The solution is called Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and consists of dedicated central lanes for buses serving regular routes. Passengers board the bus through a metro-like station and these fast buses swiftly take the to their destination. By integrating this transport mode with existing rail services and strengthening the first and last mile options to better connect BRT stations, Transjakarta has managed to decrease the congestion levels by 8% according to the TomTom Traffic Index. 

With 260 BRT station spread in 13 corridors and the world’s longest route (251 km), Transjakarta now moves close to 1 million people each day out of the 20 million inhabitants in the city and suburbs. This represents a 4-fold increase in the past 5 years, and the system is accessible (BRT station <500 m) to 77% of the population, with the aim to reach 95% in the next few years. 

But just how did Transjakarta achieve this impressive turnaround in one of the world’s most congested cities? Firstly, by planning and integrating with existing transport such as metro and light rail. Another important measure is the gradual integration of independent cooperative owned minibuses for the first and last miles – and upgrading them to higher quality and comfort standards. The third measure to highlight is the affordability of Transjakarta’s system, with a single ticket costing around 0.3 cents and a 3-hour ticket around 0.50 cents. To encourage the use of modern minibuses they are free of charge. And of course, there is only 1 transport card for all the system. 

What is next for Transjakarta?

After their participation in the International Bus Conference in Brussels, Transjakarta’s CEO, Dr Agung Wicaksono and his team are touring Europe to get to know potential suppliers for their plan of electrifying their bus network. Most buses in the Transjakarta fleet are European, but so far, they are testing 3 Chinese manufactured electric buses. Doubts remain around the performance of European manufactured electric buses’ performance in Indonesia’s tropical climate, which is why Transjakarta’s team is visiting European manufacturers, emphasising that they are first and foremost looking for quality and sustainable vehicles.

Transjakarta’s success in gradually solving a megapolis’ transport crisis highlights the importance of integration of different transport modes, of concertation between authorities and of improving the convenience, efficiency and affordability of public transport. Brussels should heed the lessons learned by these public transport giants and emulate their ambition in solving mobility challenges.

The post Towards a fast and efficient public transport network in Jakarta appeared first on Brussels Express.

But people are trying to change this. The newly launched campaign « Free Tap Water In Belgian Restaurants » aims to do just that. Launched 2 weeks ago, it already has 2,500 followers and several volunteers that map the restaurants which offer free tap water. Campaigners also contact restaurant owners to change their policies: EXKi and PULP have already changed their water policy and offer filtered tap water in their restaurants. People behind the campaign are passionate about the cause:  we are warned about the consequences of single use plastics but are not offered alternatives. This is the case of the Museum of Natural Sciences in Ixelles, which has exhibitions about plastic pollution but only offers bottled water. It is also somewhat of a crusade of principles, a belief that people should not be forced to buy overpriced water to quench their thirst.

While tap water in Brussels might not have the taste of highland water, its quality is good, and if it is filtered the taste is neutral. This campaign is not asking restaurants to stop selling bottled water, they are simply asking restaurants and cafés to give customers a choice between sparkling, flat or tap water. This young campaign seems bound to achieve its goals and on the road to change a deeply ingrained bad habit in Brussels’ restaurant, and it is surely a campaign we can all support.

The post Fulfilling fundamental rights one glass of water at a time appeared first on Brussels Express.

While sewers are one potential heat source, there are many other possibilities and cities showing us the way. Copenhagen’s district heating system supplies 97% of the city’s heating needs from waste heat from electricity production and incineration plants. This energy would normally be wasted but is instead redirected to people’s homes, saving them some 1,400 Euros per year in the process.  This also means that individual boilers are relatively rare as most people get their heat directly from the city.

Considering Brussels’ commitment to reduce its Co2 emissions in the coming decades, as well as the recent gains made by the green party in the different « communes », we can hope that this pilot will be followed up by larger scale implementation of these innovative ideas. Political will is essential to tackle the huge challenges ahead. As Belgium’s youth strike is showing, politicians’ hot air will not heat homes or be enough to attract new generations of voters: concrete projects such as this one will pave the way to a more sustainable Brussels and play a key role in future municipal elections.

The post Green heating: using hot sewer air to warm communal spaces appeared first on Brussels Express.

The estimated impact of this measure is a reduction of some 13 tons of Co2 per year, the equivalent of taking 4 or 5 cars off the road. Other projects on the city’s climate change plan website such as using low consumption lights for the city, greening the city’s vehicle fleet and promoting grouped purchases of green energy add up to a reduction of 65 tons of Co2 per year. The yearly reduction sought for 2020 is around 47 800 tons, of which only 5 600 have been reduced.

There is a timid allusion to improving alternative travelling methods and promoting cycling, but the actions have limited budget and no sense of big picture planning. Looking at the final energy consumption, we note that fossil fuels are by far the highest contributor to the energy matrix, so any meaningful action must radically change the way we move to and in the city. The administrative division of Brussels does not help: while the overall commitment to the covenant of mayors is for the agglomeration of Brussels, the campaign seems to be only for the City of Brussels. To be fair the city has invested close to 1 billion Euros on improving the energy standards of buildings, where most of the reductions come from. But at a time when youth is showing the way and demanding meaningful actions to save the world they will inherit, Brussels’ municipalities need to come together to put forward ambitious plans to drastically reduce the city’s reliance on fossils fuels.

The post A tree will be planted for each new birth in the City of Brussels appeared first on Brussels Express.

But how does one go about changing habits? The first thing is to locate some good places to shop. In some neighbourhoods such as St Gilles, St Josse or Schaerbeek, there are many green grocers, but they might only have fruit and vegetables and not offer products in bulk. Through Bioguide, you can find shops near you with quality products and reduced packaging. Another option for fresh fruit and veg is to sign up to a box scheme, through which a weekly box of fruit and veg is delivered to your door or to a pick up point near you. If you are also looking for products such as meat, cheese, granola and other processed products, the Ruche qui dit oui (the hive that says yes) allows you to order products online from small producers and come pick them up once a week.

 

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A challenging aspect might be that you will likely not find the breadth of products available in large supermarkets. The secret is not to be a purist and aim to use supermarket alternatives as much as it is convenient: you will probably go to a supermarket by convenience (when passing by) or because some products you use can only be found there. I consider that to some extent we vote with our wallets: if some of your regular spending is shifted to these local alternatives, they will grow stronger and support the local economy. So, don’t beat yourself up over it and take small steps: Ecoconso offers advice on a multitude of ways to adopt more sustainable habits from shopping to making your own cleaning products.

Finally, I have found that switching to local alternatives to supermarkets meant I gradually bought less processed products and more in season. This meant that I had to learn new recipes and cook vegetables I had never heard of. If you join a box scheme, they usually provide recipe ideas to cook whatever they send you. You can also join the  February without supermarkets group for recipe ideas. Remember, the idea is that this is a challenge so go slow but know that it will sometimes be difficult – only after some time will these new habits settle and you will be happy not to be under a supermarket neon light.

The post Try it: February without supermarkets appeared first on Brussels Express.

Civa Brussels has an exposition, Designed Landscapes, that proposes a new perspective on Brussels’ parks and public gardens through their history. Public parks were indeed invented and actively developed from the 18^th century: before that green spaces were often reserved to the aristocracy. The beginning of Brussels’ parks points to a rather French influence, with geometric designs, sculptured trees and neat gravel paths: think of the Parc Royal (1775) or the Jardin Botanique (1826-1829). But from the middle of the 19^th century a wilder, more natural park landscape was sought: this marks a growing influence of English gardens, visible in parks such as Duden or the Bois de la Cambre.

It was Leopold II that was behind the creation of many parks in Brussels, including the Bois de la Cambre, which he connected to the city through a large avenue populated with large trees: Avenue Louise. More and more parks are created: Woluwe, Laeken, Forest, Josaphat. New tree varieties were planted in the parks to charm visitors, and natural spaces such as the Ixelles and Melaerts ponds were landscaped. A Belgian “excentricity” consisted in building fake mountain features or bridges, cascades and hills, but these were built in Portland cement. The exhibition shows examples: the cave of the Ixelles ponds with its Greek temple, the waterfall of Marie-Louise Square, some elements of the Josaphat Park. Big works continued until the end of the 19th century with the construction of the Parc du Cinquantenaire and its museum. You will also notice that many parks are decorated with outstanding sculptures, making them truly open-air museums.

 

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The 20th century saw a utilitarian urbanism taking over, with room for cars and high-rise building being privileged, but today things are changing. Green spaces are again seeing the day thanks to modern pioneers that are building spaces big and small that respond to the now audible demands of citizens and public powers who want to win their votes.

You can visit Designed Landscapes at Civa, 55 rue de l’Ermitage, Ixelles, until the 31st of March.

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If you are a job-seeker you will be familiar with this scenario: week after week of sending in job applications, you don’t hear back from employers. You might have a few automatic emails, courteously reminding you that you should not expect to get any feedback, or even a rejection from the employer. You are not alone: according to Stepstone, one of the main job boards in Belgium, less than 1 in 4 job-seekers receive a response regarding their application, despite 85% of them finding themselves to be a good fit for the job. Belgium fared better than France, where only 15% of applicants got a reply, but significantly worse than the Netherlands (35%) and Germany (52%).

In this extremely competitive age this dynamic leaves job-seekers at loss. Having no feedback means that you do not know whether you were directly rejected, made it into a first shortlist and were dropped out of the interview stage, or if the job was not filled by anyone. Considering that it took an average of 18 applications to get an interview, and that it took on average 3 interviews to get a job, this can be quite a frustrating process. The job funnel gets very narrow very fast: around one in twenty got an interview and less than 2% received a job offer.

This could be either that the gap between employer and applicants’ understanding of the right profile for the job is huge, or that the job market is a buyer’s market and so many people are looking for jobs that the competition is huge. The truth probably lies within a bit of both. More feedback would certainly help job-seekers to better understand why they are not a good fit and improve their skills to be more successful in future applications. As Eva Ba, product manager at Stepstone says: «We encourage customers to put themselves in a job-seeker’s shoes. That way we help them being more transparent in the recruitment process & providing feedback to candidates systematically.  We even facilitate personalized feedback in our StepStone application management tool. Companies should rethink the full application experience to be simple and accessible. »

So if you are hiring, remember, don’t make applicants input the same information as the CV you requested in an online form, prepare an automatic reply that will clearly state what the candidates can expect from the selection procedure, and if you can, provide some valuable feedback at least to those that came close.

The post The job-seeking hassle in Belgium appeared first on Brussels Express.

Cyclists are however perceived to be somewhat reckless: running through red lights, sneaking through traffic or listening to music with headphones. Some of these behaviours are caused by lack of adequate infrastructure, but cycling with headphones on has always struck me as somewhat insane. Audible cues are a huge part of the input needed to cycle safely: even if you have the priority, if you have limited visibility then hearing a car coming would be the only way of avoiding it.

To fight this, Bike for Brussels has launched a campaign called Earworm to Go to sensitise cyclists. They have also prepared a Spotify playlist to get you inspired. You might also have seen some posters around town. In any case, the aim is to get cyclists thinking about how to cycle safely.

While it might seem obvious to some that cycling with headphones is not a good idea, it is common to walk and listen to music. From there to cycling and listening to music there is but a short distance, and it does not seem any more reckless than texting and driving which can be seen any day on Brussels’ roads. So, if you do cycle with headphones or know someone who does, this is a good way of engaging on this issue. And if you really cannot get a song out of your head to the point of despair, check out these tips to forget it.

The post Cycling safely in Brussels: leave your headphones at home and catch an earworm appeared first on Brussels Express.

Certified by the National Cooperation Council (CNC), urbike has partnered with a number of stakeholders (Smart cooperative, ULB’s mobility lab, delivery partners…) to generate new models and ways of working to make last mile delivery a viable option for Brussels-based businesses. While this phase is well underway (project BCklet), urbike has now partnered with Financité, a membership organisation which promotes finance as a tool to achieve social change. The objective is to raise 150,000 Euros to fund the purchase of equipment, the launch of delivery activities and the preparation for scale-up in 2020.

You can, until the end of February 2019, invest in urbike and by doing so become a cooperative member. This means that you will have a right to vote on the cooperative issues (1 person = 1 vote), the opportunity to participate to events and workgroups, as well as receiving up to 6% of the dividends on the annual profits made by the cooperative. There is also a bonus: because urbike is certified by the CNC and is a social economy cooperative, you can benefit from a tax reduction of 45% of the capital invested thanks to the Tax Shelter.

To invest you must buy a minimum of 5 shares priced at 100 Euros each (500 Euros), with a maximum of 50 shares for a single member. To buy share, simply fill in the form on urbike.be and a urbike representative will get in touch with you shortly. If you wish to invest more than 5,000 Euros, get in touch with them at info@urbike.be

The post An opportunity to invest in a greener Brussels and the social economy: Urbike cooperative shares for sale appeared first on Brussels Express.

I have noticed over the years how people increasingly dread Christmas shopping, choose to buy less presents, or rather propose games like Secret Santa. The slew of reports on the damages of over-consumption on the environment have accelerated this trend.

This considered, a tendency has been to choose ethical gifts. For many people Christmas is a spiritual time of year when values such as solidarity, acceptance and forgiveness should be demonstrated. Altruist presents are great in this sense: in the name of someone you can give a goat or a chicken to a family in need through Oxfam. To be clear your financial contribution does not always directly purchase a goat, but will go towards a program that provides these benefits. An alternative is simply to donate to one of the many Belgian NGOs that supports a cause that is dear to you or to the person you want to donate on behalf of.

Another option is to give experiences rather than material presents: give time (for instance offering babysitting to young parents), a gift certificate for a restaurant, theatre or concert tickets, music — the possibilities are endless.

Whatever your choice for others, you can also ask for no presents, or for donations to be made on your behalf to the charity of your choice. Beyond reducing clutter and garbage, you can revive the Christmas spirit of helping others in need in this special time of the year.

The post Last-minute Christmas shopping: some ethical gift ideas appeared first on Brussels Express.