For decades mobility has been a major problem in Brussels. Therefore, a new evaluation method called ‘MOBRU’ was developed. First results show that mobility in Brussels can be improved by short-term profits.
Geert te Boveldt from MOBI, a VUB research group, developed MOBRU in collaboration with Mathieu Strale and Frédéric Dobruszkes from ULB-IGEAT. It is based on a two-step approach. First an analysis was made of the urban mobility of Brussels, in particular the state of the infrastructure and the transport offer, the reasons for relocation and the preferred ways of transport. At the same time, the metropolicy and its consequences for mobility management were studied. Finally, the metropolitan transport projects were explained, as well as the challenges in the field of metropolitan cooperation. This analysis gave the researchers a critical overview of the current situation in Brussels.
In a second step, a new approach was developed for the evaluation of transport projects in an institutionally complex environment. The aim was to identify each of the stakeholders and their interests, to shed light on the points of stalemate and progress, and to help determine the implementation scenarios and coherence between the various issues.
The first results show that with a coordinated action in the field of metropolitan mobility, many short-term profits can be made. In the immediate Brussels periphery, local improvements, such as the extension of existing lines, the development of special sites or the construction of cycle paths, would considerably improve the situation there. On the other hand, in the Brussels-Capital Region, a better integration of the existing public transport offer between the various operators would allow more a third of the habitants to move better, without having to create a new offer. Only a small investment is needed. Regarding the tariff integration of public transport, profits can also be made by changing local price limits or expanding beneficiaries of existing integrated tariff products.
The thorough analysis of MOBRU can be a first step to realize these short-term profits and to cooperate more, because it has already notified the interests, problems and implementation scenarios. Geert te Boveldt: “The aim of the research is to advance the metropolitan mobility policy by mapping the opportunities, but also the conflicting interests of various stakeholders. With MOBRU we want to offer a new perspective on current and future mobility in the Brussels metro area.”.