An increasing number of people in Brussels are giving up their car in exchange for a mobility premium, with over 1,200 applications expected in 2019.
By November, 1,177 motorists had applied for the Brussel'Air/Bruxell'Air premium, created by regional mobility authorities to encourage the use of more environmentally friendly means of transport.
By the end of the year, Sarah Hollander of Brussels Environnement's Sustainability Department, said that over 1,200 applications were expected, sending the premium's popularity soaring past that encountered during its first years.
"With approximately 102 applications per month, we see more files coming in than during the last year," Hollander told Bruzz.
Created in 2006, the premium consists of a mobility package, which can include a subscription to all public transports operating in Brussels, a bike premium reaching up to €505, a subscription to car-sharing platform Cambio or a combination of all three, depending on each file.
During its first years, the number of applications averaged 1,800 per year, before dropping as far low as 631 applications in 2017 and 860 last year.
Motorists who obtain the premium are bound by a number of conditions, such as not registering a new car for as long as they benefit from the prime.
Gabriela Galindo
The Brussels Times
