November 03, 2017
Belgium’s most famous viaduct will get a crucial makeover with four lanes in each direction in the context of the redesign of the Ring around Brussels. Local and through traffic will be split and the viaduct will become a so-called ‘selection zone’ of almost 2 kilometres long. The first works are scheduled for 2019. The […]
November 03, 2017
Dutch bicycle maker VanMoof developed a tracking system for stolen bikes and sends out its own ‘bike hunters’ to retrieve them. A service that is proposed at an annual fee of 100 euro. In Belgium every quarter of an hour a bicycle is stolen. Police is powerless with a result that only 4 % of […]
November 02, 2017
Created in 2013, the Waterbus connecting Vilvoorde to Brussels on the canal, has transported 42.000 passengers this season. It’s 10.000 more than last year. Born from an initiative from the Brussels’ association “Brussels by Water” and the Brabant association “Kanaaltochten Brabant”, the Waterbus service was active for the first time this year all days of […]
November 02, 2017
“Electric car sales are progressing all around the world, but only evolve in EU countries with a GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of more than 30.000 per inhabitant, the more wealthy countries”, European Automobile Manufacturers Association ACEA explains. Since the beginning of this year, electric car sales are taking off. This market growth is pulled upwards […]
October 31, 2017
The Commission on Infrastructure of the Brussels’ parliament has agreed in the forming of a work group that has to study the implementation of dynamic road signs and speed limits on the main entry axes and the Ring. These dynamic road signs will adapt the speed limits to the traffic and weather conditions. The implementation […]
October 31, 2017
On Monday, the renewed VLM flight connection between Antwerp Airport and London City was officially ‘inaugurated’. VLM Airlines will fly the route again after nine years, this time with a Slovenian licence. The company is also working on connections between Brussels and China. Since September, there were no longer flights between Antwerp and London City […]
October 31, 2017
The Belgian Walloon regional government has agreed last week on an ambitious plan to reduce car usage from 83 to 60% by 2030. Its Transport, Mobility and Road Safety Minister Carlo di Antonio (cdH) wants 4 out of 5 car trips in the future to be with at least two passengers and boost public transport […]
October 30, 2017
According to information gathered by the Belgian newspaper “La Libre”, 110 pilots have quit Ryanair last week. Since 20.000 flights were cancelled due to the shortage of pilots available, Ryanair experiences a resignation rate of 23 per week. Ryanair had to cancel 20.000 flights until next March due to employee’s vacation scheduling problems. Since then, […]
October 30, 2017
The Executive Board approved the new 2018-2022 investments plan for Belgian railways SNCB/NMBS. It foresees 3,2 billion euro for commuter transport, train stations and equipment management and maintenance. On Friday, the SNCB/NMBS executive board approved the new power delegation and sub-delegation allowing the CEO Sophie Dutordoir to appoint her own general managers and department heads. […]
October 30, 2017
According to American real estate experts Justin Thompson and Garth Bostic the autonomous car can tempt people in the future to flee the city and move back to the green countryside, while traffic jams around the city will still remain and parking spaces in the city will become obsolete. The Los Angeles based experts asked […]
October 27, 2017
Two Brussels police zones will be given bait-bikes equipped with GPS trackers and use them to catch bicycle thieves. The justice deems the method to be legal. “Lately, the Dutch Tilburg University published a study reveiling that the number of bicycle thefts in the municipalities using bait-bikes had decreased by 40% in one year”, explains […]
October 27, 2017
After the indignation about the bicycle crashes in Antwerp, the political parties are now focusing on road safety. The collective ‘Samen’, joining political parties sp.a and Groen, wants to introduce a drastic new traffic plan like Ghent did. The left-wing collective asked professor Dirk Lauwers (UA, UGent), an authority in the field of road safety, […]
October 26, 2017
Wednesday, the German railway company Deutsche Bahn (DB) presented its first self-driving minibus. This “intelligent” urban shuttle’s maiden voyage happen in the spa resort of Bad Birnbach in Bavaria. The new autonomous shuttle Deutsche Bahn introduces, is capable of transporting up to 12 passengers. This electric minibus has been developed by the French start-up EasyMile. […]
October 25, 2017
A Walloon TEC bus transports on average 11 passengers and thus emits as much CO2 and NOx as eleven cars. Occupation in TEC buses is too low due in part to the loss of confidence in the availability of the public transport service, according to Walloon deputy Jean-Paul Wahl (MR). “According to the region minister’s […]
October 25, 2017
Simultaneously green light for all cyclists and pedestrians at crossroads could prevent accidents. But that road code is still not valid. According to Member of Parliament Jef Van den Bergh (CD&V) it could be applied sooner. Federal Minister for Mobility François Bellot (MR) is working on an adaptation of that traffic regulations. The proposal includes […]
October 25, 2017
The rich city-state of Singapore won’t allow any extra cars on its already congested road network, not a single one. Only replacement cars will be allowed and the government promises to invest billions in public transport. From February 2018 on, the city state won’t allow its motorized vehicle fleet to grow anymore, including motorcycles. The […]
October 25, 2017
Uber has created a fake city near Pittsburgh (US) on an old industrial lot to test autonomous cars in “real world conditions”. It is also used to train the future security drivers that will be present in Uber’s autonomous cars in case something goes wrong. On an old industrial lot of 17 acres, Uber has […]
October 25, 2017
Without unexpected obstacles, one of Europe’s biggest road construction sites, the Antwerp Oosterweel connection, will start in spring 2018 on the left bank of the river Scheldt (Linkeroever) and Zwijndrecht. A job that will take four and a half years and will cost 386 million euro. The Antwerp Ring will be open for traffic all […]
October 24, 2017
In a document sent to all Ryanair pilots, the European Employee Representative Council explains that they “have to consider the possibility to go on strike to ensure being heard on the negotiation table”. Ryanair pilots want to push the company’s management to offer the same benefits as other airlines. Last week, Madrid and London-Stansted Ryanair […]
October 24, 2017
London mayor Sadiq Khan starts his fight against growing air pollution by making every pre-2006 car driving in the city pay a 10 pound (11,21 euro) ‘Toxicity-charge’, officially called ‘Emissions Surcharge’ in addition to the already existing congestion charge. In the near future, every new bus and taxi will have to be hybrid or electric […]
October 24, 2017
The Flemish government agreed on lowering the threshold for refunding road taxes to transport companies that (partly) use waterways or railway instead of sending trucks on the road. The required minimum of 220 transshipment moves (from truck to boat) is lowered to 100. “After an adjustment of the rules, that were so severe hardly any […]
October 24, 2017
The first of 14 new trams of the Albatros-type is delivered in Antwerp. They will offer an extended capacity of 1.600 passengers. If everything goes as planned, nine more will be operational before the end of the year, while the last four are expected at the beginning of 2018. The Albatros-tram is 60 meter long, […]
October 23, 2017
Commercial free floating bike-sharing is on its way. Thirteen Flemish cities are approached by companies that intend to install those bicycles. To prevent the situation to derail like in Holland, measures have to be taken before they arrive, Ghent alderman Filip Watteuw (Groen) thinks. Unlike city-bikes such as Velo in Antwerp or Villo in Brussels, […]
October 23, 2017
Federal Justice Minister Koen Geens (CD&V) and Mobility Minister François Bellot (MR) proposed a new law aiming at reducing the number of vehicles driving without insurance. Penalties go from a three months driving ban to nine months imprisonment. In 2016, 29.233 drivers were caught circulating on the roads without any insurance for their vehicles. This […]
October 23, 2017
A mere 600 employees of chemical company BASF, which is based in the Port of Antwerp have exchanged their car for a bike. The change is possible thanks to the Commuting Fund of the Flemish government. BASF receives 195,000 euros and invests the money in bicycle infrastructure. “We offer our staff lease bicycles,” explains BASF […]
October 23, 2017
On Saturday, 40 drawn lots of Brussels citizen were invited in the city’s parliament to give their opinion on the capital’s mobility. The government’s objective is to include inhabitant’s recommendations in the future regional mobility plan. On the 8.000 letters sent to Brussels’ inhabitants to ask them if they would like to take part in […]
October 23, 2017
After numerous discussions with Paris city authorities, SeaBubbles won’t introduce it’s autonomous electric hovering boat taxis on the Seine but on the Geneva Lake instead. SeaBubbles is a new type of electric hydrofoil boats created by two French boaters that could revolutionize public transport. In only eighteen months, ex hydrofoil skipper Alain Thébault and windsurfing […]
