A new mobility plan for employees

Through its mobility plan, STIB aims to offer its employees as many options as possible for travelling to and from work, while encouraging the use of sustainable transport. With this in mind, STIB sets up initiatives to support the modal shift from private cars to public transport, as well as to other alternatives such as cycling. Collective transport solutions are offered for employees who need to travel outside public transport operating hours.

The results of the 2024 mobility survey bear witness to these efforts: this proactive approach is bearing fruit. The use of private cars for commuting has fallen by 5.8% in three years and by 10% in the space of 10 years. This shift is mainly in favour of cycling and public transport.

The main priority under the 2025-2028 mobility plan is to continue efforts to promote soft mobility, including the provision of parking facilities and changing rooms for cyclists in view of their growing numbers and raising staff awareness of road safety when using bicycles and micromobility devices.

Towards the end of single-use plastics

New regulations on waste management in Brussels came into force on 1 January 2025. Among other things, they ban the use of bottles for still water and the use of single-use packaging for food and drink in public entities. In accordance with this measure, high-flow water fountains have been installed in workplaces, jugs are available in restaurants and canteens for employees, single-use cups are no longer available, and so on.

These measures have been the subject of a vast support and communication plan, in order to prepare for these changes and encourage the adoption of new reflexes.

Public transport, a solution for the future

After a showing in Paris, the ‘Ville de demain’ (City of Tomorrow) exhibition moved to the Gare Maritime at Tour & Taxis. The Solar Impulse Foundation, chaired by Bertrand Picard, presented more than 1,000 innovative solutions offered by contemporary technologies to protect the urban environment while stimulating economic development. STIB public transport featured prominently in this immersive exhibition.

The models of the new ’TNG’ tram and the new ‘M7’ metro were on display to welcome visitors as they entered, serving as a reminder of the essential role that public transport plays in the fight against climate change.

Fight against sexist and sexual harassment

STIB is raising awareness among its personnel about the fight against sexist harassment on its network. The support and guidance of harassment victims are part of the challenges associated with this issue. Training modules for personnel in contact with customers have been developed by the STIB training centres, in collaboration with the non-profit organisation CEMEA, and integrated into the basic training programme for personnel in contact with customers (driving, security, sales, etc.). In 2024, 27 training sessions were given as part of the training of new colleagues in these different professions. A total of 210 people were trained.

In 2025, priority will be given to training security agents, as well as Customer Care teams and the various dispatching teams. At the same time, STIB is preparing a brochure and a leaflet for passengers. It lists advice on how to behave as a victim or witness of harassment and also provides a list of useful contacts.

STIB fights sexism and inequalities

On the occasion of International Women's Rights Day, STIB organised several awareness-raising sessions for its personnel. The objective? Together, to raise awareness for a safer, more inclusive and fairer society.

Very specific questions and practical cases were addressed: ’Am I sexist?’, ’What are the applicable sanctions?’, ’What is the role of each and every one of us in the face of sexism?’ and ’What are the right reflexes to adopt?’. These sessions also provided an opportunity to remind staff of the resources available to help anyone who witnesses or is the victim of inappropriate behaviour: management, persons of trust, social counsellors and prevention counsellors.

A bus decorated in the colours of the rainbow ran on route 71 throughout the month of May. It was a way for the Brussels public transport company to affirm its support for the Pride and to highlight its commitment to an open and inclusive society.

Stations as meeting places

STIB, with the support of associations, organises fun, creative and participatory activities that are accessible to all in and around its (pre-)metro stations:

• Awareness and prevention workshops
• Cultural and artistic activities
• Digital inclusion workshops
• Social help desks
• Literacy courses
• A prevention workshop on the phenomenon of homelessness in metro stations, particularly in Bockstael
• Media education workshops through the online radio of the non-profit organisation Mix-Up

At Gare de l'Ouest, STIB volunteers have made their expertise available to repair small electrical appliances at seven ’Repair Cafés’. Other activities were organised in the area around the station to contribute to harmonious coexistence: activities on Wednesday afternoons for young people in the neighbourhood, rounds to meet young people who have dropped out of school and redirect them to support structures, and social and legal advice services.

The objectives are multiple: to raise awareness about the issues of mobility and public transport, to promote social inclusion, to create positive links in and around the station, and to reinforce the feeling of safety in the station. The diversity of the activities on offer, the participative and inclusive nature of the project, and the partnership with local associations guarantee an approach rooted in the station and broad public participation.

STIB proud to transport the Paralympic Team Belgium

On their return from the Paris Games, the Paralympic athletes were expected at Place de la Bourse in Brussels to celebrate their 14 medals. On this occasion, STIB had the honour of transporting the 78 members of the Paralympic Team Belgium on board its buses and minibuses to the venue of the festivities.

For the STIB, transporting the Paralympic athletes in its vehicles represented an opportunity to confirm the inclusion initiatives it has initiated and to highlight the accessibility of its vehicles, to promote its accessible services and with the hope of encouraging people with disabilities to try out its public transport network.

The route finder offers routes without stairs

Thanks to the ’itinerary without stairs’ option in the trip planner on the mobile app and the website, wheelchair users, but also parents with pushchairs, can obtain a practicable route, whether thanks to the presence of lifts in (pre-)metro stations or the accessibility of vehicles and stops at surface level.

Providing clear and reliable information on the accessibility of the network is essential to ensure that people with reduced mobility can use the public transport network without hindrance. This is why STIB has integrated data on the accessibility of its stops and stations into the trip planner and has launched the module for planning trips without stairs.

This solution comes in addition to the various information and support measures offered by the STIB to enable people with reduced mobility to travel on its network, including, among others:

• The availability of escalators and lifts available on the STIB mobile application
• AccessiBus and AccessiTram
• Assistance in the station to help you cross the gap between the platform and the metro

Making stops and stations accessible

The presence of lifts is essential to enable wheelchair users, as well as parents with pushchairs, travellers with suitcases, and older or less mobile people, to access metro platforms. At the end of 2024, 55 of the 69 (pre-)metro stations had accessible platforms thanks to the presence of lifts.

Above ground, the STIB network has more than 2,000 stops. STIB is working with Bruxelles Mobilité and the municipalities to make improvements to the accessibility of its network. The platforms at bus and tram stops are being raised to eliminate the need to step up to board and allow passengers to board the vehicles at ground level. At tram stops, rubber edges are placed along the platform to bridge the gap when boarding. In 2024, 59 stops were made accessible, including 29 bus stops and 30 tram stops. These include the new stops on tram line 10, between Heembeek and the Military Hospital.

In 2025, STIB will continue its efforts to make its network accessible. The adaptation of the Simonis, Horta, Parc and Albert (pre-)metro stations is planned.

1^st Brussels accessibility conference

CAWaB (the Wallonia-Brussels Accessibility Collective) organised the first Brussels accessibility conference. STIB was invited, as well as numerous other stakeholders such as SNCB, Brussels Mobility, equal.brussels and Unia. The event provided an opportunity for anyone with a disability or with an interest in accessibility, diversity and mobility to find out about current developments and projects.

At the STIB, a multidisciplinary cross-functional team is dedicated to accessibility. The departments involved include surface stop management, station renovation, TaxiBus, Quality Management, Public Affairs and Communication.

Holding on and giving up your seat, a question of safety

This summer, the STIB launched an awareness campaign to warn about the risk of falling in its vehicles. With a touch of humour, it invited passengers to hold on and give up their seat to those who need it most. These reflexes are essential for everyone's safety. The campaign took the form of three ‘Instagram vs reality’ video clips posted on social media and a poster campaign.

Buses, trams and metros are not exempt from emergency braking, whether due to the emergence of an obstacle to be avoided on the surface or the activation of safety brakes in metro and premetro tunnels. For this reason, it is essential that passengers hold on to the handrail when standing and that those most likely to suffer injury as a result of losing their balance travel seated.

In 2024, 651 reports of people falling in a vehicle were recorded. These figures are quite reassuring considering the one million passengers transported daily and the more than 50 million kilometres travelled each year by STIB vehicles. Nevertheless, these accidents are easily preventable, hence the importance of raising awareness.

Coexisting safely with bicycles

The increase in the amount of cyclists in Brussels presents a new road safety challenge for STIB drivers. Understanding each other's realities is the beginning of harmonious coexistence. That is why STIB, in collaboration with the cycling association Pro Velo, organises workshops and training sessions where STIB personnel and cyclists swap roles for an entire afternoon. Five awareness-raising sessions were organised in 2024 and more will follow in 2025.

The STIB bus department has developed a workshop for all future drivers. They take their place on a bicycle, fixed to the ground on the training ground, while a bus passes by at about 30 km/h, respecting the safety distance of one metre required by the Highway Code and sounding its horn when overtaking. A striking experience, which allows future drivers to realise what cyclists experience when they are overtaken by a bus.

Raising awareness about blind spots

Blind spots are inherent to vehicles as large as buses. This is why STIB is implementing various measures to mitigate the risks associated with their presence, focusing on information, awareness and technology, among other things.

Stickers on the sides of the buses indicate the presence and extent of blind spots. On car-free Sunday, STIB was present in the ‘Mobility Village’ to raise public awareness of the dangers of blind spots. The public was able to take a seat behind the wheel of a bus to see with their own eyes that another user in the blind spot is not visible.

Technology can also help drivers. The STIB has equipped all new electric buses delivered between 2024 and 2026 with camera mirrors. In addition to the many advantages they offer - better visibility, smaller size, automatic adjustment - camera mirrors significantly reduce blind spots.

Local activities with the Living Together bus

STIB has completely transformed one of its buses to create a space for interaction, which can be used for social activities. The ‘Living Together’ bus goes out to meet different audiences in the Brussels communes in a fun and interactive way.

Both STIB teams and associations used the bus to carry out around twenty projects in 2024:

• Digital inclusion workshops
• The ’Pat Rouille’ programme of the Brussels-West police zone
• Cultural events during local festivities
• Cybersecurity week
• Collection of toys, food and clothing for disadvantaged children with Kiwanis

Raising awareness in schools

’MobX Adventure’ is an awareness and prevention campaign organised by STIB for pupils in the 5th and 6th years of primary school. It includes various activities: puzzles, a mystery box and challenges on the theme of mobility. Through these activities, pupils are invited to consider various topics such as sustainable and responsible urban mobility and safety and courtesy on Brussels public transport.

A total of 71 classes took part in the MobX Adventure in 2024, representing some 1,800 pupils. In schools located near a tram line, STIB goes out to meet the pupils to make them aware of the dangers associated with the tram and the good behaviour to adopt on public transport, which is often used to get to school. Around thirty classes benefited from the initiative in 2024. STIB also participates in the days organised by police forces PolBru (Brussels-Capital - Ixelles), BruNo (Brussels North: Schaerbeek, Evere, Saint-Josse-ten-Noode) and BruWest (West Brussels: Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Jette, Ganshoren, Berchem-Sainte-Agathe and Koekelberg) to raise awareness of good behaviour on public transport, in which 35 classes took part in 2024.

In 2025, the STIB is proposing a new school campaign concept aimed at secondary school pupils in years 5th and 6th and still focused on mobility, awareness-raising and empowering young people.