Bicycle or car? The potential for cycling in Flanders

Abstract

Flanders is the northern Dutch speaking part of Belgium. Although the Flanders region has a relatively high proportion of cycling 62% of all journeys are made by car, 44% as a car driver and 18% as a passenger (Zwerts & Nuyts, 2002). The car is even the main means of transportation in about 50% of the short journeys (lesser than 5 km). This high proportion of car use puts a great stress on the (built) environment. Air pollution, congestion and unsafety come with the benefits a car offers. In search of a solution for these problems the Flemish government sets durability as the starting point. The global policy is set in the Mobility plan (Ministry of the Flemish Community, 2001). Further details are elaborated in the Flemish Bicycle Plan (Ministry of the Flemish Community, 2002). An increase in the share of bicycle journeys from the current 15% to 19% is the target. Nearly 50% of all car trips are shorter than 5 km (Zwerts & Nuyts, 2002), a distance commonly assumed bikeable. It would be (too) easy to state that therefore 50% of al car trips could easily be replaced by bicycle. The goal of this research is a more in-depth exploration of the car journeys that may be bikeable. The data from the Flemish Travel Behaviour Survey form the basis of this research. When car journeys meet a number of criteria they are supposed to be bikeable. In the following section a short overview is given of bicycle use in Flanders, as resulted from the Flanders Travel Behaviour Survey from 2000 (Zwerts & Nuyts, 2002). Then the criteria used to estimate the potential of a modal shift from car use to bicycle use are explained into more detail. The results of this estimation follow after that.