Around one in four drivers in Brussels would consider living without their car, a survey into the travel habits of Brussels car owners showed. The findings highlight that for some of the city's drivers, the inconveniences of having a car outweigh the practical advantages.
Roads across the Brussels region are plagued by traffic every day. But not all people driving in Brussels live in the region – as shown by the large reduction in traffic during the summer. To understand how residents of Brussels who own a car depend on their vehicle, Brussels Mobility surveyed 1,900 drivers.
"Respondents answered several questions about the frequency of car use (for various transport reasons) and their ability to make these trips by other means if necessary," spokesperson Steven Fierens said.
Brussels car owners use their vehicles for 3.9 trips per week, on average. However, there are varying levels of dependency. "More than one in three motorists use the car for less than one trip per week; a quarter for between one and four trips, and the remaining 37% for more than four trips." The differences depend mainly on people's age and whether they have children.
Brussels Mobility found that one-third of all trips made by Brussels car owners (32%) could quite easily be made with another mode of transport, such as bicycle or public transport.
This is reflected in the share of car owners willing to live without a vehicle. "27% of people with only one car in the household said it would be possible for them to live without a car." In the neighbourhoods closest to the city centre (located within the Inner Ring Road), this figure is higher.
The government agency is using the data gathered to better understand Brussels car owners' travel habits and how to make alternatives to the car more attractive.
The parking puzzle
More than half (54%) of Brussels residents park their car in a street close to their home. But 44% have had ‘some difficulty’ finding a parking space in the last few months, while one in five (20%) said they had ‘a lot of difficulty’.
"Residents of the city centre and inner suburbs have by far the most problems in this regard," Fierens noted. This could explain their openness to living without a car.
Many people with a private parking garage add to this issue: one in three Brussels residents who have a private parking space still often park on the street. One in five do so because it is not easy to park their car in their garage.
