility… through their business or public activities. Through workshops, academies, and plenary meetings, the signatories can also share and exchange their expertise. The project will last three years: it starts in February 2024 and ends at the end of 2026.

In June, Brussels Environment also launched a call for projects for potential Green Deal signatories. In that context, 400 000 euros will be devoted to pilot projects to make car sharing more inclusive. The winners of this call will be announced shortly. For everything concerning the Green Deal Inclusive Car Sharing, interested parties can surf to www.inclusivesharing.be