3 Dec '13

Three Brussels taxi concerns go on part-time strike

Summary

Three of Brussels taxi associations are striking in the area of South Station every morning in protest against new expensive meters required by the Capital Region

 

Unions are protesting against new meters

Three of Brussels’ taxi associations are continuing to take part in protests against new meters imposed on them by the Capital-Region. For the time being, their actions are only part time in one location.

Following a large-scale protest last week that saw the drivers blocking major arterials in the centre of Brussels as well as the inner Ring road, they are now protesting at South Station every morning between 8.00 and 11.00, according to Constantin Tsatsakis, director of the ATB association.

Taxi representatives are protesting against the enforced introduction of digital meters, which record all of a vehicle’s movements and issue an automatic receipt for every journey. The Brussels government claims the new meters will save drivers and taxi companies administrative work and protect against fraud. “We are not against the introduction of the meters as such,” Tsatsakis said. “But we object to the fact that the costs will not be fully covered by the region.”

The meters costs about €3,000 each, of which the region has agreed to pay one-third. The tax on taxi drivers will also be cut by €350 a year. Along with the ATB, the other two striking associations, Taxis United and UPETTC, make up a minority of all taxis in Brussels. Another four associations have accepted the introduction of the new meters without protest. 

Photo credit: William Murphy/Flickr Commons 

Brussels taxi associations strike against new expensive meters required by the city.

LinkedIn this

Now read this

  • Protesting taxi drivers block centre of Brussels

    City taxi drivers blocked traffic across the centre of Brussels yesterday, severely disrupting traffic. The drivers are protesting an expensive new metre required by the city

    Read more

  • Brussels is traffic-jam capital of the world

    Nowhere in the world do drivers spend more time sitting in traffic than in Brussels and Antwerp, according to a survey carried out by the traffic information platform Inrix. Brussels with 85.4 hours and Antwerp with 76.7 hours a year are in the top two places. The cities rounding out the top five are Los Angeles, Milan and London.

    Read more

  • New automatic receipts for taxi passengers

    Passengers in all taxis in Flanders will be issued with official receipts from 1 July. The receipt contains information on the trip – pick-up and drop-off times and places – as well as the name and license number of the driver.

    Read more

Traffic in Flanders

Thousands of commuters and foreigners pass through Brussels and Flanders each day, and the two regions have suffered from heavily congested traffic and long and frequent traffic jams for years – with no end seemingly in sight.
Record - According to the 2013 report from traffic information platform Inrix, Brussels and Antwerp have the most traffic congestion of any city in Europe and North America.
Calendar - October is the worst month of the year for traffic jams.
Causes - Year after year, heavy snowfall and railway strikes lead to monster traffic jams. Heavy congestion, infrastructure works and multi-lane accidents cause the more ordinary daily tailbacks.
1 285

largest area covered in traffic ever recorded in Belgium in kilometres

70

time Antwerp drivers spend in gridlock per year in hours

10 000

traffic diversions in Flanders per year

  • Agentschap Wegen en Verkeer
  • Verkeerscentrum Vlaanderen
  • Touring Mobilis

Related articles