Where and how people cycle to work in Belgium

46 comments
  1. This map offers a glimps of where people commute by bicycle (and by car). It starts from a very large scale survey of all companies larger than 100 employees. Individuals are known by their postal code only, so are assigned some random start point within that area. The actual route is based on a robust cycle route planner that uses OpenStreetMap data. So the routes are what seems logical with the available data.

    Zoom in on [the interactive map](https://www.anyways.eu/map/?view=trips&layer-2=false#9.56/51.0581/4.2212) to get a better view of volumes. Click on a segment to see what the source and destination is of the people using that segment.

    EDIT: since a lot of the discussion is about the difference between north and south:
    – it only includes employees at larger organizations. [This image](https://imgur.com/ZRrTmXb) shows the absolute number of employees involved. So Wallonia is a LOT less dense than in the North.

    – But if you look at [the % of residents who cycle to work](https://imgur.com/MXp6VNL)
    , yeah there’s something more going on! Not exactly at the regional boundary either, there’s also a clear north-south gradient in Flanders. Which happens to correlate to hilliness, but also a bit to less populated places.
    EDIT 2 : For those wondering about cycle infrastructure in north & south, this map highlights actually designated cycleways: https://amenagements-cyclables.fr/fr/statsThis map is better for closer zoom: https://www.cyclosm.org/#map=14/50.4132/4.4592/cyclosm Even Charleroi 😉 has some cycle lanes, though most are just painted, not separated tracks

  2. Love these kind of maps.

    Wasn’t expecting that much of a difference between Flanders and Wallonia. Then again, traffic jams are much less of an issue in Wallonia, so going by car is much more convenient.

  3. Another point to take into consideration for the difference between North-South is that most likely it only count those that declare coming to Work by bike only.

    Most of us Walloons also need a car, biking 35 minutes to work is ok in the summer, but as soon as it rains, it means being soaking wet, as soon as it’s freezing or snowy it’s a shit show.

    So even those doing it from times to times by bike will use a car/bus/dropoff transportation at those moments. not considering the bicycle as their main mean of transportation.

  4. I took a glimpse of the map and I wanted to correct you that this was only the map of Flanders. Then I saw it. Lol

  5. The so called fietsostrade starting from Hove is horrendous the previous part is what I’d call a fietsostrade

    /rant

  6. I am a caveman from Wallonia, I was very surprised when I went to Leuven for the first time and saw 90% of the people outside riding a bike. Idk if it is a difference of culture or just the absence of hills favourising the use of bikes

  7. I ride my Bike 2 times a week to my work. Its 40 k to my work and 90 % is the F4. The moment the weather starts to be better a lot of People use this road.

  8. Who is that brave soul single handily biking between Aaron and Étalle. The faintest of lines.

  9. FYI: there is the “Fietsbarometer” by the province of Antwerp:
    [https://fietsbarometer.provincieantwerpen.be/geoloketten/?viewer=fietsbarometer](https://fietsbarometer.provincieantwerpen.be/geoloketten/?viewer=fietsbarometer)

    Also the “Agentschap Wegen en Verkeer” has some open data on their website from their bike counters:

    [https://wegenenverkeer.be/wegen/fietsinfrastructuur/fietstelpunten](https://wegenenverkeer.be/wegen/fietsinfrastructuur/fietstelpunten)

    So far they have counters on 15 locations in Flanders, but this should get expanded this year to 75 counters. The data gets updated daily. It’s interesting to see how the amount of cyclists correlates to the weather etc.

  10. I was here in Belgium for 1.5 months and commuted to work on bicycle only. I used to ride 10 km (back and forth) daily. I developed a lot of stamina and now love to ride a bicycle. Now that I am going back to India, I am going to take this habit with me. What really shocked me, was the fact that even old people ride on bike and stay soo healthy! Belgium is a really nice and safe country for commuting on bike.

  11. Did people in Wallonia simply not participate or is this a correct representation of the distinction between the regions?

  12. It looks correct but a map like this need a clarification about how the data is collected and how largethe sampleand time frame.. Let say it is done by a specific app. If that app is nearly not used in a specific area it makes sense there are no riders. But would be based on phone locations. Their speed and location. That should make it possible to filter the bikes out.

  13. Wallonia will start the development of new modern Bike infra in 2023. The planning started in 2021. The goal is a completely bike able Wallonia till 2030.
    [Bikelane plan](http://mobilite.wallonie.be/home/politiques-de-mobilite/wallonie-cyclable/le-plan-wallonie-cyclable-2030—gouvernance.html)

    And for what it’s worth if you live in Wallonia and want to buy a bicycle, or if you use a bicycle you can get a bonus of max 20% of the cost of your bicycle.
    [Bonus](http://mobilite.wallonie.be/news/obtenir-une-prime-regionale-pour-lachat-dun-velo-ou-dun-kit-adaptable)

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