If Brussels' new transport minister has anything to do with it, the reign of the car in the Belgian capital will soon come to an end.

“If you look at some neighborhoods in Brussels, it seems like they were designed to make room for the car,” said Elke Van den Brandt, the Green party politician who is part of the new coalition government running the region since July.

Brussels has a terrible transport reputation, with streets clogged with traffic, high levels of pollution, underdeveloped public transport and bicycle infrastructure, and squabbling local and regional governments making it hard to figure out joint solutions.

But public pressure for change is growing. May's regional, national and European elections saw a surge in support for environmental parties. The Greens are now the second-largest party in the Brussels regional government, just behind the traditionally dominant Socialists. They've formed a broader coalition government and their joint agreement has a heavy dose of transport policy.

“Twenty-seven percent of CO2 emissions come from car traffic ... Traffic jams cost us between €4 billion and €8 billion in economic value every year. Also consider health: We know that the lungs of children growing up a near a traffic artery are less developed,” Van den Brandt said. “The urgency to do something in Brussels is gigantic.”

The minister is also in discussions with Brussels’ transit operator MIVB to make public transport free for those older than 65 and younger than 25.

She's got a good view of the problem — literally.

Her office borders Brussels’ north train station, a shabby area that houses a red-light district. But inside, on the 13th floor, Brussels lies at Van den Brandt’s feet. Gigantic windows stretch across the wall facing her desk. They offer an excellent view of a city Van den Brandt intends to change.

Brussels' government has plans for seven new tramlines and 30 percent more bus capacity. Van den Brandt has mixed feelings about a new metro line on which work has already started. The first part is expected to be ready by 2024 at the earliest, and the Green politician wants to move on faster transport solutions.

She has similar doubts about a proposal from rail infrastructure operator Infrabel for a tunnel to dislodge a bottleneck on the main rail link crossing the city. The scheme would cost "a gigantic amount of money" and have an enormous impact on the city, said Van den Brandt, who instead favors a solution that makes more use of the city's smaller stations. But she added, "if works are necessary, works is what we'll do."

She aims to expand the capital's bike lane network by tackling missing links that currently make biking dangerous. “A route is only safe if it’s safe from beginning to end,” she said.

Those goals excite environmental campaigners. "What remains exciting is how the capital will turn dreams into reality," said Bond Beter Leefmilieu, a group of green organizations, in July.

End of the road

The minister is also in discussions with Brussels’ transit operator MIVB to make public transport free for those older than 65 and younger than 25 — a measure to delay the purchase of a first car.

The idea has riled some regional MPs, who question what it means for MIVB's finances. "We need efficient, qualitative public transport that can be a real alternative to the car," said Flemish nationalist MP Cieltje Van Achter earlier this month.

It's part of a bigger effort to make cars less attractive. Because of Belgium's sky-high taxes, many employers tend to give raises in the form of company cars — adding to the country's pollution and traffic problems.

Van den Brandt wants to reorganize how streets are used. That means more space for public transport, for cyclists and for pedestrians — and less for cars. “If you give everyone a legitimate place, that will benefit car traffic as well," she argued. "It’s not cars versus bikes."

The polluted and congested Rue de la Loi, cutting through the EU district, is Van den Brandt’s favorite example of where cars will have to give way. She wants to widen the sidewalks, where pedestrians currently have to share space with speeding bikes while cars get four lanes.

“There are conflicts between pedestrians and bikes, which are linked to the fact that there’s not enough space,” she said.

With cars parked 95 percent of the time, redistributing space means tackling parking too — and the European institutions have a role to play, Van den Brandt said. “Why can’t we strike a deal with the European Commission to say, 'Also open up those parking spots to your neighbors?'”

Another solution is to use technology.

To get people to make more use of trains, trams, buses and shared bike and e-scooter systems, Van den Brandt wants a single app that bundles all operators and allows for single payments.

The region also wants to revamp traffic rules to create more one-way streets to make it hard to cross residential neighborhoods — a project started by the previous government. The idea is to make mapping apps less likely to send traffic through those areas.

Road politics

Van den Brandt says the groundswell of public pressure is having an effect. There's more unity among Brussels' normally quarreling 19 municipalities — a structure that has been blamed for slow progress on transport issues, she said. “I believe we’ve reached a turning point."

But there are skeptical voices.

Bianca Debaets, former traffic safety secretary, said the coalition government's transport policies are weak on enforcement. "That means municipalities can go back to blocking bike lanes, speed checks and 30 kilometer per hour zones," she wrote on her blog. "There's no stick."

There are also frictions with Belgium’s other regions. In August, Van den Brandt caused a small frenzy when she said she’d introduce a road-charging system in Brussels by the end of her term — preferably with Flanders and Wallonia, but without them if they don't go along.

“Brussels is not an island,” she said. “We’re surrounded by other regions, so we’ll have to work together.”

The Brussels scheme would see an existing flat annual car charge replaced with one linked to car use to discourage driving. "The idea is that people who want to make a different choice are rewarded for that in some way," Van den Brandt said.

That's an easier sell in the capital, where only about half the people own cars and many are fed up with clogged streets. It's much more problematic in outlying regions with lots of commuters driving into Brussels.

"Unilaterally targeting car use, and especially commuters, is not the way forward," said Jan Van Doren, of the Flemish chamber of commerce.

The Flemish government binned its own rudimentary plans for a kilometer charge in the run-up to the May election, and the scheme hasn’t made a reappearance in the newly formed government.

Freshly minted Flemish Transport Minister Lydia Peeters said the idea was very unpopular in her own Limburg province, in the east of the country.

But Brussels’ air pollution and congestion “force us to respond,” Van den Brandt said. “Otherwise cars’ pressure on Brussels will continue to increase — and that’s simply not tenable anymore."

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