While there still was 4% less traffic on Flemish highways in 2022 compared to the pre-pandemic era, the congestion rate is back at the former level. However, the congestion’s exact time and place play a more significant role than before.

According to the yearly report for 2022 of the Flemish Traffic Center (Vlaams Verkeerscentrum), traffic jams in the morning hours are less heavy than in 2019. On the contrary, the evening congestion was already 10% higher in the second half of 2022.

Teleworking

The traffic center points to the Antwerp region to explain this. Congestion during the evening peak hours broke new records. According to the center, that could be explained by increased teleworking in some areas.

During work days, the traffic density in Flanders was 6,8% lower than in 2019. The Flemish traffic center thinks that teleworking surely is playing a role here. It explains why there is less congestion than in 2019 around Brussels (many office jobs), and it is still very congested around Antwerp (industry and port activities).

Part of the transport traffic has moved to work days too. There were 1,6% more trucks and vans on the road during the week and 3,5% less on the weekend.

Critical zones

The Flemish Traffic Center says the whole Antwerp area has become highly congestion prone again. The center points to the E34 (Antwerp-Knokke), the R2 (Antwerp port), and the E19 as extensive congestion areas, primarily due to dense, heavy transport.

On the primary Antwerp Ring road, the zone between Berchem and Antwerp East has the heaviest traffic, with 130 000 vehicles on average every work day. This R1 has eight zones that are the most congested in Flanders.

Bottleneck

On the Brussels Ring road (R0), the zone between Wemmel and Jette, has the heaviest traffic, with 101 000 vehicles on average on work days. The fact that this is just after the all-important traffic junction of Groot-Bijgaarden makes it the bottleneck of the Brussels Ring, with even higher saturation than in Antwerp.

Tuesday and Thursday remain the typical office days when most people commute to their workplace, and that hasn’t changed after the pandemic. “There are no days where the traffic density is suddenly lesser or worse on highways compared to the period before the pandemic,” says the press release, “the general pattern has remained the same.”

Accident increase

Last year, there was a significant increase in traffic jams due to accidents on the roads around Brussels and Antwerp. In Brussels, they were at the same level again as before the pandemic; in Antwerp, they rose even higher: 3 000 so-called nuisance incidents (where a specific incident on the road causes a traffic jam) were registered, compared to 2 750 in pre-pandemic 2019.

Modal shift

Flemish Mobility Minister Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) says that the Flemish government wants to promote more sustainable forms of transport to battle congestion. “We want to stimulate the modal shift and have people opting for more sustainable transport and mobility solutions,” she says. “That’s the only way we can lower the congestion charge the Flemish citizen is confronted with daily.”

“We’re thinking about biking, public or collective transport, or sharing systems,” she adds. “Different options are increasing every year, and this will last. That’s why we invest heavily in those Hoppin points where we bring together different transport modes.” When talking about transport logistics, the Minister wants to realize a shift to rail and water transport.

No improvement yet

According to the data already available for this year, the expected improvement won’t occur yet. March and April 2023 have seen the heaviest congestion figures since those data were systematically registered (starting in 2011). The month of May saw the second-heaviest congestion since the beginning of measuring.

There are no signs yet that this will change shortly. Indeed when one knows that the authorities are planning an urgent catch-up process concerning infrastructure and that Flanders is preparing a complete overhaul of the Brussels Ring while Antwerp is trying to roll out its Oosterweel ring road project.