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Study points to rise in people riding their bikes to work

13:29 11/02/2023

The number of people riding their bike to work has risen by 80% since 2005, with more and more people in Belgium choosing their bikes over public transport or a private car, new figures show.

Just over 14% of workers surveyed by the FPS Mobility and Transport survey used bicycles as their main way of getting to and from work. The study surveyed 3,598 employees from businesses with more than 100 workers, representing a broader population of 1.6 million workers.

This figure makes bicycles the mode of transport to enjoy the greatest increase in popularity, stemming in part from the rise of electric bikes and growing reticence to use public transport since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The number of people choosing bikes over other forms of transport varies largely from region to region depending on infrastructure such as bicycle lanes. One in five workers surveyed rode their bike to work in Flanders, compared with 7% in Brussels and just 2% in Wallonia.

The impact of Covid-19 and remote working weighed heavily on the survey results, with the number of people taking metros, trams or buses to work dropping by 6% throughout the crisis. The proportion of commuters taking the train also decreased by 11.5%.

The survey was conducted from 1 July 2021 to 31 January 2022.

Written by Paul Millar