POLIS is an organisation that works with European local and regional authorities to promote sustainable mobility through the deployment of innovative transport solutions. Their goal is to improve local transport through integrated strategies that address the economic, social and environmental dimensions of transport.
The 2023 POLIS Conference is set to take place on 29-30 November in Leuven, Belgium, and will see experts, practitioners and representatives of cities and regions come together in the name of sustainable urban mobility. POLIS has put out a call for all interested speakers to pick one of their 50 priority topics and apply by 28 April 2023:
“Presentations are sought for the technical parallel sessions on the topics listed…Abstracts should highlight the innovative dimensions, results achieved, and lessons learned by speakers and organisations.
We are looking for dynamic speakers to share their insights on the latest trends and developments in urban transport innovation. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or a rising mobility star, the Annual POLIS Conference is the perfect platform to tell your mobility story and connect with like-minded individuals!”
The new traffic plan in the city’s centre has triggered a 19% drop in traffic while increasing cycling by an average of 18%.
Good Move is the Regional Mobility Plan for the Brussels-Capital Region. Approved in 2020 by the Brussels Government, it defines the main policy guidelines in the field of mobility. This plan aims to improve the living environment of the people of Brussels, while supporting the demographic and economic development of the Brussels-Capital Region. In the city centre ‘pentagon’, the plan aims to change traffic flow through road closure and new one-way designation, thus leading to a less attractive driving experience.
After six months, the first results of the scheme have been unveiled, though local authorities state that it is too early to draw broad and sweeping conclusions. Initial findings indicate that the central part of Brussels has a reduced traffic flow, with more walking space, pedestrians, cyclists, reduced noise and cleaner air when compared to measurement prior to the scheme. Total traffic has fallen by approximately 19%, while morning and evening rush-hour cycling has risen by an approximately 23% and 13% respectively.
Alderman Dhondt was quoted in a press statement saying: “Many people have simply made a different mobility choice and switched to cycling or public transport, for example. The circulation plan thus contributes to the ultimate goal: a more pleasant city for everyone.”
The Belgian manufacturer just reached the 1,000-bike milestone. With a rapidly growing community and big aspirations, what’s next for the brand?
What does the 1,000th bicycle mean to you? How do you feel about this?
Tomas: Fair? When we started [Ellio] I thought it would go faster. But even when we had the 7 plagues of Egypt over us, with corona, the supply chain collapsing, the crazy demand for bicycles, but also the collapse of the speed pedelec market due to working from home, the war in Ukraine… too much to mention actually… I never doubted, because what I had in mind is exactly what people appreciate in Ellio. That was only possible thanks to the wonderful team that I get to be a part of every day. I feel blessed by fate to have been able to fulfill my dream. But I keep dreaming… of more, of better. Even better!
Jorrit: It’s a milestone of course and that always feels good. It is a moment to look back at the road we have already traveled and I can say that I do so with great pride. At the same time, we also keep looking ahead, of course: 1,000 bicycles is just the beginning!
Past versus now. How did you see the mobility landscape evolve from bike 1 to 1,000?
Tomas: In the media, the speed pedelec is seen less as a risk and more and more as a solution. I also like that programs such as Kijk Uit (a Flemish television program regarding road safety) put the speed pedelec in the spotlight in a nuanced way.
Jorrit: In the few years that we have been active, bicycles have really evolved from leisure items to full-fledged means of mobility. This places entirely new requirements on the products. With a decent 25 km/h bike, you can safely ride to work every day, but for longer journeys or when designing a 45 km/h speed pedelec you really need more than just a decent bike. That has always been Ellio’s raison d’être, so of course, we are happy with this evolution.
What plans can we expect in 2023?
Tomas: Ellio, our first model, I dare call my baby. However, we are working with a whole team on the successor, Marty. This time Jander, a product developer at Ellio and responsible for the development of Ellio, will be the (young) daddy of our newest model. Can I call myself grandpa? With Marty, we will reach the next level of maturity, as a product and as a company. We all grow together. Full of passion to offer the ultimate mobility solution.
Jorrit: International expansion, an expansion of our product range to respond even better to the mobility needs of our customers and, of course, also strong growth in production numbers. Next year we want to be able to build 3 times as many bicycles as this year.
How has co-creation of the Ellio community contributed to today’s Ellio?
Tomas: At my previous employer, Toyota, we had a standard for every feature, situation, and step. Almost to the absurd. Even the brewing of coffee was almost standardized. At Ellio, we have something even stronger, being organic; that is the Ellio community. I never imagined that such a fantastic community could grow around our product in these dark times. The openness that is in Ellio’s DNA is answered with a positive drive to not only improve the product but to create a platform where Ellio riders help other Ellio riders.
Jorrit: From the outside, the 1,000th Ellio seems to be almost the same bike as the very first, but “under the hood” a lot has changed since then. The control of the drive and transmission, the display of the HMI, and numerous minor hardware changes have been implemented. All are based on feedback from our customers.
How has Bewel, the custom workshop responsible for the assembly of Ellio bicycles, contributed to Ellio’s success?
Tomas: Collaborating with Bewel was a conscious choice. Not from a social point of view, which is a nice bonus and I love it, but because they could provide the overarching services, the critical mass, that we didn’t have as a start-up. We sometimes received questions from prospective customers about why we didn’t work with a tailor-made company, but it is precisely the very structured working in Bewel that helps us to achieve our quality.
Jorrit: Thanks to Bewel, Ellio is produced close to home. This way, our developers can see for themselves how the products they design are built on a daily basis. This greatly benefits our development because we can implement improvements very quickly. At the same time, Bewel has a team of highly motivated employees with an almost obsessive focus on quality. The quality and consistency that Bewel has already achieved in the production of ‘just’ our 1000th bicycle is simply astonishing.
What would you like to say to the Bewel employees?
Thomas: I love you guys! I always love being with you and feeling your passion for my baby!
George: THANK YOU!! That’s obvious, I think.
Do you know how many km do you cycle on average per week?
Tomas: 200-250 km (and if I don’t make it, I’m really pissed!)
Jorrit: Not enough, I live too close to work. I cycle about 10 km to and from work every day, so about 60-70 km a week in total. But always with the Ellio of course!
Citizens have shown their interest in mobility as a service (MaaS), or shared mobility, in an online study by the Belgian Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport.
The survey received 3,000 respondents, representative of the population of Belgium, with researchers collecting data on both the current use of mobility apps and future interest in them. The key findings were as follows:
The younger the participant, the more likely the use of mobility apps. Route finders were the most commonly used application.
Over 40% of smartphone users had no mobility apps.
There is huge unexplored potential for MaaS in Belgium. 6 out of 10 respondents stated interest (majority higher employed, educated, male)
80% stated they would use MaaS for recreational trips, and 60% stated they would use MaaS for utilitarian trips.
4 of 10 respondents anticipate that MaaS usage will impact their travel behavior. This is closely linked to the current transport type.
MaaS Alliance’s Conclusions:
This first survey conducted on the Belgian population indicates that there is a strong interest in MaaS applications among all age groups. There remains a huge untapped potential for MaaS, shown by the discrepancy between the interest and the actual usage of MaaS applications. Important to note is that a strong share of all participants considers to change their travel behavior thanks to MaaS, mainly in favour of public transport. This seems to imply that MaaS solutions will result into a modal shift.
On 18th September 2022, Brussels instituted a no-cars Sunday as part of European Mobility Week. From 09:30 am to 19:00 pm, cars were prohibited from much of the city to prioritize walking, cycling, and public transport.
Outside of cultural and holistic benefits, Bruxelles Environment, the city’s environment agency, measured a 90% reduction in nitrogen monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, both of which are toxic substances emitted by combustion engines. Additionally, the city saw significant drops in noise levels, again seeing an approximate 90% decrease in typically congested areas; this further demonstrates what modern urban planners have been suggesting in recent years, “cities are not noisy, cars are noisy“
“Authorities point out that yearly emissions have been going down since 2019, by about 10% per year. However, there is still a long way to go, since according to the European Environment Agency, in 2018, Belgium registered around 8,900 deaths caused by air pollution.”
Just south of the center of Brussels, residents have become increasingly frustrated with the nuisance of shared e-scooters, leading to a complete ban in the municipality.
In Uccle, e-scooters have created major concerns due to the way in which riders were ditching their means of transport. Shared public spaces were overrun much to the frustration of city-dwellers, resulting in a complete ban on the shared micromobility fleets.
“The Brussels municipality has this week demanded by letter to the operators of shared scooters that the shared scooters must be removed from the streets within 10 days. They must also ensure that the shared scooters are no longer parked within the municipal boundaries. The new rules do not apply to private e-scooters and driving through the municipality on an e-scooter is still allowed.“
Belgium’s e-scooter and LEV legal backdrop continues to shift following the devices’ rise to popularity from 2018 onwards. In the last two years, bans have been placed on riders below the age of 16, the two-person riding of e-scooters, sidewalk riding, and limitations have been placed on speed in public areas. The latest development is another step toward Belgium finding a system that works for all citizens.
Comments Off on E-bikers ride longer and more often – QWIC research
Research by e-bike brand, and LEVA-EU member, QWIC shows that e-bikers cycle further and more often than before they bought an e-bike. The research was conducted among 3318 QWIC owners from the Netherlands and Belgium. QWIC e-bikers have started to cycle an average of 55km more per week than they did before purchasing an e-bike. Many feel more energetic as a result and enjoy cycling more, even with a headwind.
Source: QWIC
‘I cycle much more, my health has improved and I have already saved a lot of money’
‘I take the bike much quicker’
Cycling further and more often Of all QWIC e-bikers, 1 in 5 (20%) cycle more than 100km per week on average. That’s 5,200 km per year. Which amounts to a bike ride from Amsterdam to the southernmost tip of Spain and back again. There are even e-bikers who cycle more than 300 km per week; they do this mainly to cover their commuting distance.
‘My commute has become much more pleasant and less stressful. I can now also determine much more precisely when I will arrive at work’
‘My well-being has improved, the daily ride back and forth to work is now me-time‘
E-bikes as a healthy alternative QWIC users replace with their e-bike on average 86 km per week other means of transport such as cars, motorcycles, scooters, or public transport. The common motivation for this is health and being outdoors, getting more exercise, and having more fun.
European Mobility Week & Car Free Day QWIC conducted this research in the run-up to the European Mobility Week (Sept. 16 – 22), an initiative of the European Commission. During this week, sustainable urban mobility takes center stage, a theme QWIC strongly supports.
September 22 is worldwide Car Free Day, the day when motorists are challenged to leave their cars at home and choose more sustainable transportation. Car Free Day is held in 46 countries and in more than 2,000 cities.
QWIC ambition QWIC’s mission – ever since its founding 16 years ago – has been to accelerate the sustainable mobility revolution by getting more people on bikes and making them enjoy every ride. By developing high-quality and innovative electric bicycles, QWIC offers an enjoyable, active and healthy solution for everyday mobility.
Registrations have opened for the 2022 annual POLIS (cities and regions for transport innovation) conference. 30 Nov – 01 Dec, Brussels.
Europe’s leading sustainable urban mobility event returns in 2022, hosted at the EGG Brussels between 30 November and 1 December. Across two days, the POLIS Conference will offer a mix of plenaries, parallel sessions, deep dives, and networking opportunities.
Plenaries will be live-streamed, while the wider conference will run as an in-person event.
As of July 1, 2022, new federal laws for the use of e-scooters in Belgium came into place. In the Brussels Capital Region, even stricter measures have been implemented to protect pedestrians. The changes are part of an effort to address concerns over road safety and hindrance linked to the increasing use of e-scooters.
To address the concerns over e-scooter safety new regulation was required. Georges Gilkinet, Federal Minister of Mobility, explained: “The world has changed and so has our mobility. The electric scooter is now part of our daily life. But with the increase in the number of accidents, sometimes with serious consequences, it was necessary to react. New rules will come into effect from 1 July to better protect scooter users and other road users. Let’s strive together for more safety and fewer accidents on our roads. All For Zero”.
The new rules:
The new rules mean that users of e-scooters, or any other micromobility transport method, will be assimilated to cyclists. In effect, riding on sidewalks or in pedestrianized areas is no longer permitted. In situations where permitted, speed must be reduced to 5km/h and pedestrians have right of way.
Additionally, a minimum age requirement of 16 years has been introduced, and riding e-scooters with two or more passengers is prohibited. Alongside these changes, new guidance for e-scooter parking has been introduced, including signage for designated parking destinations, non-parking zones, and laws against obstruction of the sidewalk.
Additional rules in Brussels:
The new rules have also been welcomed in the Brussels-Capital Region. At the same time, the Region has introduced additional rules on the use of e-scooters. Elke Van den Brandt, Brussels Minister of Mobility, added: “Electric scooters are a convenient way to get around, as long as they do not hinder pedestrians and people with reduced mobility. That is too often the case now. Thousands of these shared scooters appeared on our streets and it is high time for stricter regulation. In addition to the federal rules, the Brussels-Capital Region decided to automatically limit the speed of scooters in pedestrian zones and to limit the number of scooters per operator.”
Specifically, e-scooters in pedestrianized zones are now limited to 8km/h, while across the entirety of the region, the top speed is limited to 20km/h. For comparison, the general top speed limitation of e-scooters in Europe is 25km/h.
Bart Dhondt, Mobility Councillor of the City of Brussels, stated: “Parents, their children, and people with mobility problems no longer felt comfortable in the pedestrian zone. By ensuring that the shared-use e-scooters can only travel at a walking pace, the pedestrian zone will once again become a space for everyone.”
Campaign success
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Member profile
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