As guests of the city of Hasselt, the Urban Transport for Disabled People working group participants were welcomed by the Deputy Mayor at the City Hall. A number of presentations were given on the first morning highlighting the transport issues in the city of Hasselt, the region of Limburg, and Belgium as a whole.

Hasselt is the capital of Limburg Province, located in the Flanders region, approximately 70 kilometres east of Brussels. It has roughly 70,000 inhabitants, and a hinterland of 800,000 people ranking it fourth largest in Belgium. Compared with the 11 major cities of Flanders Hasselt has the highest rate of car ownership, with 1 car per 2.11 residents.

The most important tools behind developments in Hasselt are the Mobility Plan and the Decree of Basic Mobility which sets out a right of mobility for all citizens. The accessibility policy of De Lijn – The Flemish Public Transport Company which operates bus services within Limburg Province – was presented by Ingrid Lieten, CEO. Ingrid Lieten provided some more details about the Decree of Basic Mobility which gives the citizens of Flanders the right to a minimum standard of public transport. This does vary depending on whether residents live in rural, suburban, or urban areas. Another defining feature of public transport within Hasselt is that journeys that take place within the city are free to all users, a policy which was introduced in 1997 by the Mayor at the time, Steve Stevaert.

De Lijn is the public transport operator in Flanders working exclusively for the Flemish Government. Under the strategy of De Lijn, each citizen is entitled to a minimum offer of public transport which covers such features as the distance of a bus stop from their residence and the frequency of buses serving that stop. De Lijn’s policy is that public transport should be inclusive and any improvements made should benefit all citizens. Recent improvements have focussed on safety, the training of staff, and encouraging good communications within De Lijn and with it’s external contacts. There is also a clear distinction between the provision of public transport and the provision of what are termed ‘specially adapted services’ for individual needs.

Actions taken under the mobility programme and aimed at increasing the offer of public transport have included developing standards, creating a project structure, integrating accessibility criteria into the technical specification for new vehicles, introducing guidelines for drivers for assisting disabled people, developing a multi-modal information and booking centre for disabled people, and adaptating 30 of the most used currently non-accessible bus stops in Hasselt so that they are accessible. It is expected that by the end of 2006, the mobility requirements of 90% of the citizens of Flanders will have been met.

A map showing central Hasselt