The episode in detail
How GRACQ carries cyclists’ voice to Brussels politicians
2024 is an election year in Belgium. GRACQ, a cyclists’ advocacy association, is using it to push its demands at every level of government. Its main tool is the memorandum: a document of demands handed to candidates for the next term. Florine Cuignet, Brussels bike policy officer at GRACQ, points out that this work does not stop at election periods. It is a daily, long-term effort.
At local council level, volunteers active in each local council identify local priorities and lobby candidates. At regional and federal level, GRACQ carries more structural demands. Florine Cuignet notes progress: in Brussels, no party openly disputes the value of the bike any more. The problem is no longer the principle but the implementation. As soon as it comes to removing a parking lane to create a cycle track, resistance appears.
“Nobody is going to say: I’m against cycle tracks. But the day you talk about one specific redevelopment, that’s where it hurts.”
Beyond memorandums: activist action and counts
Formal lobbying is not enough. GRACQ also turns to action on the ground: sit-ins, petitions, activist drinks on the Rue de la Loi to demand a traffic lane. The Critical Mass, a spontaneous gathering on the last Friday of every month, draws an increasingly wide and varied crowd, which shows elected officials that the bike is no longer a fringe activist thing.
Cyclist counts are another decisive lever. The ProVélo Bike Observatory and GRACQ volunteers count cyclists at key junctions. The figures show an annual increase of 12 to 13% in Brussels. This data is essential to convince politicians: when well-designed infrastructure is built, cyclists show up.
“The point of the Critical Mass is to show the number of cyclists, which is often fairly hidden. You see people from everywhere, on very different bikes.”
The Bois de la Cambre: a textbook case in bike policy
The closure of the Bois de la Cambre to cars in 2020 illustrates the convergence of factors needed to move things forward. Covid created a massive need for breathable green space. Temporary closures had already got Brussels residents used to the idea. Health, planning and environmental associations pushed in the same direction.
But the press quickly reduced the debate to cars versus bikes. Florine Cuignet regrets this simplification: GRACQ was one player among many, and the stakes went far beyond mobility. The Bois de la Cambre also remains an open case. For GRACQ, the next step would be a fully car-free wood, because a green space of this quality should not be crossed by streams of cars.
“It’s a bit strange to have a green space of such quality crossed by so many cars every day.”
Brussels convinced, Wallonia still to convince
Florine Cuignet tempers the optimism. The Brussels consensus on the bike does not reflect the reality across Belgium. In Wallonia and in rural areas, the bike is still seen as marginal. Activity density is lower, public transport is less developed, and nothing is designed for the cyclist. The question is framed differently: should you take the car for 500 metres, rather than should you give up your car.
Even in Brussels, some rhetoric is dated. Some politicians still propose digging tunnels to bury cars and free up space on the surface. GRACQ points out that this strategy has already been tried in Brussels, with results everyone knows: tunnels left unmaintained for years and colossal renovation costs. Change takes time, but frustration is growing in the face of the climate emergency.
“We know that the timescale of mobility is a very long one. But with the climate crisis, we’re told that time is exactly what we don’t have.”
