Anyone who burns Smart Move will choose five more years of traffic jams

But it seems that this is not possible in Brussels. Al-Owaij describes this measure as a bullying tax. However, road pricing for Brussels residents is not in addition to the existing road tax, but instead of it. Only those who need their car more often will have to pay more than they do now. But it is precisely this group that Al-Awej defends.

Lonely times shine for Gatz. Almost all other parties oppose Smart Move, or want it only at the national level, so that it can also replace the road tax for the Flemish and Walloons, and not act as a “fiscal wall” around Brussels. This is something Gatz also supports, but he no longer wants to wait for it. He added: “The traffic jams are huge, and Brussels wants to do something and must be allowed to do so.”

Understandably, he didn’t want to wait. N-VA and PS have already rejected road pricing several times. In other regions, the Mass of Saint Goethe is awaited.

Stick and carrot

Meanwhile, almost all other parties suggest more and better public transportation as an ideal solution. So just the carrot, without the stick.

This will never be enough. Al-Owaij himself cited the reason: Using a car is constant, so even with traffic jams, you can still get from door to door relatively quickly. Only through painless measures can you get people out of their cars and reduce traffic jams. This could be done by imposing road fares, eliminating paid cars, sharply increasing parking prices, or a combination of these proposals.

But you don’t hear other parties talking about that now. Whereas they would have screamed bloody murder over “inaccessible capital” and the disastrous impact on Brussels’ economy, they are now silent. It is time for more cleanliness in the mobility debate and well-calculated mobility proposals. Otherwise, we will lose another five years of waiting at a rapid pace, and this will benefit no one.