December 12, 2022
From Wednesday night until 15 January, there will be no more parking or traffic fines issued in Belgium. This is what the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws writes, and it is confirmed by Carlo Meno of the National Syndicate of Police and Security Personnel (NSVP). Police unions are reaching for major resources in protest against the […]
December 09, 2022
Delhaize has ambitious plans: next year, the supermarket chain is to install 1 800 public fast-charging stations up to 150 kW for electric vehicles on the parking grounds of its stores. By providing such a large number of charging points – the largest in the retail sector – and making them accessible to everyone 24/7, […]
December 09, 2022
The registrations of new motorbikes and second-hand ones scored surprisingly well in November. Last month, 1 093 new motorbikes were registered, an increase of 25,3% compared to last year. However, not enough for a positive annual figure. Speed pedelecs, on the other hand, continue to peak. The annual total over the first eleven months is […]
December 08, 2022
The Flemish Minister for Mobility, Lydia Peeters (Open Vld), is planning to distribute 10 000 additional saliva tests for police control. She wants to step up the fight against drug abuse in traffic. On the federal level, Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open Vld) earlier announced to make 100 000 of such tests available – […]
December 08, 2022
Brussels Airlines is expanding its fleet and offering in preparation for summer 2023. It is also creating more than 200 new jobs. The airline is thus adding five new Airbus A320 neo aircraft to its fleet, reducing its carbon footprint. Most of the additional jobs are flying personnel, some of whom are already being trained. […]
December 08, 2022
Flanders’ proactive approach to tackling unsafe traffic situations appears to be successful, and the first results are visible. Flemish Minister for Mobility Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) intends to use new technology to preventively improve traffic safety. Last year, Minister Peeters introduced the MIA approach, a new and inventive way to tackle unsafe traffic situations. MIA […]
December 07, 2022
The extensive e-shared network in the Antwerp region is as good as completed. Indeed, after Antwerp, the orange bikes of the Danish company Donkey Republic will be extended to the Waasland region in East Flanders. In this way, some 36 cities and municipalities are participating in the network today. According to Beveren Mayor Marc Van […]
December 06, 2022
For the first time since January, sales figures for the second-hand car market were positive in November, Traxio announced. Last month, 53 996 used cars were registered, 1,9% more than in 2021. Still, the second-hand market remains down -9,8%, with a cumulative loss of -64 261 vehicles compared to last year. Volkswagen is still the […]
December 06, 2022
Air France-KLM is to buy 800 000 tons of non-fossil Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) over ten years from TotalEnergies to meet its environmental objectives. The two companies signed on Monday a memorandum of understanding for this, starting in 2023. The fuel will be produced by TotalEnergies in its biorefineries and made available to Air France-KLM […]
December 06, 2022
Due to the energy crisis, electricity outages may be possible in some European cities this winter. In France, struggling with its supply as several nuclear plants are out of service, public transport considers all scenarios to avoid stranding passengers, including electricity cut-offs. Although the metro system will be spared a power cut this winter, trams […]
December 05, 2022
On Friday, Belgian’s railway company NMBS/SNCB board of directors approved the future management contract. It will now be submitted to the unions for their opinion, with the federal government expected to give the final go-ahead before the end of the year. Many details about the management contract are yet unknown. However, several broad outlines are […]
December 02, 2022
Belgian materials specialist Umicore and PowerCo, the battery company of German automotive giant Volkswagen, are to expand their partnership in battery materials. To this end, they are exploring a long-term strategic agreement to supply PowerCo’s future giant electric vehicle plant in North America. Umicore reports this in a press release. Umicore and PowerCo have also […]
December 02, 2022
Next year, Flemish Minister for Mobility and Public Works (Open Vld) will invest 2,3 billion euros in 815 projects. In all those projects, three keywords are involved: bicycle, safety, and sustainability. The largest part of the budget is destined for the Agency for Roads and Traffic (Agentschap Wegen en Verkeer, AWV) (€738 million) and the […]
December 02, 2022
Low-cost airline Ryanair has signed an agreement with Shell to supply more sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The oil and gas group will help make SAF more available to the Irish carrier’s fleet at 200 European airports. This mainly concerns Ryanair’s largest bases in Dublin and London Stansted. Ryanair has already partnered with Neste, the world’s […]
December 01, 2022
In Jette, in the north of Brussels, the regional agency parking.brussels has opened a new 50-space interchange car park on the grounds of the UZ Brussel. This P+R parking with access control is the first in Brussels under shared management. The Brussels-Capital Region now has eight car parks designated as Park & Rides: Erasmus, Coovi, […]
December 01, 2022
The BMW Group has decided to share its technological expertise with the world. BMW opts for an open-access approach and hopes to start a dialogue with potential partners. The initiative shows an approach that has never been implemented in the automotive industry before. Global trend research allows the company to draw conclusions about future technological […]
November 30, 2022
Thirty-five new speed camera posts will be installed on the capital’s roads next year. Brussels Mobility Minister Elke Van den Brandt (Groen) has announced that. According to the minister, 30 poles have been ordered and received. The installation of 17 to 20 radars is planned for 2023 based on the new radar plan. For the […]
November 30, 2022
Applicants and young employees are still interested in a company car. That is what 68% of fleet and mobility managers confirmed in the new Company Car Report organized by Mobia, the mobility federation of Febiac, Traxio, and Renta. According to the questioned managers, 21% of youngsters have a neutral attitude toward the company car, and […]
November 29, 2022
Car dealers in the Netherlands saw their turnover rise by almost a quarter (24,3%) in the third quarter compared to the same period a year earlier. This was mainly due to price increases. Used cars were never so expensive before, reports the Dutch governmental statistics institute (CBS). A year ago, the turnover in the Netherlands’s […]
November 29, 2022
Owners of an electric car who cannot install a charging point at home and don’t have one nearby can ask for a public charging station in the immediate surroundings of their home. Since September, citizens with an electric vehicle can file such a request via an e-counter. In the meantime, 437 citizens or companies applied. […]
November 28, 2022
Federal Minister for Mobility Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) wants driving licenses in Belgium to be automatically and immediately revoked even at lower blood alcohol levels. Suppress newspapers report that. The figures for drink-driving in Belgium are still alarming: between January and October, there were 3 138 accidents on Belgian roads in which the driver had drunk […]
November 28, 2022
In 2021, the quality of bikeways along the Flemish regional roads was better than in 2019. As a result, not only has the infrastructure improved, but the comfort for cyclists increased. That is the conclusion of the Agency for Roads and Traffic’s latest bicycle report. The ART (Agentschap Wegen en Verkeer, AWV) publishes a similar […]
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 24, 2022
An old icon of ‘Belgianism’, the 127-year-old Royal Touring Club of Belgium is being sold to insurance company AG (75%) and Belgian’s biggest bank company BNP Paribas Fortis (25%). How much money is involved in the transaction is not specified. However, it allows Touring to continue road assistance and other activities in a world where […]
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 23, 2022
Despite the popularity of teleworking and the reduced number of cars on Flemish roads compared to pre-corona times, traffic congestion is worse than ever. That flared up the debate on the introduction of a kilometer tax for passenger cars and vans in the Flemish Parliament. October 2022 was the second worst month regarding traffic jams […]
November 22, 2022
Geely’s luxury brand Zeekr has launched a platform for autonomous driving vehicles. Dubbed SEA-M, the carmaker presented it on a robotaxi, the M-Vision. Google’s subsidiary Waymo is the first customer. The unveiling of the car, and the architecture, follows a previous announcement from Google and Geely unveiling their collaboration on developing an all-electric ride-hailing vehicle […]
November 22, 2022
Europe’s largest airline group Lufthansa has launched a campaign to recruit 20 000 employees in Europe. According to the group’s statement, Lufthansa will recruit these new employees in 45 professions at its site in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Belgium. In particular, technicians, IT specialists, lawyers, pilots, and cabin crew are being sought. The campaign comes […]
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 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 18, 2022
The Flemish government plans a new bicycle highway along the Brussels beltway between Vilvoorde and Strombeek-Bever. The new bikeway will be five kilometers long and connect several bicycle highways (F28 and F23, along the channel in Vilvoorde). The project fits in a larger-scale initiative to implement a total of 115 km of new bikeways connecting […]
November 18, 2022
Carlos Brito, the former CEO of Belgian beer giant AB InBev will become CEO of Carglass parent Belron. Belgian group D’Ieteren, which owns just over half of Belron, announced this on Wednesday. Quite a lot of analysts think that Brito has also been hired to prepare an IPO of the very successful glass provider Belron […]
November 17, 2022
The Agoria Solar Team, the student team of the KU Leuven, has succeeded in covering the longest distance in 12 hours with the solar car they developed. In 12 hours, the BluePoint Atlas, as their newest solar car is called, covered 1 051 kilometers, breaking the previous record of the Dutch Solar Team from Delft […]
November 17, 2022
This year, the Inter City Express (ICE) high-speed train connection between Belgium and Germany will celebrate its 20th birthday. In 2022, it will also transport a record number of more than one million passengers. On December 15th, 2002, the first ICE train rode between Brussels and Frankfurt. The ICE network is exploited by the German […]
November 17, 2022
The Danish shipping company DFDS has ordered 125 e-trucks from Volvo Trucks. The first new Volvo FH Electric Truck was delivered in Ghent (Belgium) on Wednesday during a launch event in the presence of Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. DFDS, one of the largest shipping companies in northern Europe, intends to run one-quarter of its […]
November 16, 2022
The Toyota Parts Center Europe (TPCE) in Diest, the Japanese car giant Toyota’s largest distribution center outside its home country, expects to increase its activities by 25%, but without recruiting. This was stated by Andy Sinton, head of the parts supply chain at Toyota Motor Europe, on Tuesday during a press visit to mark the […]
November 16, 2022
According to a recent study by Brussels University’s research center Mobi, the typical Belgian EV driver is a 47-year-old, technology-loving male. He’s highly educated and lives in a free-standing house. The Belgian charging station manufacturer Powerdale commissioned the study. VUB’s research center Mobi analyzed the data of 489 drivers with a hybrid or fully electric […]
November 16, 2022
Brussels city district Tour & Taxis will banish the cars from the streetscape from 2023 on their site. From then on, parking will only be available underground on the Tours & Taxis site. As a ‘five-minute neighborhood’, it wants to ensure that all facilities are accessible within walking distance, which is why soft mobility will […]
November 15, 2022
The Hoppin center’s pilot project, a platform responsible for planning, booking, and paying for public transport in Flanders, will start today in the Klein-Brabant (Puurs, Sint-Amands, and Bornem) bell bus area. The pilot project marks the phased roll-out of the Basic Accessibility Plan, a major public transport reform in Flanders. With the mobility brand Hoppin, […]
November 14, 2022
To meet the Paris agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1,5°C above pre-industrial levels, the planet cannot support more than 315 million additional internal combustion engine vehicles by 2040, Greenpeace Germany reports based on a new study of the production forecasts of the world’s major carmakers. Carmakers plan to sell about 712 million more, […]
November 14, 2022
All lighting systems along the Flemish highways should be equipped with LED lights by 2027, three years earlier than previously announced. Switching to LED lights would be an important money-saver. Flemish Mobility Minister Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) is willing to invest 25 million euros in it. Today, the Flemish highways are equipped with about 30 […]
November 10, 2022
Belgian railway company NMBS/SNCB will not extend its timetable in December as planned. The company is pressing the pause button due to the “difficult financial and operational context”. NMBS/SNCB CEO Sophie Dutordoir indicated late last month that investments would be postponed after the budget conclave. This is because the federal government came up with less […]
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 08, 2022
Speed pedelecs, the fast-riding e-bikes, are increasingly popular on Belgian roads. In October, mobility federation Traxio noted 1 557 new registrations, 556 more (+55%) than in the same month last year. Total new registrations in the last ten months were 15 041, or an increase of 40,2% (4 316 units) compared to 2021. Even second-hand […]
November 07, 2022
Transport economists of Antwerp University have succeeded for the first time in calculating the direct and social costs of traffic congestion. They developed a new tool and applied it on a 15-km-long traffic jam on the E19 highway in Antwerp. The result of their analysis was stunning: the cost amounted to more than 200 000 […]
November 04, 2022
The second-hand car market is suffering, Belgian automotive services sector federation Traxio warns. For nine consecutive months, sales figures declined: -8,8% compared to 2021 and even -21,9% compared to September 2020, when sales were booming immediately after the first corona lockdown. In October, 53 192 second-hand cars were registered, 5 165 fewer than in October […]
November 03, 2022
The ‘free-flow’ highway without barriers at toll roads or the so-called “péages”, a system long established in other countries, will soon become the new standard in France. Users can drive at the permitted speed, without slowing down to stopping, by passing under gates equipped with cameras and sensors that identify their vehicle. The French state […]
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 […]
November 02, 2022
On November 1st, the German car-sharing company Miles Mobility officially acquired Volkswagen Group’s all-electric car-sharing service WeShare. Until recently, WeShare operated as a service of Urban Mobility International GmbH, a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG. At the same time, Miles has ordered more than 10 000 electric vehicles from Audi, Seat, Cupra, and VW. The ordered […]
October 31, 2022
Belgian railway NMBS/SNCB is raising fares from February by an average of 8,73%. The decision for the increase was taken earlier, but the railroad company’s board of directors had yet to give the go-ahead. The price increase is also necessary because Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) secured a lower-than-hoped-for rail budget at the budget talks. However, […]
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
Brussels Airlines made record profits in the third quarter. The adjusted operating profit or ‘adjusted debit’ amounted to 51 million euros, “the best quarterly result in Brussels Airlines’ 20-year history,” the airline said. With the strong increase in demand, good development of liquidity, and financial support of parent group Lufthansa, Brussels Airlines will be able […]
October 27, 2022
Belgian railway NMBS/SNCB must postpone a number of investments planned for 2023-2024 until the following years. This is the result of a decision by the federal government after the budget conclave that means NMBS/SNCB will receive less money than first promised. In 2024, NMBS/SNCB’s debt threatens to exceed 3 billion euros, well above the imposed […]
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 21, 2022
Staff members of the Flemish government will be allowed to lease a ‘company bicycle’ as of November. The initiative is intended to focus on sustainability and the well-being of the employees. Employees can ask for a company bike in exchange for some vacation days and/or part of their end-of-year bonus. They’re free to jump at […]
October 21, 2022
Despite the remaining obstacles, 30% of French people are considering buying an electric car and 54% a hybrid. Only 12% of French people say they are “attached” to the internal combustion vehicle. This is evident from an online survey of about 1 300 people conducted by Odoxa, a French polling company. In 2035, when it […]
