Belgium has launched Mobility Dashboard to share key transportation data points
Belgium has become one of the first countries to monitor and share key aspects of mobility in the country through an open platform – the Belgian Mobility Dashboard (BMD). The platform is jointly launched by the Belgian federation of car and bike importers (FEBIAC) and VBO FEB.
The BMD is a neutral data-based platform that monitors key aspects of mobility in Belgium including:
| Sr. No | Type | Data Points | Level |
| 1 | Congestion Level | Length & Cost | National |
| 2 | Train | Punctuality Map and Dashboard | Municipal |
| 3 | Multimodality | Map | Municipal |
| 4 | Vehicle Fleet | Car, Motorcycles, Heavy Trucks and Light Trucks | National |
| 5 | Emissions | Vehicle CO2 emission | National |
The mobility stakeholders (public, private, and academic) can use the data to develop mobility solutions, policies, and measures. The data set is unique as it provides details of congestion on an hourly basis and also shares the cost of traffic jams. The cumulative cost of congestion was 1% of Belgium’s GDP in 2021.
The data points are very interesting and useful for planners and policymakers. The car registration data showed that the registration of new petrol cars declined by 10% and new diesel cars by 35%. On the other hand, the registration of Plug-in Hybrid vehicles (PHEV) increased by 50%, full electric vehicle (BEV) hybrid electric vehicles by 51%, and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) by 30%.
In most European cities, national mobility data is mainly managed and provided on demand by specialized or academic organizations and is less readily accessible, including DMI (Dutch Mobility Innovations) database in the Netherlands.
VBO FEB is looking to upgrade the platform in the future and will add additional data points like fuel consumption, average driving distances, charging infrastructure, and the proportions of various modes of transportation.
