Brussels adopts new SUMP for the city region

On 5 March the Council of Ministers of the Belgian capital Brussels approved the 'Good Move' regional mobility plan for the city region. By adopting this plan, the Brussels government aims to reduce personal car use by 24% by 2030, reduce transit traffic by 34%, quadruple bicycle use, give residents 130,000 m2 of public space and create 50 peaceful neighbourhoods.

The final plan was developed after an extensive consultation exercise. This involved consultation with the 19 municipalities of the Brussels capital region, 8,000 people and hundreds of organisations and associations, which led to improvements to the detail of the initial plan. The principles of 'Good Move' were supported by a large majority of these stakeholders.

The two central objectives of the plan are enabling mobility and improving quality of life, by offering more meeting spaces, reducing nuisance in districts and making more green space in the city. These will come in the form of small parks, terraces, friendly squares and playgrounds, resulting in more trees and more oxygen for the city.

The principle that is at the forefront of 'Good Move' is to give priority first to pedestrians, cyclists, public transport and finally to private cars. The Brussels government will achieve this by investing in cycling infrastructure, pedestrian networks and public transport.

The consultation showed a strong demand from Brussels' residents for improvements in road safety. This led to the integration of the 'Zero Vision' into the plan, i.e. the EU objective of zero deaths and serious injuries on the roads by 2030, which includes a strategy to reduce speed limits in the city to 30km/h. Significant efforts will also be made to increase public transport options for commuters and to transform the outdated entrances to the city into multimodal urban boulevards.

The Brussels government are also looking to innovate, by introducing integrated tickets as part of their Mobility as a Service (MaaS) plans. This will help users combine the mobility services that are best suited to their travel needs, e.g. by changing from public transport to shared mobility seamlessly.

'Good Move' is also aiming to reduce the impact of mobility on the environment by aligning it with the objective of decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by 35% by 2030. Focusing on active modes of transport and offering alternatives to personal car use will also help to reduce air and noise pollution.  

Original article first published 2020 by Service public régional de Bruxelles