The two-wheeled passion of Belgians
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The two-wheeled passion of Belgians

With the development of ecotourism in Belgium, the bicycle is becoming increasingly popular as a mean of transport. On this indicator, the Kingdom of beer, French fries and chocolate is still inferior to Denmark and the neighboring Netherlands, the two most "bicycle"-countries of the European Union. According to statistics, residents there on average for the year pass on steel horses 893 and 853 kilometers, respectively. 

The authorities of Brussels, for their part, for the last 20 years have been organizing in the Belgian capital every second Sunday of September "Day without a car", when tens of thousands of cyclists of all ages, including members of the Royal family, travel along the city's arteries, observing the rules of the road. According to the transport authorities of Brussels, on the day of the cycling holiday in the capital the level of background noise is reduced by 6-8 times compared to a normal day, and the content of harmful microparticles and nitrogen dioxide in the air - by 3-4 times. 

On the average in Brussels registered up to 210 thousand residents riding bicycles on the streets of the city, which has allocated a separate lane on the roadway specifically for cycling, EcoTourism.Expert was told in the company-operator Bruxelles Mobilité. In order to promote the movement of bicycles since January of this year the Brussels authorities have launched a campaign "Bike for Brussels", which at the same time aims to encourage car drivers to show more respect for cyclists. 

It seems that this decision is not in a small way influenced by the requirements of more than 1.5 thousand officials of the institutions of the European Union in Brussels, getting to work exclusively on bicycles. "In Brussels, it is not always easy to ride a bike, and often the attitude towards cyclists is dismissive. Through this campaign we want car drivers not to offend cyclists, but, at the same way, to help them become responsible and equal participants in the street traffic, "Bruxelles Mobilité explained.

At the same time since June 1 car drivers in Belgium obliged to observe on the road a distance of one and a half meters between their car and bicycles.

In the Belgian Kingdom, where the price of steel horses can reach several thousand euros, it is clear that not all residents have the means to purchase them. In order not to deprive residents of the opportunity to move on two-wheeled transport, the city authorities are successfully implementing a bike sharing project, which allows you to rent a bike for an hour or more. A week of use will cost only eight euros. 

Since this year, the project Billy Bike – electric Bicycle rental with free-floating service, which allows the customer to leave the bike in a convenient place for him, has also been launched in Brussels. And in the resort areas on the Belgian coast of the North sea, vacationers are offered to rent four-wheeled bicycles - "sedans" for several people and bicycles - "carriages", in front of which there is a figure of a horse with a seat for a child, and behind-places for parents with pedals.

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