The Fleming increasingly prefers to cycle and walk. This emerges from a study into the travel behavior of the Flemish population by the Department of Mobility. Although the car remains the most popular means of transport, the share of the car drops below 60% for the first time.

It is the sixth time since 1994 that the study on the Flemish population’s travel behavior has been conducted, and never has bicycle use been so high. For example, the Flemish people do 18% of their traveling by (electric) bicycle. That is an increase of 4% compared to 2019. The analysis report also shows that over a fifth of Flemish workers cycle to work.

Kilometers double

The average distance we are willing to cycle has also doubled from 4 to 8 kilometers in ten years. No doubt the popularity of e-bikes has something to do with that.

Before the corona crisis, only one in five families had an e-bike; in 2023, it is more than one in three. In general, 12,5% ride non-electric, 5,3% electric, and 5,3% ride a speed pedelec. The Flemish also increasingly prefer to walk. Some 17% of all travel is done on foot.

Car under 60% share

King car remains the most popular with 57%, but its share thus dipped below 60% for the first time. In 2019, the car still accounted for 65% of all trips.

Public transport is increasingly less popular among Flemish people. Only 4% of all Flemish people use trains, trams, or buses. Before the corona crisis, this was 7%.

The fact that teleworking has meanwhile been rapidly and strongly adopted in Flanders certainly plays a role in this. Within the survey, 38% of professionally active participants indicated they regularly work from home. Today, 43% of teleworkers say they do so for three days or more.

Scholars travel sustainably by bicycle (31%), on foot (19%), or by public transport (17%).

The Flemish make most of the trips in their leisure time, and thus not for commuting, to go shopping (23%) or for sporting or cultural hobbies (15%), or to visit someone (10%).

Less trust in De Lijn

Flemish Mobility Minister Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) responds with satisfaction with the results, which are plus-minus in line with recent results from FOD Mobility. “I am pleased to note that more and more Flemish people are opting for bicycles and other sustainable means of transport,” says the Open Vld Minister.

Regarding the declining shares of public transport, Minister Peeters noted that De Lijn “has to regain the trust of travelers”. According to the Minister, the transport company is working hard to “win back lost travelers and welcome new ones”.

Cycling is also becoming more popular in Antwerp

All these trends from the Flemish Department of Mobility’s survey are also confirmed by the results of the city of Anwerp’s Urban Mobility Trends 2022 report. For the first time in twelve years, the bicycle was more popular there than the car in commuting, according to the Gazet van Antwerpen.

Almost 43% of Antwerp residents revert to cycling for commuting, compared with 36,2% of the car (in 2010, the latter was 51%). 46% more cyclists were counted than in a previous report from 2015.

Public transport comes out at 11%. Also striking: car ownership inside the Ring Road is more than 15% lower than outside it, although there, too, there is a trend toward more sustainable travel.