“In Antwerpen, the car is still king”: Ann Schoubs, director general of De Lijn, wants more space for public transport (Antwerpen)

15 comments

  4. The solution is not giving that space to a company like “De Lijn” but to give it to the cyclists who live in&around the city

  5. well, of course she says that, it’s a commercial for her shop, I say as someone that has to drive in antwerpen sometimes that if you have to go deeper then the outer neighbourhoods then good luck, it’s all one way and if you go wrong you’ll lose a guaranteed half hour

  6. Look, it’s quite simple actually.

    I’d love it if the Groenplaats was completely car-free at all times. Now the fact is that there is a parking garage there which makes 27,90€ per car per day. Some of that money goes to the city so they don’t want to close it down and the rest of it is profit for a giant multinational (Indigo) with parking garages all over Belgium, France, Spain and Luxembourg.

    Do you really think that our underfunded Flemish (not even national) public transportation company will win from that kind of lobbying power?

    Edit: this is an example about the Groenplaats because it’s at the hearth of the city and you wouldn’t expect cars there. It’s the same story all over the city though.

  7. In Antwerp: Busses are a joke. Record % come late- or frequently don’t show up at all. You cannot rely on them to get somewhere on time.

  8. this is absolutely right….the car is still the king…but I am not so sure about focussing on trams and busses as the main part of public service. this will always need a lot of spaces and investments to build and maintain. 

    for the inner city traffic bikes must be declared king. and from the expat in Antwerp perspective I think the city is moving in the right direction with their fleet of red bikes. well organized and always close by. and all this for 55€ a year. 

  9. Start by halving the free permits to residents (just 1 permit per address instead of two) and make more parking on the streets exclusivebly available to those permit holders (bewonerskaart only).

  10. I usually go the centre through Leopoldstraat > Huidevettersstraat > Meirburg > Groenplaats and this route really illustrates how the city government still prioritises cars too much: too many cars driving to the indoor parkings, too many parking spaces on the street while the bike lanes and sidewalks are narrow and the crossings are awkward.

    I personally don’t feel that unsafe cycling through this route but I notice many people do, which discourages them to cycle to the centre. It really should be a no-brainer for the city government to fix this.

  14. The tram system in Antwerp is pretty decent in my opinion. My main gripes relate to walking.

    This city is a building site: almost every street in 2000 has at least one building renovation that takes up the entire footway. Vans also often park on the footway for deliveries or construction. Tons of street improvement schemes all happen concurrently and never seem to get finished.

    Quality of paving is terrible, concrete pavers put back in to replace granite setts, poor construction standards. Loose paving everywhere.

    Crossing points are not flush (how do people in wheelchairs get around?) and there are those small upstands everywhere for holding water rather than using flush slot drains. Honestly the whole place looks a fright compared to any other equivalent European city of its size.

  15. Antwerpenaren always say: “Antwerpen is ‘t stad en de rest is parking”, but I’ve seen no city in Belgium with as much cars and such as much parking as Antwerpen.

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