The new Brussels mobility plan “Good Move” makes motorists and members of the opposition cringe in the capital. The Brussels minister in charge of mobility, Elke van den Brandt (Groen), defends this plan on the set of the guest of Matin Première.
“No, the Good Move plan is not an anti-car plan. Traffic jams in Brussels have been fairly stable since 2005. Every morning, we waste time and our good mood in traffic jams. It pollutes, it makes noise. Doing nothing, that’s anti-car. We must act”, defends the Brussels environmental minister.
Elke Van den Brandt, also in charge of public works, recalls that the current situation is not ideal in Brussels, the economic heart of Belgium: “We lose between 4 and 8 billion euros a year in Belgium because of traffic jams. We waste a lot of time and energy. The goal is to make traffic more fluid for those who do not have an alternatives.”
Channel transit to axes
How does the Minister intend to improve circulation? “We have to make the alternatives more attractive, as is the case with Good Move. We are investing in public transport, but we also have to ensure that they run on their own site. We have to make the travel conditions for more pleasant cyclists and pedestrians.”
With this traffic plan, the majority of Brussels intends, among other things, to reduce traffic through the city: “Brussels has been divided into 50 districts. In each district, we will ensure that transit traffic is channeled towards the structuring axes.