Back home and commuting

I just got back from a week to my homeland (Belgium) and as usual I was feeling a bit down. But a wee walk in one of the numerous green spots of Scotland's capital city (my hometown since 1,5 years) was enough to get me back on track.
I have not visited much while in Belgium. I tried to spend as much time as I could with my family and friends. And having 2 families with 4 sisters (and 1 brother in the US) makes the week look shorter :-)  And it implies and a lot of commuting as well. I travelled by bus, subway, tram (Edinburgh's nightmare at the moment - ha ha ha) and train. And of course I walked as often as I could - and barely used the car. I must say that using the public transport went pretty well. No delay at all! That's probably the best part of commuting during holidays: there's no rush and no worries if the bus runs late and I miss the 7:51 train (YES I took the train that early during my holidays - I'm an early bird anyway and it enabled me to enjoy longer days!).

Anyway, speaking of commuting, I was happy to see that people tend to cycle more and more. The bicycle is no longer just a way to enjoy a family day out during the weekend. More and more people commute to work using the bicycle. It is a great way to stay active without spending hundreds of pounds to go to the gym. Moreover you can enjoy the fresh air (can be rainy and windy in Edinburgh though!) and nice sceneries (maybe not that much in the city centre). But most of all you contribute to reduce car traffic, which means less pollution and Mother Earth smiling! And it gets even better when the local council is playing its part. Indeed, a lot of bicycle racks are available in city centres; and almost every train stations dispose of dedicated racks to secure your bike. Many big cities have introduced a large-scale public sharing system. Bicycles are securely parked on the street and available for hire. The concept has been developed in many cities by government agencies (sometimes in a public-private partnership).
For some reason the introduction of the bicycle share systems proceeded more slowly in the UK than in the rest of Europe. Why ? Too many hills in Scotland ? Or so many bikes already ?

In the centre of Brussels I came across an original concept : a private locked bicycle rack. It's an initiative of the Brussels City council for people disposing of a bike but no place to store it. Thanks to this system you can safely leave your bicycle on the street without the fear of having it damaged or stolen. It will cost you 60€ a year. If you live in Brussels and are interested by the concept, you can get more info on www.cyclo.org.
But is it really useful or more to be considered as a gadget ? I leave that to your own appreciation.

 

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