By 2026, Wallonia will get 11 additional Carpool car parks for 1 118 spaces. Wallonia will thus have a total of almost 5 000 Carpool spaces.

The news has been reported by the newspaper La Capital, based on information from Walloon Mobility and Infrastructure Minister Philippe Henry (Ecolo).

30% more

Today, Wallonia has almost 3 700 Carpool spaces spread over 112 car parks. “Thanks to the Recovery Plan, we will create 11 additional car parks for 1 118 spaces by 2026,” says Minister Philippe Henry. This expansion will increase the current supply by 30%, to 4 781 spaces.

Most new carpool parks will be on the E411 Brussels-Arlon, the E40 Brussels-Liège, and the E42 between Verviers and Tournai. The list of the Carpool parking provided can be found here.

At the same time, variable message signs on highways with information on traffic and intermodality are also planned to be renovated.

Special app for shared travel

In addition, the non-profit organization Autostop Solidaire en Sud-Luxembourg will receive €162 000  in funding for a pilot project in favor of hitchhiking and carpooling in twelve municipalities.

“This project will make it possible, using an application and identifiable stops, to encourage shared travel in an area where mobility problems are crucial,” Philippe Henry concludes.

As part of the Regional Mobility Strategy, Wallonia plans to encourage carpooling to achieve an average load of 1,8 people per vehicle by 2030, compared to 1,3 in 2017. More generally, it also aims to reduce the share of private cars in travel to 60% (compared to 83% in 2017).

For these Carpool projects, the Walloon government has provided an envelope of 6,5 million euros.

According to the latest figures from Vias Institute, in Belgium, some 11% of the kilometers traveled on Belgian roads are driven by people who Carpool. Flanders has some 90 Carpool car parks with a total capacity of over 5 800 cars and bikes.