October 19, 2022 - Brussels is en route to becoming one of Europe’s most robust cycling cities, showing continued growth of 20% even two years after the 2020 cycling boom, which saw an unparalleled 64% increase in ridership.

The city’s new award-winning Regional Mobility Plan (RMP) 2020-2030, dubbed Good Move, adopts a transversal approach with six central themes for integrated mobility solutions and a budget of €327.4 million for its Regional Roads Development Plan.

Elke Van den Brandt, Brussels Minister of Mobility, aspires to triple the use of bicycles by 2030 in the city. The current bicycle modal share is 4.14%, with an e-bike modal share of 3.04%. She received the international award for promoting cycling at the 2021 Velo-city conference in Lisbon. 

Studies show that 14.57% of the city’s residents ride their bicycles to work all or some of the time, and the counter along the Molenbeek canal cycle path broke the 1 million journeys mark in December 2021, a first for the Belgian capital. 

Last year Brussels implemented a 30kph speed limit across the city as part of Good Move, reporting up to a 50% reduction in road fatalities. 

In mid-August, a larger low-traffic area within the “Pentagon” city centre was established to improve the quality of life for residents as well as benefit tourists and visitors.

Brussels also launched a Cargo Bike project for residents and businesses, including incentives and instructions for faster, greener and more economical “last mile” inner city deliveries. The result was a 10-fold surge from one in a thousand to one in a hundred deliveries by bicycle, or about 6 million annually. 

Annual events like Bike Brussels, held Mar 25-27 this year, promote cycling with fun rides, events, expos and information sessions on repair, routes, tourism, the environment and more.

In 2021, Belgium’s federal government launched its first-ever bicycle plan, titled Be Cyclist, to increase cycling in the country. The action plan includes 52 different measures aimed at stimulating and expanding the use of bicycles. 

The F3 cycle highway bridge, which opened in April, connects Leuven to Brussels at a record cost of €32.5 million, representing the biggest cycling investment in Belgium’s history.

Belgium also boasts 2,700 kilometres of high-quality cycling highways that are built along railways, waterways and highways for inter-city cycling trips.