The episode in detail
Remorquable: a bike trailer loan scheme in Brussels
Remorquable is a Brussels ASBL, a non-profit association under Belgian law, set up in 2018 to run a bike trailer loan scheme. The principle is straightforward: trailers are installed at various points across Brussels, members pay an annual fee of 40 euros (25 euros at the reduced rate for students or jobseekers), book online, borrow the trailer to carry their belongings and bring it back to the same spot. Mathieu François, in charge of administration and finance, sets out how the association works and the challenges it faces.
“Whatever you lose in comfort, you gain in independence. With cycling, that applies especially.”
More than 90% of funding comes from public subsidies
With a 40-euro annual fee, Remorquable cannot cover its three part-time paid positions. It would take thousands of members just to cover the wage bill. The reality: more than 90% of funding comes from the Brussels mobility ministry, recently topped up by a contribution from the City of Brussels.
The association is trying to diversify its income without raising prices. It offers paid services to other ASBLs, local councils and schools: cycle road-safety sessions, participatory mechanics workshops, a toy library and photo activities. The surplus from these services funds the trailer library, the core service, which is not profitable on its own.
“It’s a kind of cross-funding: part subsidies, and part that we go and find ourselves.”
Cargo bikes backed by Europe
Remorquable received the European Cargobike grant, funded 80% by Europe through the UIA (Urban Innovative Action) body and 20% by Bruxelles Mobilité. This programme backs initiatives for carrying goods by bike in European cities. Urbike, another Brussels trailer operator, also benefited from it.
This kind of funding sits within the wider framework of the European Green Deal, which sets targets for sustainable mobility in major cities and for cutting the use of combustion-engine vehicles. For ASBLs like Remorquable, this European funding allowed for a genuine change of scale.
“Europe, through its UIA body, set up this call for projects to support initiatives aimed at developing cargo bike use in Brussels.”
The challenge of volunteering and community
The ideal model for Remorquable would be to run on volunteering, as some participatory bike mechanics workshops do. But borrowing a trailer is not a daily need. Unlike a cooperative supermarket, where members come every week and get a direct benefit, the occasional use of a trailer makes building loyalty harder.
Mathieu is clear-eyed about it: no one is going to do the accounting and administrative work as a volunteer. The three structural posts identified, administration, coordination and trailer maintenance, are essential to keep the activity going over time. Seeking out private foundations and new partners is part of the diversification strategy.
“We would need a much bigger community and people who are genuinely involved. It’s not straightforward.”
Sustainable mobility: the arguments put to public authorities
To convince public authorities to fund the trailer loan scheme, Remorquable points to several goals shared by the Brussels region: improved road safety, lower CO2 and fine particle emissions, and a positive impact on the physical and mental health of users.
Mathieu also points to the social complexity of the mobility debate. The Brussels Goodmove plan, with its 30 km/h limits and one-way streets, makes driving harder. That is by design. But less well-off populations, on the outskirts, poorly served by public transport, working shifted hours, end up penalised. Reducing the debate to a simple choice between bike and car would be simplistic.
Remorquable’s future depends in part on the elections and the political choices that follow them. In the meantime, the association keeps installing trailers, improving its user experience and taking part in the snowball effect that is putting more and more cyclists on the roads of Brussels.
“We are trying, in a way, to act as a kind of extension of the public service.”
