The Brussels Government is building the city of tomorrow in accordance with the 2019 Regional Policy Declaration. It will be a friendlier, healthier, more prosperous city for those who live there, work there and visit. The government has taken another important step forward with the adoption of SmartMove, a fiscal policy tool designed to be a lever for this fundamental societal change. This model, called SmartMove, will be submitted for consultation, and aims to reduce car traffic in the capital in order to preserve our environment, our health, our economy and the image of Brussels.
“The Brussels Government has today approved the SmartMove tool model so that it can submitted for consultation and open the dialogue with our partners – the different levels of power, the federal level and federated entities, and with the socio-economic actors. It is through this kind of concerted project that we want to breathe new life into our Region and continue to build together a Brussels of the future, the city to which our population, commuters, visitors and entrepreneurs are entitled, and which will also benefit the whole country,” said Rudi Vervoort, Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region.
1. On the road to a user-friendly Brussels
Today’s traffic jams in the capital mean an average of 45 minutes extra travel time per driver per day. According to the OECD, this corresponds to an economic loss of 1% to 2% of GDP and for Brussels, between 850 million and 1.7 billion euros. Daily traffic jams are also very harmful to our environment due to greenhouse gas emissions and pollutants. Poor air quality is also responsible for approximately 1,000 premature deaths a year in our capital. We have to tackle the problem structurally if we want to move towards a more user-friendly city.
2. Towards smart car taxation: from ownership to use
The Brussels government has chosen a model for a new car fiscal system that is not based on car ownership but on car use: smart per-kilometre charging. This model vairies according to the number of kilometres travelled, the time of day (peak, off-peak or night time) and the power of the vehicle. In other words, this approach allows drivers to pay less by travelling fewer kilometres, opting for an alternative means of transport (walking, cycling, public transport, car-sharing, etc.) or avoiding peak hours in Brussels.
The proposed SmartMove tool model will replace the current road tax for Brussels residents. The annual road tax will be abolished. The road tax (TMC) will only remain in force for luxury cars, and vehicles over 15 horsepower. The new system will therefore allow us to continue building a more fluid, healthier and more user-friendly Brussels of the future.
“As the capital of Belgium and Europe, Brussels needs a simpler, fairer and more favourable tax system that takes account of every user of the Brussels road network. With SmartMove, we can direct traffic better in our city in a controlled and measured way, with the aim of reducing individual car journeys by 25% by 2030. Brussels is working to build a city with people at its centre, where air quality is improving and it is good to live, work, do business and have fun,” added Sven Gatz, Brussels Minister of Finance and Budget.
3. A less congested city
Brussels Minister for Mobility, Elke Van den Brandt, said, “By switching from an annual car fee to a pay-per-use payment, we can encourage motorists to choose an alternative means of transport. Moreover, the measured redirection of traffic in the city means that the Brussels government is making a greater commitment to fluid mobility within our capital, one of the major objectives of our GoodMove mobility plan.”
“The region will continue to invest in mobility options to give everyone the greatest possible freedom of choice when travelling in Brussels. These new options include the expansion of public transport, with 30% more bus capacity, plans for new tram lines and the extension of the metro network, the implementation of ‘City 30’ to make the city safer on foot, and investments in cycle paths.”
Additional efforts will also be made for Mobilty as a Service (MaaS): mobility services that will allow us to use the different mobility solutions that Brussels offers, via a single app. In the future, the user will be at the heart of more fluid, multimodal and more environmentally friendly mobility.
4. A city that innovates
The key to this approach is the SmartMove app. Once the licence plate has been registered, it will calculate the rate to be paid according to the distance travelled, the time of travel and the power of the vehicle. This is possible thanks to the ANPR camera technology already in use today in the Low Emission Zone (LEZ). The mobile app will also allow users to compare alternatives to the car (public transport, bicycle, car-sharing, taxi, walking, etc.), track travel costs, calculate the impact on air quality and climate and make the smartest travel choices possible, based on real-time information.
“These technological innovations place people at the heart of modern urban mobility. People really will have the city in their pocket. With this European first, we are taking a further step in the transformation of Brussels into a Smart City. SmartMove is making Brussels a global pioneer,” said Bernard Clerfayt, Brussels Minister for Digital Transition.
5. A city that breathes!
Less congestion and traffic lead to better air quality. “SmartMove will also contribute to our objectives and commitments under the National Energy-Climate Plan. With a reduction of one quarter in individual car journeys, Brussels will not only be able to breathe again, it will also be able to respond to the climate challenge,” said Alain Maron, Brussels Minister for Climate Transition, Environment, Energy and Participatory Democracy.
6. The consultation time
This tax reform will be rolled out in several phases. In the first phase, the Brussels Government today signed a political agreement to work on tax reform and the launch of SmartMove, as outlined in the General Policy Statement. This will now be followed by a major consultation and dialogue phase with all the stakeholders, including the federal level, the federated entities and all the socio-economic partners.
The government is thus developing a widely supported framework that will be presented to the Brussels Parliament at the beginning of 2021. The rest of the year will be devoted to the operational phase and a test phase. The Brussels executive is planning the final implementation of SmartMove during 2022.
