Cycling in Brussels - A Tourist's Perspective

[@tehsiewdai]

Thanks everyone for watching! 🔥 If you'd like to advocate for better cycling conditions in Singapore, follow Bike Commute SG at instagram.com/bikecommutesg 💬 Prefer to chat? Join the tehsiewdai kopitiam at bit.ly/tsdkopitiam 🤓 Find out more transport and environmental movements at itsvareck.wordpress.com/support/ The more walk cycle ride advocates there are, the better our city will be for everyone!

[@iamkifo]

never understood why our city planners back home are so myopic...

[@gwarguraqueentrickstarcoat9110]

I agree Our government loves to put a lot of laws against bikes or any personal mobility devices for all cyclists As a person who likes to cycle around Singapore It feels too restrictive for cyclists to stick to cycling paths as some of the paths even if they are on a map They don't even exist in real life Aslo even if all cyclists are allowed on footpaths Pedestrians on these footpaths loves to complain about us as they see us as nuisance to their every day commute is disrupted by us cyclists Aslo on the roads, all cyclists are to follow a set of rules that don't make sense to me in general I mean keeping on the left all the time Not a chance if you want to turn at right corners or use other parts of the roads as car drivers are annoyed by us moving all around the roads But the punishment for all cyclists that break the law are ridiculous in Singapore You may be fine a $1000 or even gets jail time or both Which in my opinion is too harsh for anyone who wants to just to ride a bike from destination A to destination b for their commute But for motorists they are punished by fine or get their licence demoted with points or both These laws just discourages me from riding a bike everywhere I want to go to for my every commute 😭😭

[@PM_ME_MESSIAEN_PICS]

that's because Brussels is next to the Netherlands, and it's not like traffic engineers in East Asia are any less carbrained than LTA lol,

[@kayabutter2883]

Political leaders in Singapore have always driven (or been driven) around in cars. They cannot imagine a city prioritising walking and cycling over driving, therefore we get punished with perennial road and COE growth even now.

[@rossirossi-iu9wx]

Lovely video you've got here! It makes me want to visit Brussels for real (trip got cancelled in late 2015 due to the unrest). Props to you for going through all these research and collaboration to bring us this video.

[@abdullahaanawaleh]

That wayfinding node system sounds super cool! Its always annoying going to places as a tourist and struggling with lack of signage.

[@Zenit_Bourg]

He has returned! But it's past my bedtime lol. I'll BRB.

[@Ksandur]

How strange to see you in a city so close by 😅 The political party responsible for these changes were rewarded for it in the late national elections. They didn't just promise but actually realised these changes. The goodmove program was, or well is, a success. People saw and felt the difference in biking through the city. The party gained a lot of votes, which was a contrast to the rest of the country where people voted rather opposing. They are expected to take great scores again in the local elections next week. Brussels used to be a very scary environment to visit, and we'd often avoid it. After the big change of the Anspachlaan however the entire environment changed. It's walkable, the metro is getting better every year, and most neighborhoods are getting cleaner and nicer through this development. Brussels is still seen as an ungovernable place. It faces many challenges that would deprioritize urban development. But I'm glad to see you enjoyed it, and I hope they keep going forward and actually improving our capital over the following years. There isn't much to be incredibly proud of in our country lately, so this is nice! :) Thanks for visiting, I hope you had a great stay, and some good frieten. 🎉

[@cruciforme2]

Is that a joke? I'm really happy of the changes but the partys against the changes won the last election in Brussels by far. They want to undo good move. It was one of their main point in their program. Don't tell me about groen winning...

[@Ksandur]

@cruciforme2 "don't tell me about.." Groen won. That's just a fact. Anyway, they don't want to undo any of the changes made. Groen will win even more in the gemeenteraad. Team Faoud Ahidar's agenda is also pretty clear; they want more quiet areas and car-free zones. Even adding an intent to forbid gas cars after a certain time of day. They want more greenery, all electric public transit, more connections and puncutality in the public transit. They mention the goodmove plan as a positive intent with a poor practical realization. Nowhere do they wish to undo the goodmove plan. They state it very clearly that their intention is to redefine the goodmove plan to make more room for public transit. They feel the goodmove plan completely disregarded public transit and it should be reconsidered, as it is not just bikes. There you go, over 50% of the elections is for a green and movable city with less cars and noise.

[@barvdw]

I'm not as reassured about the coming local elections coming up, because of the particular political organisation, the party that is responsible for the bike lanes is Flemish, and while they won the elections on the Flemish side, their French counterpart was decimated unfortunately. In the local elections, both share the same list, and French-language party is the dominant force on the list. The Flemish party also got severely snubbed during the coalition negotiations recently, with virtually all French parties going against them concerning the LEZ. It doesn't bode too well for them, unfortunately. Yes, I agree, there has been a marked improvement in cyclability, but there are still a lot of black spots, too. Also, some main bike routes are clearly the victim of their own success, like the Canal route, which has become far too narrow for the massive hords of cyclists passing there, and local governments sabotaging any improvement there.

[@tehsiewdai]

That's awesome! Looks like its a trend where active travel initiatives face a lot of resistance at the start, but gain traction once people start enjoying their benefits. Oh yes, frit at Flagey was delicious! 😋

[@barvdw]

The municipal elections have passed, and while the greens have avoided a wipe-out, they have lost almost everywhere. But more importantly, they were kicked out of the coalition negotiations in most places, even in the one commune (Ixelles/Elsene) where they were the biggest party. So I repeat my stance, some of the advances we have made will have to be defended and could even be lost again...

[@liamdoinsomething6017]

new tehsiewdai video!!!

[@tehsiewdai]

Hope you enjoyed it!

[@seb_rae]

Good analyzing of the cycling infrastructure of my city ! Thanks 😊

[@tehsiewdai]

You're welcome! Happy cycling!

[@LuxConcordiae]

I was wondering when you would upload a new video... always great to have you back

[@mioszlupinski4652]

Watched it just after coming back from uni by Brussels communal rental bike!

[@tehsiewdai]

That's nice! How do you find cycling in Brussels?

[@nyshkominternational7085]

Good video. Ahooga bikes are in our neighbourhood. As a very old cyclist living here, it should be said that the hills are a challenge without an electric bike and cobbles are tough without fat tyres but the high levels of air pollution are still a big problem. I hope to live long enough to see a completely car free city.

[@tehsiewdai]

Thanks for sharing! Having it car free would be so interesting!

[@matei4983]

I have been cycling in brussels for the past 10 years. It has become way better than before, especially after the pandemic. it is overall good, but not as good as for example the Netherlands. the problem is that the culture is not fully developed. I have been in numerous conflicts with bad drivers, due to them being stuck in regressive mindset but also because of problematic infrastructure. overall, i'd give it a 7/10 but you need a GoPro when cycling in brussels, because eventually, an accident will happen.

[@neelio99]

Awesome video! Looking forward to more 🚲

[@tehsiewdai]

Thank you! 🚲

[@MeatNinja]

Excellent video 👍👍

[@sonochinos]

great video! love the analysis and effort 👍 makes me wonder if we could apply some of these road changes to places like orchard road to make it more bike accessible rather than mostly car and bus

[@tehsiewdai]

Yep, I'd love to see bike infra in Orchard too!

[@dariadavay]

He's back! 🎉

[@user-39q49-0]

Where did you go!!!!

[@milnella]

hear hear Mr Chee HT 🙂

[@prl1184]

Singapore needs to send some MPs on a parliamentary trip there. We need to learn from Brussels!

[@pato20995]

I love wearing acoustic bicycles

[@aehighfmcolinchin]

Whenever I travel to other cities around the world, I will love to ride on their metro systems

[@tehsiewdai]

Me too! Public transport is the heartbeat of the city

[@albertlay8927]

I'm still wondering what an acoustic bicycle is.

[@tehsiewdai]

@@albertlay8927 A non electric bicycle, just like a non electric guitar 😆

[@tim333y7]

Another great Video! You mentioned the centre has the second largest pedestrian zone in europe, what city has the largest?

[@Its_elena2]

Brussels is the biggest in the world (60ha) so idk where he found that

[@barvdw]

maybe the city of Pontevedra?

[@tehsiewdai]

​@@Its_elena2 I got it from here, where it says that Venice has a larger pedestrian zone www.reuters.com/article/belgium-brussels-transportation/brussels-extends-pedestrian-zone-europes-second-largest-idUSL5N0ZF36Z20150629/

[@fujin09]

watching cyclist or cycling yourself at stephania square at rush hour being called relaxing.... 😀I beg to differ (and i cycle around in brussels every single day)

[@PM_ME_MESSIAEN_PICS]

the video creator comes from singapore, over here it's watching drivers speed down a huge car sewer at 70 km per hour, or watching people crowd into packed metros

[@fujin09]

@@PM_ME_MESSIAEN_PICS I have been to Singapore a few times, including earlier this year, and in terms of safety I find it much much better than Brussels ( I meant in traffic, but in reality it counts for all levels). To me SG is a dream in terms of urban planning and mobility.

[@PM_ME_MESSIAEN_PICS]

@@fujin09 i would say that brussels doesn't have terrible urbanism, probably on par with singapore in some aspects, but singapore has lots of huge car sewers and carbrained planning in general as for road deaths, i guess it's comparable per capita

[@tehsiewdai]

For me, it was a pleasant surprise to see so many cyclists travelling (on the road!) as it's not very common in Singapore! Roads in Singapore tend to have much higher speed limits - 50km/h is the default instead of 30, so many people cycle on the sidewalk

[@elliotw.888]

amazing video, just some technical feedback. the combination of the echoey acoustics, the creaky floorboard and the guys accent made it really difficult to understand the explanation of the folding bike. perhaps subtitles could be added to this video? especially that part

[@tehsiewdai]

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll try to sync up the subtitles Do you have any recommendations on how the echo can be removed in audio editing software?

[@elliotw.888]

@@tehsiewdai you can search up how to make the sound "drier" in the editing software you're using. premiere pro or Adobe audition should be able to work. but in general the best way to reduce echo is to just shoot in a less echoey place 😅. it is much easier to add echo than to remove it, and always better to fix things on site vs in post

[@syncout9586]

I would love this for Singapore. But is there a city with similar population density as Singapore, and the same type of building styles, highrise and high density developments, that have implemented this kind of cycling infrastructure?

[@PM_ME_MESSIAEN_PICS]

i think singapore's weather is tricky, but downtown manhattan isn't full of 5 lane one directional car sewers, do you really want to wait 2 minutes at every single traffic light

[@markachternaam5207]

Not that I have seen. Which is a shame cause high population density, high density developments, would be even more suitable for micro/active mobility.

[@tehsiewdai]

We will be the first!

[@Zenit_Bourg]

Even a "car cesspool" by NJB standards is a utopia for me wow.

[@DatKidJohnny]

Any chance for a video about Taiwanese cities ? Can't think of any better cycling cities than those (in asia).

[@tehsiewdai]

Might make one soon!

[@ru9014]

Hey, nice vid, but just a tip, when you say "back home" or "where im from", its not particularly informative for new viewers as we dont know where you're from.

[@tehsiewdai]

Good point. For those who are curious, I'm from Singapore!

[@D0D0BiirD]

broo we need you in LTA 🫡