Brussels Councillor for Mobility Bart Dhondt (Ecolo) launched Mobility Week on Monday morning in the low-traffic school streets of Rue de Flandre and Rue Clé in the centre of Brussels.
Mobility Week culminates in Car-Free Sunday and includes various activities throughout the week in Brussels, Belgium, and Europe. The location for launching Mobility Week is no coincidence: the low-traffic zone on rue de Flandre, which restricts cars at the start and end of the school day, is one of six locations adapted in this way since August 2022. For Dhondt, it represents "the commitment" of the City of Brussels "to a safe school environment."
In 2018, parents from the two primary schools near rue de Flandre – Maria Boodschap and La Clé des Champs – saw that traffic safety and air quality are closely linked. If a street is not safe for children to cycle or walk on, parents choose to drive their children to school. This in turn worsens the street's air quality.
"Rue de Flandre has become the symbol of parents' fight for clean air and safe streets," Dhont added.
Mobility Week is a European Commission initiative to promote active transport modes. It takes place across Member States and informs citizens about the benefits of sustainable mobility.
"Cities are particularly densely populated areas so sustainable, active ways of getting around have a very significant and tangible positive impact. On the environment and especially on the health and safety of citizens," explains Thomas de Béthune, a representative of the European Commission in Belgium. "The goal of European Mobility Week is therefore to encourage and support active modes of transportation."
Car Free Sunday, 18 September 2022. Credit: Orlando Whitehead
Throughout the week, family activities will be organised in the city of Brussels and the surrounding municipalities to raise awareness among residents about the importance of sustainable urban transport.
For example, several cycling events are planned, and tram Line 10 — the brand-new tram line connecting Neder-Over-Heembeek to the centre of Brussels — will be officially inaugurated.
Mobility Week reaches its peak on Car-Free Sunday this weekend (22 September), when from 08:00 to 19:00 the Brussels-Capital Region will become Europe’s largest area closed to cars.
Among other events, the Beursschouwburg near Bourse will open its doors that day for Brussels residents to enjoy music, and Mobility Villages will be set up in multiple municipalities.
In addition to Brussels, countless other cities and municipalities are participating in Mobility Week. More than 1,900 cities from 43 countries are taking part in the European campaign week, including eight cities in Japan, three in Peru, as well as some in Argentina and Ecuador.
