FAQ
The Brussels-Capital Region is honoured to be hosting Velo-city 2009.
1. What is Velo-city?
Velo-city is the largest international conference devoted to cycling policy. Velo-City conferences have been jointly organised by the European Cyclists' Federation (ECF) and the chosen European host city every other year since 1980. Having been held in cities such as Milan, Paris and Munich, it is now Brussels’ turn to host the conference in May 2009.
2. Who will be attending Velo-city?
The conference will be attended by industry professionals as well as all parties who are directly or indirectly involved in drawing up cycling policies. These will include government institutions, academics, representatives from the cycling industry, consultancies and cycling associations. The diverse nature of the conference attendees is without doubt one of the key features and strong points of the event.
3. What is the aim of Velo-city?
During the conference, the Region is seeking to achieve a number of main objectives, which in particular include presenting high-standard cycling infrastructures and obtaining recognition for cycling to be incorporated in a sustainable, intermodal transport policy (cycling, combined with public transport and walking can be more efficient than the car). The Region is also hoping that the positive impact cycling has on people’s health and the environment will be acknowledged.
On a regional level, by involving as many people who live in Brussels as possible in the event (through public campaigns and events parallel to the conference, etc.) Velo–city 2009 must enable us to increase the number of cyclists in Brussels.
The conference has been met with increasing success each time it has been held, so much so that we are expecting one thousand people to attend the event for the first time. And given that Brussels is the capital of Belgium and Europe, the 2009 conference will be a one-off event.
4. Why was the Velo-city logo chosen?
You now know what the 2009 Velo-city logo looks like. You will have noticed that it is decisively different, yet still functional and relates directly to other two-wheeled vehicles as well. What’s more, it’s clearly in tune with the times - both original and cool. You might even think it’s slightly shocking. But do you not think that these days it’s better to shock to make sure you get noticed (by everyone)? Indeed, cyclists also need to be visible in the urban traffic...
5. What is the aim of the ‘RE-CYCLING CITIES’ project?
Velo-city 2009 wants to attach greater importance to the role of the bicycle in urban environments with heavy traffic (such as Brussels).More than 60% of Europeans and more than half of the world’s population live in urban areas and future forecasts tend to show that this percentage will increase even further.
Sustainable mobility is one of the factors which will enable us to ensure that towns and cities remain places where we can live. Cycling has a key role to play to this effect.
The characteristics of cycling reinforce the fact that it is an excellent means of urban transport; bicycles take up little room, they allow you to make short journeys very quickly, they’re environmentally-friendly and are not noisy and they’re also good for your health and are economical too.
Cycling is making a big comeback in many European cities (e.g. Paris, Munich and Barcelona), whilst other cities have been leading the way in terms of cycling policy for some years now (e.g. Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Munster, Ghent and Groningen). The aim now is to make other European cities aware of the important role cycling has within the city.
6. What are the key events of Velo-city 2009?
- Conference opening event
- Opening of the exhibition
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Start of the plenary sessions
- Opening of the Velo-city 2009 Café
- Opening by the mayor of Brussels Freddy Thielemans
- Velo-city 2009 conference closing event.
7. What is the Velo-city exhibition?
The Velo-city exhibition is a themed exhibition which will take place during the conference and will be open to everyone. The aim will be to give out a different and positive message about cycling and this will be achieved by actually going out on bikes and going over the advantages of cycling and how bicycles are perceived.
8. Cycling Statistics for Brussels
Numerous readings of the number of cyclists on the roads are already taken in Brussels. More and more automatic counting systems are also being put in place across the city region. The first such meter (undoubtedly the most well-known) to have been installed is on Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat.
Based on the readings taken, compared to 1998, the number of cyclists in Brussels has risen by 148%.
In terms of absolute values, compared to the readings taken at peak time in the morning in 1998, the number of cyclists/hour increased from an average of 50/hour to 123/hour in 2007.
In 1999, estimates put the number of people using a bike each day at 1.1% of the city’s population (11,000 people), whereas today, estimates put this figure at around 5%.
These figures show there has been a major increase in the number of people using bikes and this trend is set to continue in the future. Given that Brussels is hosting the Velo-city conference, this will significantly boost the uptake in cycling.
To complete the picture, we should also take account of the fact that companies in Brussels employing more than 200 people are required to submit a commuter plan to the Brussels-Capital region. From the information contained in these plans we can see that 10,600 people use their bikes to commute between their place of work and home in Brussels.