Since 1 July, it is mandatory in most Brussels municipalities to leave shared vehicles in a drop zone. Only those special parking spaces at various points in the region are so overloaded that they spontaneously spread to the footpath and the rest of the street.
In Sint-Gillis, Etterbeek, Sint-Pieters-Woluwe, Koekelberg, Sint-Agatha-Berchem, Jette, Brussels-City and Schaerbeek, it has been mandatory since this summer to park your shared vehicle in a drop-off zone.
Users who want to leave their scooters outside these zones cannot interrupt their journey and must continue to pay. Parking outside such a drop zone is therefore impossible in principle.
Test phase
However, the drop-off zones in various places succumb to their own success, making it impossible to leave your bicycle or scooter in a regulatory manner (within the markings).
“We know that several zones are currently overloaded,” says Marie Thibaut de Maisieres, spokeswoman for minister of mobility Elke Van den Brandt (Green). In Ixelles, among others, the drop zones are not yet fully developed, according to her. “Ixelles is currently in a test phase. The drop-off zones are monitored in real time to gain insight into the areas that are currently congested, so that additional zones can be set up there. The border of Ixelles with Uccle, for example, is such an area.”
This tactic is also applied in the opposite direction: “We move drop-off zones that are not used or are used too little to areas that need extra capacity.”
Regional decree
Additional drop zones will be set up this summer in various municipalities – including Koekelberg, Schaarbeek and Brussels-City – although the system will not really be ready until 1 January next year. Then drop zones will be mandatory throughout the region.
This ordinance also limits the number of scooters: from 1 January, 8,000 scooters will still be driving through the streets of Brussels, compared to 21,000 today. This should also help solve the problem of bulging parking zones.
The decision will take effect this summer, but the switch to the new system for operators will in practice therefore take place on 1 January 2024. “Until then, all adjustments remain possible,” said the cabinet of Minister Van den Brandt.
This article is originally published on bruzz.be
