Cars Not Welcome In Europe’s Cities When Lockdowns End

Brussels city centre

The lockdowns from COVID-19 have forced us consider how far and how often we need to travel. David Brown says Europe wants the trend to go on in the long term

The Belgian government is so impressed with the quieter streets and cleaner air in its city centre that it will give priority to pedestrians and cyclists within the city’s ring road, the heart of the city known as the ‘pentagon’ after the lock downs are over.

Drivers will need special permits to enter showing their vehicles emit low pollution and will be limited to a 20 kilometres per hour speed limit.

Brussels Mayor Philippe Close says the measures are expected to take effect within a week.

Bois de la Cambre, the ‘central park of Brussels’, with a lake that is sadly subject to pollution will also remain closed to traffic even after the lockdown ends.

Motoring Minutes are heard around Australia every day on over 50 radio channels through the Torque Radio networkMotoring Minutes have an average daily audience of over 150,000 listeners. Motoring Minutes are also broadcast as part of Overdrive Radio Program, which is broadcast through the Community Radio Network across Australia and has a weekly audience of over 430,000. 

About David Brown 607 Articles
David’s boyhood passion for motor cars did not immediately lead to a professional role in the motor industry. A qualified Civil Engineer he specialised in traffic engineering and transport planning. What followed were various positions including being seconded to a government think-tank for the planning of transport firstly in Sydney and then for the whole of NSW. After working with the NRMA and as a consultant he moved to being an independent writer and commentator on the broader areas of transport and the more specific areas of the cars we drive. His half hour motoring program “Overdrive” has been described as an “informed, humorous and irreverent look at motoring and transport from Australia and overseas”. It is heard on 22 stations across Australia. He does weekly interviews with several ABC radio stations and is also heard on commercial radio in Sydney. David has written for metropolitan and regional newspapers and has presented regular segments on metropolitan and regional television stations. David is also a contributor for AnyAuto