Bicycle traffic in Brussels increases

8 March 2007

BRUSSELS – Bicycle traffic in the Brussels region has quadrupled in four years’ time to 4 percent of all travel. The daily number of bicycle journeys has increased from 30,000 in 2001 to 120,000 this year, De Morgen has reported.

Cycling in Brussels also turns out to be safer than in Flanders and the Walloon region. Primary young, white, highly-educated residents are using the bicycle in the capital.

Brussels Minister for Mobility Pascal Smet (SP.A) said the growth is due partly to the better cycling infrastructure in the region. He said the snowball effect was the main cause for the growth however: “The more cyclists you see on the streets, the more new ones decide to follow suit.”

Subject: Belgian news