Velo-city 2009

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NEWSLETTER Welcome at Velo-city 2009 | 1 st edition | November 2008

15 th edition of Velo-city | Re-cycling cities |

15 th Velo-city conference The world’s greatest bicycle conference Velo-city 2009, everyone on your bike!

Tour & Taxis, a dream location

In 2009, the Brussels-Capital Region will be organising Velo-city, the largest international conference on cycling policy, and so follow in the footsteps of other capital cities such as Paris and Munich. The location of the event is Tour & Taxis in Brussels, where the conference will take place from 12–15 May.

Tour & Taxis is a dream location for Velocity 2009. Thanks to its central location, the site is easily accessible by bike or public transport. Every participant can make use of the free bikes that the organisation is making available during Velo-city 2009. So everyone can cycle from where they are staying to Tour & Taxis thus doing their bit to help Velo-city 2009 achieve its objectives.

Velo-city gets its unique character from its interesting mix of participants. The conference not only welcomes professionals, but also everyone who is directly or indirectly involved in cycling policy. This time the key theme is ‘RE-CYCLING cities’. In collaboration with the Capital Region, the organisers aim to promote cycling as the ideal means of transport in the city.

Tour & Taxis also has everything it needs, with over 9,000 m² exhibition space and 5 conference rooms, to make Velo-city 2009 a success. Royal Warehouse Tour & Taxis

Content p 1. Velo-city 2009, everyone on your bike! Tour & Taxis, a dream location p 2. What’s on the programme? Exhibition Velo-city 2009 Event Call for posters The MIVB, on the right road! p 3. Interview Tim Asperges, Velo-city 2009 Programme Director p 4. Interview Frederik Depoortere Bike Manager Mobiel Brussel p 5. Practical info

The last edition in Munich was very successful with over 900 attendees. Brussels is aiming to do even better this year and make history by exceeding the threshold of 1,000 participants.

www.velo-city2009.com

www.velo-city2009.com

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The MIVB, on the right road!

Velo-city 2009 What’s on the programme? Velo-city 2009 can also offer a very promising programme this year. Alongside some plenary sessions with renowned (inter) national speakers and interactive workshops, two daytrips to Liège and Ghent have also been organised. There is also a permanent exhibition, open to everyone. Velo-city 2009 will end traditionally with the big bike party, ‘Dring Dring’. The full programme is available on the website

Unique for Belgium The fact that Belgium organises the 15th edition of the greatest bicycle conference is a unique opportunity to attract attention to cycling policy in Belgium and to promote bicycle use in general.

Exhibition Velo-city 2009 Velo-city 2009 will treat the general public to a prestigious exhibition which is centred on the ‘RE-CYCLING cities’ theme. The organisation wants to spread a positive message and promote the advantages that cycling can offer in a big city. Anyone who is interested can come and have a look for free and visit the 80 different stands on offer at the exhibition from 10–17 May.

More information on ‘Expo Velo-city’ is available at : www.velo-city2009.com/expo-velo-city-en. html

Call for posters Velo-city 2009 is not organising a ‘Call for Papers’; it is organising a ‘Call for Posters’ instead. The programme committee selects the speakers directly for the plenary sessions and the workshops to be able to plan and harmonise the content and quality of the discussions better. Furthermore, anyone who is not selected for this can present a project or study in line with the theme of the conference on the permanent poster exhibition that is taking place during the conference. The best submissions will be voted for by visitors for an extra presentation on the final day of the conference in the European Parliament.

For all practical information about the ‘Call for Posters’, visit www.velo-city2009.com/call-for-posters.html

www.velo-city2009.com

The MIVB is actively involved in the organisation of Velo-city 2009. This transport company is not just one of the most important sponsors; it is also actively working to contribute to the conference’s scientific programme and setting up a special transport campaign. The MIVB is an important player in Brussels transport and so wants to use Velocity 2009 to promote its intermodal policy in which cycling is very important. Anne Vander Geeten, member of the Transport Committee and responsible for the intermodal policy of MIVB, has been appointed to coordinate the collaboration between the transport company and the conference. The MIVB’s cycling policy has gone from strength to strength in recent years. Bicycle racks have been installed at every station and next to every important tram and bus stop. Secure bicycle racks are currently being trialled. Since February 2008, it has also been possible to take your bike with you on the metro and tram for free. The MIVB’s intermodal mobility policy aims to provide versatile transport so that passengers can get around without having to use individual transport. The transport company has also introduced an ‘intermodal’ bus that aims to promote alternative methods of transport. The bus will drive around the capital’s streets for a year.

The MIVB is actively involved with the organisation of Velo-city 2009

www.velo-city2009.com

Interview Tim Asperges Tim Asperges is programme director for Velo-city 2009. He is a town and country planner for urban development and has worked actively as a mobility advisor for both local and higher authorities since the start of his career. He started his career at Langzaam Verkeer, then worked as a coordinator for applied research and lecturer at the Institute for Mobility at the University of Hasselt, and has been a partner in the transport advice agency TIMENCO bvba since January 2008. Alongside designing mobility plans for cities and local authorities, he also specialises in cycling policy and intermodality. He has worked in various European research projects around this theme, for national and regional authorities for public transport companies and local councils. He is one of the founders of the BYPAD (bicycle policy audit) which is used in over 100 EU cities and he is author of the Vademecum bicycle provisions for Flanders and the Vlaams Totaalplan Fiets (Total Bicycle Plan for Flanders). He has taken part in all the Velo-city conferences since 1999. How much does the Velo-city 2009 programme differ from previous editions? Velo-city 2009 is breaking with the tradition of inviting as many speakers as possible in order to improve the quality of the presentations. In this edition we are using

a programme that has been worked out beforehand with the role and potential of bicycles in cities as the theme. Speakers are then invited on the basis of this programme. The ‘Call for Papers’ system (where anyone who wants to present a study or project can submit an application to the organisation) is also disappearing. A ‘Call for Posters’ is being introduced in its place. Potential participants can send in a poster presentation that will be exhibited during the conference. Speakers are also selected from these participants. How will the Brussels-Capital Region actually be present at the conference? The Brussels-Capital Region wants to show the world what it has achieved in recent years in the field of cycling policy. ‘Technical Tours’ have been organised in order to show this. During these tours Velo-city 2009 participants can discover what has been achieved in the field of cycling infrastructure, public spaces, signposting for bicycles, parking arrangements, bicycle racks and intermodal junctions. Two daytrips have been organised for Velo-city 2009; one to Liège and one to Ghent. Why have you chosen these two cities? Velo-city 2009 not only wants to present its bicycle policy in Brussels, but also in the rest of Belgium, to the world. That’s why excursions have been organised to both a Flemish and a Walloon city. The choice for Liège and Ghent was made because these two cities fit in seamlessly with two important aspects of Velo-city 2009 conference lines. Ghent is a good example of a developed, integrated city

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cycling policy. Liège for its part can show how a city can be promoted using cycling tourism. What does the Charter of Brussels include exactly and what impact can it have on the cycling policy for Brussels and other (European) cities and future Velo-city conferences? Brussels is the capital city of Belgium and of the European Union. Velo-city 2009 therefore presents us with a unique opportunity to emphasise the responsibility and the role of Europe in stimulating the use of bicycles in cities. That’s why a Charter of Brussels has been created. By signing this Charter, several European cities have committed to make investments in cycling as part of the city mobility system. The cities are therefore also asking for concrete initiatives from the European institutions that stimulate the use of cycling as a valuable means of transport in cities. What will the role of the Brussels cycling associations (GRACQ, Pro Velo, etc.) be at Velo-city 2009? It is typical for local cycling associations to play active roles at Velo-city conferences. Their task consists of making the message of Velo-city 2009 very clear throughout the whole of the Brussels community. This means that they will contribute to the workshops, the plenary sessions, the organisation of a bicycle tour through Brussels, the ‘technical tours’, and the two closing events: ‘Dring Dring’ and ‘Bicycity’. [email protected]

www.velo-city2009.com

Interview Frederik Depoortere Frederik Depoortere has been employed by Mobiel Brussel as the first Cycling Manager since 2005. His task consists of monitoring the execution of the Cycling Plan, which was approved by the Brussels Administration in 2005. This plan puts forward an ambitious recovery campaign for improving shortcomings in the field of infrastructure. He now coordinates a team of eleven employees at Mobiel Brussel who are exclusively involved with cycling. Velo-city has provided a direct ‘boost’ for cycling in major cities such as Paris and Munich. What do you think the ‘Velo-city effect’ will be for Brussels? The boost has already been happening here for a while, even without Velo-city. It is difficult to estimate what factors are now the most decisive for the success of cycling: the rising price of oil, the need for improving fitness, traffic or the impact of the Brussels-Capital Region cycling policy. With Velo-city 2009 it can only improve even further!

What measures have been provided as far the Brussels cycling infrastructure is concerned? Do you think that Velo-city 2009 can give this added momentum? Certainly. I can already see that the whole administration is busy with the Velo-city deadline, and that everyone wants to put their best foot forward. The shortcoming of Brussels with regard to infrastructure is phenomenal, but the Cycling Plan has formulated clear objectives for the first time and if we can persevere with efforts for a while, Brussels will no longer need to be inferior to its neighbouring Flemish cities. How can it improve intermodal transport (where multiple means of transport are combined) in Brussels? Lots of investment has already been made in providing bicycle racks. We are still currently lacking secure bicycle racks at the main bus and train stations. Only Brussels North currently has good bicycle racks. The development of a bicycle-hire system is also an important step for getting people cycling. The transportation of bicycles on the metro and trams can also be improved further. Passengers can now take their bicycles with them free of charge outside peak hours. Improved signposting is currently being worked on in stations for indicating bicycle routes and racks. Taking bicycles on buses remains a problem because Europe has a directive that prohibits the transportation of

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bicycles on buses. This will certainly be an important topic of conversation at Velo-city 2009. Do you think that Brussels can serve as an example for other start-up cycling cities, for example in eastern and southern Europe? I do indeed think that a city without a cycling policy will learn more from a visit to Brussels than say Copenhagen or Amsterdam. You can see here how you can start from nothing and give cycling a place in a city environment in just ten years and with limited resources. What are the specific challenges for the cycling policy in Brussels? Brussels is a very compact city, with a densely populated 19th century zone, without many large arteries such as there are in Berlin or Paris. This means that cyclists usually have to share space with other road-users. One big challenge is to get people from the inner-city on their bicycles. They are an important target group considering the distances within the city are fairly short. On the other hand it’s also about using the limited space optimally for a sustainable mobility policy. Add to this the complex administrative arrangement of the Brussels-Capital Region and you get a very interesting working environment.

[email protected] www.bruxellesmobilite.irisnet.be

www.velo-city2009.com

Velo-city 2009

Contact

Practical Info | Online registration will start in January 2009. |

• Conference Director Radjiny Schiltz [email protected]

There are two different participation fees for Velo-city 2009: Fee for the full programme from 12–15 May 2009 (per person): Individuals: d800 Members of the ECF/members of a cycling association: d300 Fee for the day (per person): Private individuals: d250

• Programme Director Tim Asperges [email protected]

• ECF: Velo-city Series Director: Bernhard Ensink [email protected]

What does the participation package include? • access to all activities in the framework of Velo-city 2009 from Tuesday 12–Friday 15 May 2009 (including all events and excursions) • meals during the conference (welcome coffee, lunch, dinner and coffee-breaks). You have to register to attend the gala dinner • a cycling bag with the programme for the conference, a cycling map from the Brussels-Capital Region and a ticket for public transport (tram – metro – bus) • a bicycle that you can use during the conference What is not included in the participation package? • accommodation costs • breakfast • transport outside the conference

The second edition of this newsletter will appear online in the middle of December 2008. For more information or suggestions: [email protected]

Pictures credits: www.brusselsinternational.be

5 students will have the chance of a free participation package. For more information about the student competition, visit www.velo-city2009.com/practical-information.html

Responsible editor: Velo-city 2009

www.velo-city2009.com

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The organisation of Velo-city 2009 will draw up a list of hotels in various price ranges. This list will be published on the website at a later date. Cycling association members can stay with a Brussels host family for free. The organisation is also negotiating possible beneficial rates with various transport companies.