The first allows you to slip through traffic jams but requires sometimes intense physical effort and exposes the cyclist to climatic hazards. The second allows you to do other things (reading, processing emails, etc.) during the journey but are often stormed during rush hour and are sometimes delayed or cancelled. The last allows you to travel comfortably but exposes the driver to delays and stress related to traffic jams.
This is what traffic jams cost in 2024: a historical record could well be broken this year and it’s in the billions
But to find out which is the fastest means of transport, there is only one solution: test them. As part of Mobility Week, the DH once again took part in the game. Four journalists left the Atomium in Laeken to reach the Delta metro station on board four different vehicles: the metro, the car and the electric and muscular bikes. With one important instruction: total respect for speed limits and the Highway Code in general. A red light is a red light, even on a bike.
Our real-life test: a third of cyclists ran a red light!
At the start of the monument, Google Maps predicted the winning car with a 45-minute course. The muscle bike came 2nd in 47 minutes, tied with the car, the electric bike not being referenced by Google.
In fact, the electric bike came in first place in 40 minutes and 40 seconds. “I could have gone faster if I hadn’t gotten lost after a network outage on my cell phone,” said the electrified cyclist. Then I was stuck for three minutes at the crossroads between the Boulevard du Jardin Botanique and Rue Royale.”
The subway user came in second in 44 minutes 54 seconds, and the muscle bike in 45 minutes and 37 seconds. And contrary to what Google Maps indicated, the car came in dead last in 54 minutes and 26 seconds. That’s almost 10 minutes more than Google Maps estimated.
Last year, during a trip from Place Saint-Pierre in Uccle to our editorial office in Mérode, the electric bike also came in first place.
Is this means of transport therefore the best for riding in the city? “Not necessarily,” comments the electric cyclist. “Of course I arrived first, but I arrived sweating. Anyone who claims that you don’t make an effort on an electric bike has never done so. I also had to dodge pedestrians on the cycle paths and had to go around cars that were using the cycle path for a parking space. Of course I arrived first and I did some sport, but the metro seems the most suitable solution for this journey. Certainly not the muscle bike or the car. On shorter journeys, or those poorly served by the STIB, the electric bike is the best solution.”
It should be noted, however, that if the car came in last in the test, nine minutes behind the muscle bike, it was mainly because its driver followed the advice of Waze, a software that is supposed to take its user the fastest route based on the flow of traffic. And yet, it took him straight into the traffic jam.
Bernard, our photographer, who knows Brussels like the back of his hand, having driven more than 15,000 km within the city walls per year, reached Delta in 36 minutes and 48 seconds. Almost 20 minutes faster than Waze. “Waze can save time when you don’t know the road,” explains Bernard. “But those who are used to Brussels can go faster. When Waze makes you turn right on a street that is congested every day, it is sometimes better to turn left and make a detour because it can sometimes save precious time.”
Gauvain in the metro: “Not a drop of sweat and zero stress in traffic”
“According to Google Maps, taking public transport from Heysel to Delta during the morning rush hour means choosing to spend at least 30 minutes on the metro, in addition to the time needed to walk to the station. Once on the metro, you have to take 12 stops on line 6 towards Elisabeth, get off at Beekkant, take line 5 towards Delta and then get carried away for another 14 stops. That’s 26 stops in total. Luckily, the trains weren’t particularly crowded on Tuesday morning. No pickpockets or other unpleasant characters came to rub shoulders with us. The only unpleasant element encountered during this journey was therefore the wait of a few short minutes on the platforms of the Heysel and Beekkant stations. For the rest, the journey gave us the opportunity to read our emails, read the news, scroll through social networks… and come second in the mobility test without having sweated or got angry in traffic.”
Ludo on his muscle bike: “I narrowly avoided two accidents”
“A brand new bike to cross Brussels from the north to the south of the city, motivation at the rendezvous, physical fitness a little less. But with almost summery weather this Tuesday morning around 8:30 a.m., it took more than that to discourage us from swallowing up these 12 kilometers. Between the Atomium and the Delta metro, the cycle paths are almost permanent and easily accessible, despite slight slowdowns on the Avenue Royale and the Boulevard du Jardin Botanique. Not to mention the two or three fairly steep hills on our route. In the end, 45 minutes of travel, a good dose of stress with two near-miss accidents, sometimes chaotic traffic and soaked clothes due to inevitable sweating. It is therefore difficult to follow up with a professional appointment or a meeting at the office without stopping to take a shower. However, pedaling has the advantage of invigorating the body and mind while sending the stress of traffic jams behind the wheel of a car far away. his car. Less pollution and the satisfaction of arriving before the car and almost at the same time as public transport during our big mobility test!”
Alexis, in a car: “The tunnels during rush hour are often busier than a Festina runner in 98”
“The least we can say is that we didn’t cheat: hitting the road on a Tuesday morning (the worst time of the week according to TomTom’s traffic index), the day after a demonstration, at 8:40 a.m., to cross the capital on its north-south axis: there’s a little something of Koh-Lanta in the approach. However, it’s with a head start (in theory) that we take the wheel: Waze, which has not been our mobility ally for a while (and the buyout by Google, in fact…) tells us that we should be among the first in Delta, at the other end of the city. A little pressure. Except that we quickly feel the burn. If it makes us spin around in the small streets of Laeken then Jette to avoid the very red major roads, we understand where the app wants us to end up: the Annie Cordy tunnel of the Petite Ceinture, into which it throws us just after Simonis. It’s a little before 9 a.m., on a Tuesday, and 6 p.m. years of driving cars in Brussels have taught us: the tunnels at that time are often busier than a Festina runner in 98. And it didn’t fail: we didn’t pass under Montgomery until 9:21, and we didn’t reach the Delta car park until, dead last, at 9:35, after a much smoother passage on Avenue de Tervueren then Boulevard du Souverain. Waze, clearly, didn’t help us on this one. The proof: our photographer, who also left by car at the same time, but was free to take the paths he wanted, put 19 minutes in our teeth. Moral: within Brussels, the car is clearly not the fastest means of transport. And Waze is definitely not what it used to be…”
