Many communities, like Hasselt in the Flemish region of Belgium, will ban autos from their city centers and emphasize public transportation as an alternative to the use of private vehicles. The actions mark Mobility Week, which starts Sept. 16.

This is the eighth year in a row for Mobility Week and Hasselt has been an avid participant since the idea's inception.

Since 2002, Hasselt has banned cars for the duration of Mobility Week and has fallen back instead on its well-developed bus system. But Hasselt is different from other municipalities in Belgium and elsewhere because, since 1997, this city of 70,000 has been offering public transportation free of charge to anybody wishing to use it – and not just during Mobility Week.

If you ask anyone on a bus what they think about it, you get answers like "I don't have to spend money on gas" or "older people don't have to fight their way through traffic."

Free public transportation has attracted riders

In Hasselt, the free bus system covers the entire city and 90 percent of the inhabitants live less than 200 meters from the next bus stop.

Since the start of the bus project in 1997, ridership has jumped from an average of 1,000 per day to more than 13,000. The initiative costs the city about one million euros a year. "That's not cheap," says city councilman Rob Beenders, who is responsible for mobility. "But Hasselt is just too small to cope with thousands of cars squeezing through the city's narrow streets."

More than a quarter of Hasselt's residents use their cars for trips of less than five kilometers (three miles), says Beenders.

But that is about to change, he hopes. The city is currently giving away 1,000 bicycles to local workers, who live less than 10 kilometers from their job. This new initiative is sponsored by the Flanders regional government and local employers.

"We believe that if you want to change people's mentality about mobility, then you have to offer something for free, says Beenders "Other cities may have more innovative bike projects, but they cost money."

Beenders is quick to admit that turning Hasselt into an auto-free city is not going to be easy. The free bus service remains a thorny – and unresolved – issue for the city's taxi drivers.

"It is difficult," he says. "It took us over a year to convince the shop owners to accept a car-free zone – and there are still some protests. We have to convince them every day, but I'm sure that in a year from now they will thank us."

Author: Susanne Henn (gb)
Editor: Trinity Hartman