November 25, 2022
Shared e-scooters in Paris will be equipped with number plates. The operators of the mobility services have announced this. The number plates should make it easier to report traffic offenses committed by users of the e-scooters, such as driving through the red light or riding two on the vehicle. Things had not been going well […]
November 24, 2022
Back in May, the MR and PS within the federal majority were not overflowing with enthusiasm for the introduction of the point-based driving license in Belgium. Now, both parties are jamming on the brakes again now that a more elaborate proposal of the three competent ministers is on the government table, writes the newspaper L’Echo. […]
November 23, 2022
The Brussels government will allocate an additional 125 million euros to Mobility next year, increasing the budget to 1,448 billion euros in the 2023 budget. This amounts to 20% of the Brussels Region’s budgetary funds. “The government is taking its responsibility on mobility challenges, the climate change, and health crisis, and more generally on the […]
November 21, 2022
Paris is considering banning its 15 000 free-floating shared electric scooters riding around in the French capital. Local authorities are concerned about public safety on the city’s sidewalks. Shared e-scooter providers Lime, Dott, and Tier, active in Paris’ city center, are promising a series of improvements, but whether their licenses will be renewed is a […]
November 21, 2022
As of April 2025, electric car drivers in the UK are no longer exempt from road tax. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt made the measure public during his Autumn speech, stating that this would make the system “fairer”. Generally, it is not expected that the new standard will have a significant effect in slowing down EV adoption. […]
November 18, 2022
The Belgian version of the points-based driver’s license is about to see the light of day. So report several newspapers, including De Morgen and La Libre Belgique, which saw the draft by three competent ministers. The primary measure in the draft, which comes after more than 30 years in limbo in the federal parliament, is […]
November 17, 2022
The Brussels Region will launch a permanent citizen’s parliament on climate next year. According to Brussels Minister for Climate Transition Alain Maron (Ecolo), the initiative is a world first. Panels of 100 Brussels residents each will be able to ask questions, make recommendations, and be structurally involved in climate policy. They will also monitor what […]
November 16, 2022
The German car manufacturer Volkswagen has refused a reconciliation proposal from the Belgian consumer organization TestAankoop/TestAchats in the so-called dieselgate scandal. The jurisdictional procedure will thus be continued, and the case will probably appear before the court in May 2023. The consumer organization wanted to use the recent change of power at the VW top, […]
November 15, 2022
Belgian traffic safety institute Vias would like to see nitrous oxide, the so-called ‘laughing gas’, forbidden in Belgium too. The Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare, and Sport recently announced that from January 1st, 2023, the aforementioned product will be on the list of banned substances. In other words, possession, sale, and use of laughing […]
November 14, 2022
Last week, the Commission proposed reducing air pollution from new motor vehicles sold in the EU. The aim is to meet the European Green Deal’s zero-pollution ambition while keeping vehicles affordable for consumers and promoting Europe’s competitiveness. The proposal tackles emissions from tailpipes as well as from brakes and tires. The latter will also apply […]
November 09, 2022
The new Swedish government has scrapped EV and PHEV bonuses quasi overnight, excluding all cars bought after November 8th, 2022. “The cost of owning and driving a climate bonus car is starting to be comparable to the cost of owning and driving a petrol or diesel car. Therefore, the climate bonus is abolished,” the government’s site […]
November 09, 2022
Flemish Mobility Minister Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) has launched a study into the possible extension (and greening) of truck kilometer tax. The study has to analyze whether the existing truck kilometer tax should be extended to vans. Road transport on Belgian roads keeps on growing. According to Viapass, the interregional government that manages and coordinates […]
November 09, 2022
Wallonia might consider for its regional low-emission zone (LEZ) postponing the ban on Euro 0 and Euro I cars for two years until 2025, Minister for Environment Céline Tellier (Écolo) has said on the news channel LN24. “In crisis times, it would be unthinkable to force people to buy a new car,” she added. The […]
November 08, 2022
Drivers of scooters and motorcycles have not had to worry much about whether they are still allowed to enter Brussels since the introduction of the LEZ (Low-Emission Zone). However, this will change in 2025. From 1 January that year, the criteria will be tightened, and the LEZ will also apply to thermal mopeds, except for […]
November 03, 2022
At the end of November, the city of Brussels will inaugurate the second phase of Good Move, the circulation plan to make the Brussels Region a more car-free zone, reports the newspaper Le Soir. Specifically, a dozen traffic filters with ANPR cameras with number plate recognition capabilities will become operational. This means that drivers will […]
October 31, 2022
The Brussels government’s eagerly awaited draft decree regulating shared bicycles and e-scooters is as good as ready. However, the text, which received a first reading on Thursday, does not yet have a political agreement. It still must be finalized with the municipalities, the operators, and the various police zones, among others. However, it does seem […]
October 28, 2022
Thursday evening, the negotiators of the European Parliament and the Member States have reached an agreement to have all new cars and vans sold beyond 2035 to be zero-emission. It’s the ultimate step to have the ban on gasoline and diesel cars, including (plugin-) hybrids, written in stone before final ratification. “This extremely far-reaching decision […]
October 27, 2022
Despite actions and sensitizing campaigns, drivers cannot resist using their smartphones at the wheel. Traffic safety institute Vias discovered that car drivers spend 2% of their time on their cell phones while driving, and van drivers even more: 4%. Truck drivers are distracted for 6% of their time by using their phones at the wheel. […]
October 26, 2022
The Good Move circulation plan in the Brussels region continues to cause a commotion. After protests, the municipality of Schaerbeek is already implementing the first modification to the circulation plan. The Interprofessional Federation of Self-Employed Entrepreneurs SDZ demands repealing the Good Move circulation plan. With its Good Move plan, Brussels wants to improve mobility in […]
October 25, 2022
The European Trade Union Confederation, an umbrella organization of European trade unions, is taking action against taxi and courier service Uber at the European Parliament. Remarkably, the socialist union ABVV-BTB is also participating, even though it reached a ‘historic’ agreement with Uber last week. Hearings will take place in the European Parliament on Tuesday about […]
October 24, 2022
Socialist transport union BTB-ABVV has struck a deal with US taxi and meal delivery service Uber concerning self-employed drivers and couriers. The agreement is the first of its kind within the EU. However, the deal is encountering quite a lot of incomprehension from Christian and liberal unions, several Mediahuis newspapers report. Historic turnaround The socialist […]
October 24, 2022
The reform of the Walloon road tax, as desired by Walloon Minister of Energy, Infrastructure, and Climate Philippe Henry (Ecolo), is highly unlikely to materialize. Several Walloon media report this, including La Dernière Heure and La Libre Belgique. The reform of the Walloon road tax, which included a 50-euro levy that Walloon drivers would have […]
October 24, 2022
The Flemish government will not immediately tighten the low-emission zones in Flanders. That decision will be postponed due to the citizens’ purchasing power crisis. Minister for the Environment Zuhal Demir (N-VA) announced the decision on Friday. Normally, the Flemish government would tighten the low-emission zone regulation on January 1st, 2025. According to the new regulation, […]
October 24, 2022
The new Euro 7 ruling for tailpipe emissions is reportedly not going to be as drastic as feared. It seems that the European Commission is giving some leeway to carmakers who strongly lobbied against stringent measures. The new ruling will most likely eclipse the current standards for gasoline-powered vehicles under Euro 6. According to the […]
October 21, 2022
On Wednesday, the European Parliament adopted the new ‘Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation’, abbreviated as AFIR, which set forth minimum requirements for charging infrastructure and hydrogen refueling all over Europe. In the new AFIR regulations, every member state is required to build charging stations for EVs at least every 60 kilometers on highways. For hydrogen stations, […]
October 20, 2022
Almost half of all car drivers in Belgium flatly refuse to use their blinkers when they change lanes on the highway. That is what mobility organization Touring noticed during a random sample survey on a few highways. Some Touring teams installed themselves on the bridges covering the E17, E19, E40, and the Brussels beltway. In […]
October 19, 2022
The Brussels municipality of Jette is putting the further development of its circulation plan on pause. Mayor Claire Vandevivere (Les Engagés) announces that the circulation plan, due to numerous criticisms, will be evaluated ahead of time, and residents will be extensively questioned. Among the green majority parties, there is dissatisfaction with the decision. On the […]
October 18, 2022
The air quality in Antwerp, and more particularly in the many so-called ‘street-canyons’ – densely populated streets with high buildings where pollution is ‘trapped’ – has still not improved. That is what the action group Recht op Lucht (ROL) (‘the right to clean air’) concludes after some measurements in the city. “Our findings should be […]
October 18, 2022
In a citizen’s interpellation at the Brussels City Council on Monday, citizens demanded the immediate halt of the ‘Good Move’ traffic plan in the center. The citizens said they had not been sufficiently consulted. They also blamed the Alderman for Mobility, Bart Dhondt (Groen), for not being visible enough on the ground. In turn, some […]
October 17, 2022
End of 2020, Flemish Minister for Mobility Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) asked local authorities in Flanders to list dangerous traffic situations in school surroundings. Today, plans are being made for 523 (74%) of the 708 listed locations. Meanwhile, 182 situations have been improved, and 92 projects are still in the pipeline. The planned works include […]
October 14, 2022
Belgian citizens can apply for their provisional driver’s license via the BelDrive app as of Monday, October 17th. Those who apply online only have to pass by the town hall once to collect their provisional driver’s license, and – at a later stage – the permanent one. With the app, the Federal Public Service for […]
October 13, 2022
The rate per kilometer for trucks will be indexed by almost 10% (9,97%, to be precise) in Wallonia. The Walloon Region wants to increase it further for vehicles over 32 tons to the level of Flanders, i.e., a total increase of 22,85%. So reports the newspaper L’Echo. Rates in Wallonia will be indexed on 1 […]
October 11, 2022
Flemish mobility organization VAB, the largest driving school in Belgium, pleads for introducing a standard driver’s license for cars with an automatic transmission because, with the rapid rise of electric cars, it is no longer necessary to teach candidate drivers to shift gears manually. On Monday, VAB also announced that it intends to electrify half […]
October 07, 2022
Two speed pedelecs crashed on Thursday in Genk (Limburg). One of them, 46-year-old David Camps, died on the spot; the second (52) was seriously injured. The accident happened on a two-directional bikeway, and both cyclists came from opposite directions. So, both ended up in a frontal collision. Flemish Minister of Mobility Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) […]
October 07, 2022
Since the introduction of the low-emission zone (LEZ) in Brussels, the number of diesel cars in the capital has fallen, and air quality has improved. This is evident by the latest monitoring by Brussels Environment. In particular, the proportion of Euro 4 diesel vehicles, banned in 2022, has fallen sharply. It went from 14% in […]
October 05, 2022
With Uber Taxi, the Californian mobility provider Uber introduces a new feature for rides in Brussels, allowing conventional or ‘traditional’ taxi drivers to offer rides through the Uber app. The company reported this in a press release on Wednesday. After the Brussels parliament approved the new Taxi Plan in July, which aims to unify the […]
September 30, 2022
New York State has officially banned the sale of new, emission-intensive passenger vehicles by 2035. Governor Kathy Hochul announced this on Thursday. It thus follows the example of California, which in August made the historic decision to ban sales of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035. In addition, several local transit agencies will also commit to […]
September 28, 2022
After twelve days of protests by disgruntled residents, shopkeepers, and even the security services against the new circulation plan in the Cureghem district, the municipal council of Anderlecht had no other choice Tuesday evening than to scrap the project and remove all concrete blocks in the streets. The committee “No to the Good Move Plan” […]
September 26, 2022
In a joint letter to EU policymakers, Mazda, a coalition of fuel makers, and CLEPA, the European association of automotive parts suppliers, ask to safeguard an additional route to defossilize transport next to electrification. According to the alliance, the high cost of raw materials, geopolitical uncertainty, and a complex roll-out of sufficient charging infrastructure across […]
September 26, 2022
Ghent Alderman for Mobility Filip Watteeuw (Groen) has ‘re-invented’ a new traffic sign for Belgium, getting the inspiration from Copenhagen. The new blue-white road sign indicates that cars and bikes can park alternately depending on the day’s moment. The new road sign will be valid and may be introduced in all Belgian cities and municipalities […]
September 22, 2022
During the last seven months of 2022, the number of employees who opted for a mobility budget in Belgium increased to 0,022% compared to 0,015% last year. These figures still are disappointingly low, but there is a change. Teleworking and the possibility to finance rent or mortgage loans make the difference. The mobility budget was […]
September 20, 2022
Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) has given the go-ahead to establish so-called ‘middle lanes’. This new type of public road should ensure greater safety for vulnerable road users, especially cyclists. The adaptation of the traffic regulations will take effect from 1 October. The pressure group Cyclists Association (Fietsersbond) does not react highly enthusiastically. Initial studies […]
September 20, 2022
From 19 September, the lights go out at night on many Walloon highways. The measure comes at the initiative of the Walloon government and the administrator Sofico in response to the energy crisis, reports Walloon Energy, Mobility, and Infrastructure Minister Philippe Henry (Ecolo). Specifically, the measure involves lights on the central reservation of highways going […]
September 19, 2022
If it were up to the Open Vld, car inspection as we know it today would be dropped, and periodic vehicle inspections would be put in the hands of garage owners instead of the current (regional) government-regulated monopoly of technical centers. This was one of the propositions adopted at the annual party congress of the […]
September 15, 2022
Flemish Mobility Minister, Lydia Peeters, and her Brussels Finance colleague, Sven Gatz, (both Open Vld) are calling for an agreement between the Brussels Region and Flanders linking smart road pricing to a partial widening of the Ring Road. They say this in an interview with the Brussels weekly BRUZZ. There have already been initial talks […]
September 12, 2022
Philippe Henry (Ecolo), the Walloon Minister for Climate, Energy, and Mobility, wants a speed reduction on the roads, including 100 km/hour instead of 120 on the highways. But it immediately gets a ‘njet’ by his coalition partners. The proposal is part of the Climate-Energy Plan, which should enable Wallonia to achieve its objectives in the […]
September 12, 2022
Now that life has become so expensive with the peaking energy prices, Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open Vld), wants to introduce a more viable way to pay fines, several Belgian newspapers write. Soon, penalties will be payable in installments, the Minister promises. The Ministry of Justice understands that people have payment issues now […]
September 09, 2022
The municipality of Uccle wants to ban the parking of shared e-scooters on its territory temporarily. So says the newspaper Le Soir. Mayor Boris Dilliès (MR) and his municipality seek the appropriate legal remedy. The mayor is tired of the delay in Brussels legislation. Mr. Dilliès has already demarcated several zones where the steps may […]
September 06, 2022
The Dutch Minister of Justice and Security, Dilan Yeşilgöz (VVD), is planning to increase the frequently occurring traffic offenses by almost 8,6%. The prices rise with inflation, as is the case for other products. However, some fines will not exceed the upper limit of 450 euros. What does this price rise in real terms mean? […]
September 05, 2022
In the last twelve months, the police conducted alcohol tests among more than 322 000 drivers. Almost 2,5% of 7 972 motorists tested positive. The lowest number in five years, according to traffic safety institute Vias. Still, the federal police put these results into perspective. “We’ll only be happy when the number of drunk drivers […]
September 02, 2022
Since Thursday morning, motorbike and scooter users must pay to park in Paris. Two companies have been dispatched to track down offenders. Paris has been working for some time to reduce motorized traffic in favor of cyclists and pedestrians. The measure is difficult to digest for the motorcycle community. “We have to get out of […]
September 01, 2022
Toyota, the world’s number one car manufacturer, has announced that it will invest 5,3 billion euros in launching its own battery production. The plants will be built in Japan and the US, and production will start between 2024 and 2026. The investment is partially included in the big investment envelope that Toyota decided on last […]
September 01, 2022
The roll-out of 10 000 extra charging points in the public domain in Flanders – on demand for those who don’t have the means to charge an EV at home – will be realized in the next two years by French energy giants Engie and TotalEnergies. They won the public tender, which divides Flanders into […]
August 31, 2022
The French government seems to be persevering in its plans to subsidize electric vehicle leasing. Thanks to government support, all-electric vehicles could become available for as little as €100 per month. The news came up after a television appearance by Budget Minister Gabriel Attal. Such an EV leasing scheme would also follow an election promise […]
August 26, 2022
The Walloon Road Safety Agency (AWSR) has just analyzed the first results of the breathalyzer stations installed in different establishments in Walloon Brabant since the beginning of the summer. And what turns out to be the case? 24% of people with at least 1,14 g of alcohol in their blood believe they are under the […]
August 26, 2022
The State of California is officially banning sales of cars and light trucks with an internal combustion engine (ICE) from 2035 on, following the path of the EU in its Green Deal. But it leaves a loophole for carmakers to have 20% of their sales being plug-in hybrids, as long as they have a pure […]
August 25, 2022
As it has always indicated, the Brussels region is not burying the introduction of the smart mileage charge. For several days, the Brussels-Capital Region has been looking for a few hundred persons to test the SmartMove mobile application. Brussels Fiscal Affairs developed this app to calculate and record the smart kilometer charge. This is what […]
August 25, 2022
The Mexican government has founded a state-owned company to extract and market lithium. According to a decree by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the raw material is to be produced and distributed exclusively by Litio para México (lithium for Mexico). The company aims to start operations in six months at the latest. According to the […]
August 23, 2022
In North America, Tesla is again raising the price of its Full Self Driving service (FSD), a feature making it possible for its cars to perform semi-autonomous driving. It is the second price hike this year and the add-on, which customers can buy retrograde, now costs five times more than at launch. Until September 5th, […]
August 23, 2022
The four traffic lanes in Brussels Belliard Street – which used to have five lanes – will remain permanently. This is what several French-speaking media outlets are reporting, based on a report by the Bruzz news site. However, the two ‘temporary’ cycle paths, which are enclosed by concrete blocks, will become permanent. Permission to do […]
