Thank you for the detailed info about Belgium and Brussels.
I have been to Brussels for a few days. The transit in the core was great (says the American whose city is a wreck for transit). We used the metro and trains. We headed out by hopping the train to London.
It sounds like the wider situation outside of Brussels and the policies regarding car use need some serious work. If the taxes make it beneficial to drive, people will. A budget is a statement of an organizations values. The same goes for how taxes are balanced in a nation.
Hopefully the leadership in Belgium can find a way to roll back those highways. Removing freeways through cities is a fast way to improve the city as a place for people to live.
Okay cool. Within Brussels it’s sorta fine indeed, I guess I’m biased by the commuter view ;) Within the city it’s definitely getting better the last few years.
The main policy issue is for sure the cars for pay… Some politicians wanted to abolish it since years, but it only grows year after year. Recently they made it only tax-friendly for electric cars, saying the system must stay because it helps transition to electric cars faster (I think that transition would happen very fast anyhow and I think transitioning to (e-)bicycles is better). Understandably, people who currently have such a “free” car from work don’t want to give it up (and that’s a lot of voters), as they also use it to go on holiday with the family and such.
A main infrastructure issue is the tunnel (you probably travelled in it) running north to south. So many different trains in Belgium get squozen in the same little piece Brussels North - Central - Brussels South, the tunnel is very saturated, and messy with highspeed, intercity, local and S trains all going there. It just needs 1 little incident and plenty of trains all over the country get delayed.
Thank you for the detailed info about Belgium and Brussels.
I have been to Brussels for a few days. The transit in the core was great (says the American whose city is a wreck for transit). We used the metro and trains. We headed out by hopping the train to London.
It sounds like the wider situation outside of Brussels and the policies regarding car use need some serious work. If the taxes make it beneficial to drive, people will. A budget is a statement of an organizations values. The same goes for how taxes are balanced in a nation.
Hopefully the leadership in Belgium can find a way to roll back those highways. Removing freeways through cities is a fast way to improve the city as a place for people to live.
Okay cool. Within Brussels it’s sorta fine indeed, I guess I’m biased by the commuter view ;) Within the city it’s definitely getting better the last few years.
The main policy issue is for sure the cars for pay… Some politicians wanted to abolish it since years, but it only grows year after year. Recently they made it only tax-friendly for electric cars, saying the system must stay because it helps transition to electric cars faster (I think that transition would happen very fast anyhow and I think transitioning to (e-)bicycles is better). Understandably, people who currently have such a “free” car from work don’t want to give it up (and that’s a lot of voters), as they also use it to go on holiday with the family and such.
A main infrastructure issue is the tunnel (you probably travelled in it) running north to south. So many different trains in Belgium get squozen in the same little piece Brussels North - Central - Brussels South, the tunnel is very saturated, and messy with highspeed, intercity, local and S trains all going there. It just needs 1 little incident and plenty of trains all over the country get delayed.