The Brussels Mobility Centre was created on Wednesday morning with the Brussels Mobility Minister Elke Van den Brandt in attendance. The centre coordinates and centralises the various STIB (Brussels' transport system operator) functions.
The purpose-specific site is currently in the final stages of construction and the new "Operations Control Centre" (OCC) is due to open over the course of the year. STIB comprises six primary transport systems: busses, trams, metros, infrastructure and provision of energy, security, and transport communications.
Until now, these separate elements of the public transport operator had been running from different locations but it is expected that their unification will lead to improvements in administration, traffic management, and overall efficiency. 300 STIB employees will work together in the OCC.
"When managing an integrated bus, tram, and metro service that operates alongside urban traffic, communication and cooperation between managers of all modes of transport are essential. This will ensure that we can provide Brussels residents and commuters with the most integrated and fluid public transport service possible," STIB CEO Brieuc de Meeûs stated. "The Brussels Mobility Centre is a tool that will help us strengthen and improve this cooperation."
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The new site will allow operators of the different systems to have more direct lines of contact so that they can better assist each other in the case of incidents as well as making full use of the tools available.
Brussels Mobility has also moved its 60 employees from their previous site into the same building. Technical equipment will be updated and cameras overseeing metros and roads will be improved. If necessary, tunnels can be closed remotely for security reasons. "Our roads will become more and more intelligent," Van den Brandt explained.
The new centre will occupy a space of almost 2.500 m², of which 1.400 m² will be used by STIB teams and over 400 m² by Brussels Mobility, leaving 650 m² for any other purposes that might be needed. Notably, a crisis room will give access to all systems and cameras to help emergency services respond quickly and efficiently to any major incident that might arise.
