Every year, the European Commission’s Directorate General for Transport and Energy organises a so-called TREN Day, an internal event aimed at taking stock of the past working year and outlining the coming year. The main theme of this year’s gathering, which took place on 9^th July in the Brussels’ Flagey building, was “electric mobility”.

 

The participants were addressed by Shai Agassi, the former SAP President, who has recently fastened himself upon electric mobility with his “Better Place” Project. Better Place is based on the marketing concept that is in use for mobile phones. Whilst the hardware is subsidised, the consumer takes out a subscription to the use of the phone. Agassi wants to develop a nationwide network of stations where drivers of electric cars can swap their empty battery for a fully charged one. The cars will be supplied by Renauld-Nissan and will have a Lithium-Ion battery that will allow for some 180 kilometres. Later on this year, a pilot project will be launched in Israel, whereas Denmark has also shown an interest in the project. According to Agassi, the basic assumption used for the development of Better Place was completely new. Up to now the automotive sector has always reasoned from the perspective of how to build a car. For Better Place, they have rather reasoned from the perspective of how to develop a transport system that does not depend on oil.

 

During lunch break, the more than 600 participants of TREN Day were given the opportunity to test a complete range of electric vehicles: from electric bicycles over Segways and E-Solex up to electric scooters and vans.

ETRA, in cooperation with two Brussels dealers, IMP Cycles and E-bike center, provided for the electric bicycle fleet. A very large number of participants ventured a test ride, among whom Matthias Rüte, Director General of DG TREN, and Franz-Xaver Söldner, Deputy Head of Unit clean transport and urban transport. All four wheel vehicles were supplied by AVERE,  a European network of industrial manufacturers and suppliers of electric vehicles.

 

Earlier this year, ETRA participated in a cycling event organised by the EMAS department of the European Commission. The Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is a voluntary initiative designed by the European Union to improve companies’ and organisations’ environmental performance.

 

Under the motto “Get Ready to Cycle”, EMAS organised for three days at lunchtime, a small-scale cycling exhibition on the Berlaymont esplanade. The purpose was to encourage the Commission’s staff to make more use of the bicycle for their trips in Brussels, thus making traffic generated by the Commission more sustainable.

One of the exhibitors was the EU Cyclists’ Group, an association of cyclists who work for the European institutions with over 1,100 members. Their aim is to promote a more cycling-friendly environment for their members. Therefore, they lobby the European institutions as well as the Belgian regional and local authorities for better cycling infrastructure.

 

ETRA was also present with a selection of bicycles and electric bicycles form associated members, which were tried out by a large number of civil servants. Basil had put a range of attractive cycling bags at ETRA’s disposal to illustrate “modern” city cycling. Many a visitor was clearly surprised to see how fashionable cycling has become. Basil and Dahon also provided saddle covers and slap wraps as giveaways. Supplies ran out in no time.

 

According to Bruno De Séré, head of the mobility department of the Commission’s Office for Infrastructure and Logistics, bicycle usage among Commission’s employees is exploding. Whereas in 2004 there were 690 bicycle parking places, today that number has increased to 2,900. In 2008, the Commission’s service bikes were used 27,000 times, that is 40% more than in 2007. “Get Ready to Cycle” was clearly a motto that did not fall on deaf ears.

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