“Today we already live in the most traffic jam-prone region in the country and are heading for a real traffic jam,” is how Hans Bonte (Vooruit) explains the need for a water bus. “The economic and environmental damage this will cause is enormous, as is the problem of cut-through traffic.”
According to the mayor of Vilvoorde, the Flemish government “must do everything possible, together with the local authorities, to provide sustainable traffic options. A fast water bus between the capital and the Rand is one of them.”
Fifteen partners, including the municipal authorities of Vilvoorde and Machelen and the city council of Brussels, have united in the Buda+ project to realize that goal. The plan is part of the goal of redeveloping the Buda district, an old industrial area.
‘Research possibilities’
The twelve other partners are the province of Flemish Brabant, POM Flemish Brabant, OVAM, Department of the Environment, Perspective Brussels, CityDev, Port of Brussels, Brussels Port Community, De Vlaamse Waterweg, VOKA, Chamber of Commerce Flemish Brabant and Beci.
For the water bus, they are primarily looking at the Vilvoorde-Brussels route. The distance from the Asiat Park in Vilvoorde, where the dock makes it possible to build a starting or ending stop, to Metro IJzer in Brussels is 11 kilometers. Stops in Neder-Over-Heembeek, Vilvoorde center, Schaarbeek (Vorming) and Thurn & Taxis could also be options.
There is already a water bus today, but it only operates in the summer months from May 2. The partners ask that the options for their plans for an additional water bus be investigated “in the short term”. They want, among other things, to investigate the cost price, operating conditions, frequency and speed of transport.
