Interview: Brussels Mobility

“The emphasis is on promoting walking for daily travel.  The plan was intended primarily to serve as a lever and inspiration to initiate a culture change.”

Brussels Mobility on the city’s pedestrian plan & regional mobility plan

Have you seen the “Feet” video, developed by Bruxelles Mobilité / Brussel Mobilitet to advocate for walking short distances?

We thought it was simply brilliant and reached out to the Brussels Mobility office with a few questions to get some insight on the campaign that included this video (which also can be seen here in French and here in Dutch) as well as a Pedestrian Plan and the ‘Les Pieds” campaign.

Pedestrian Space: Can you provide a bit of background on Brussels Pedestrian Plan (Plan Piéton Stratégique).  This plan was published in 2012- was it the first pedestrian plan of the city and what inspired (or motivated) the city to prepare and publish this plan?

Brussels Mobility: With this strategic plan, the Brussels-Capital Region wanted to start the implementation of a thorough and comprehensive policy to make the city truly pedestrian-friendly. The emphasis is on promoting walking for daily travel.  The plan was intended primarily to serve as a lever and inspiration to initiate a culture change. The principles of this plan are now included in our new regional mobility plan Good Move.

Pedestrian Space: What are the various aspects of the Les Pieds campaign? We see via the site that there are billboards- what are the other aspects?

Brussels Mobility: The campaign was designed to unite as many people as possible, to create a craze and an attraction for walking. It is a reminder that walking is also an efficient way to travel short distances.

This campaign was conceptualized at the beginning of the year and on-air this month. It will be repeated in the years to come with more targeted audiences.

The campaign took place on social media, but also in the streets of Brussels (displays). Socks were also produced and sent to influencers and other journalists.

Pedestrian Space: Why was walking chosen as the theme for the next (2021) mobility week?

Brussels Mobility: After this major awareness campaign on walking, we wish to highlight during Mobility Week the link between walking and other modes of transport (multimodality) by using the same tone and the same type of visuals to ensure continuity in our communication.

Pedestrian Space: Can you share more about the new association platform- walk.brussels?

Brussels Mobility: The Walk.brussels platform will be launched this June 2021 and is a joint initiative of Trage Wegen and Tous à Pied, two militant associations in the field of walking. The objective is to federate all citizen initiatives and the associative sector around the theme of walking in Brussels, following the example of what is already done for cycling associations.

“Walking is at the heart of the new regional mobility plan Good Move.”

Brussels Mobility

Pedestrian Space: The Youtube “Feet” video (in different languages) is also fantastic – and very quirky! Can you share more about the development of this media?

Brussels Mobility: We collaborated with a communication agency. We wanted to promote walking as a means of transportation while emphasizing its effectiveness on short trips, the feeling of freedom it brings, its predictability and that it was within the reach of almost everyone. Our objective is to reach a “young” public and we wanted to adopt an “offbeat” tone to renew the message of the efficiency of walking, as its “intuitive” aspect was often forgotten. The agency proposed us a scenario and the different scenes were shot in Brussels.

Pedestrian Space: How does the Les Pieds campaign connect with the city’s mobility goals?

Brussels Mobility: Walking is at the heart of the new regional mobility plan Good Move. The ambition is to make active modes the preferred option for short trips, with 56% of trips for distances of less than 2 km made on foot or by bicycle. To achieve these objectives, work is being done on raising awareness but also on improving pedestrian infrastructure (maintenance of sidewalks, creation of pedestrian highways, etc.).