The latest Brussels LOOPER Living Lab meeting was centred around the question “What to measure to improve traffic safety?”
In previous meetings and discussions with citizens on the street, it was often indicated that street safety is a problem in the Helmet district. The meeting on May 9 focussed on what kind of data can be collected for the purpose of showing problems and providing inspiration for possible solutions.
Some of the participants were new to the LOOPER project, others had already participated in previous meetings. Mareile Wiegmann from Vrije Universiteit Brussel gave a short presentation about the structure and goals of the LOOPER project and the Brussels Living Lab in order to make sure everyone was up-to-date.
A representative of Schaerbeek municipality then presented the past, present and future projects concerning mobility in the Helmet neighbourhood. Examples included new tram stops and metro entrances, reduced maximum speeds, and bike lanes. There was plenty room for questions and debate, and everyone was eager to express their views on traffic safety in the Helmet district.
With the information on mobility projects in mind, participants were divided into groups to brainstorm on what data should be collected to improve safety in the Helmet district. The following topics were put forward by the participants:
- Amount of space dedicated to cars, cyclists and pedestrians;
- Road users’ perception of car speed;
- Overutilization of public space: amount of space for each mode of transport vs. how often each mode of transport actually uses this space;
- Places of activity and everyday life (i.e. schools, shops, restaurants, religious places), their attraction radius and their design;
- Do other groups (i.e. shopkeepers and schools) share our vision on street safety?
The next meeting will decide which data will be collected for the Brussels Living Lab. The organisers – Vrije Universiteit Brussel and BRAL – will provide details about the data that is already available and data that can be collected, and the Living Lab participants will decide what data they want to collect in the Helmet district. This meeting will take place on Thursday June 7 at the Champagnat school in Schaerbeek.