Commuting to Brussels: how attractive is “free” public transport?

Brussels is facing huge challenges in the field of mobility which, if not tackled, will have a large impact on both the environment and the economy. With one vehicle for less than two inhabitants, the city of Brussels has one of the highest motorization rates in Europe. Over the past decade, several Belgian cities have been experimenting with “free” public transport based on the concept of a third payer system to stimulate the use of public transport instead of the car. This study explores the modal shift potential of this measure for commuters in Brussels by means of a large scale survey. The results indicate that there is still a margin for a further modal shift away from car use, but in order to make public transport more attractive to car users the price paid by the commuter should be lowered, the quality and capacity of the public services should be improved and the mobility policy of the companies should be adjusted in favour of public transport.Un enjeu majeur à Bruxelles consiste à améliorer la mobilité afin d’en enrayer au mieux l’impact sur l’environnement et l’économie. Avec un véhicule pour moins de deux habitants, la ville de Bruxelles a un taux de motorisation parmi les plus élevés d’Europe. Depuis ces dix dernières années, plusieurs villes belges expérimentent la « gratuité » des transports publics basée sur le concept d’un système de tiers payant qui stimule l’utilisation des transports en commun au détriment de la voiture particulière. L’étude qui suit explore le potentiel de report modal de cette mesure pour les navetteurs bruxellois, en s’appuyant sur une enquête à grande échelle. Les résultats montrent qu’il reste encore un peu de marge pour le report modal au détriment de la voiture particulière, mais que les transports en commun seraient plus attractifs si l’on en réduisait le coût pour l’usager, si l’on améliorait la qualité et la capacité des services et si les entreprises adaptaient leur politique de mobilité au profit de ces transports.Op het vlak van mobiliteit staat Brussel voor enorme uitdagingen, die – als ze niet worden aangegaan – een grote impact zullen hebben zowel op het milieu als op de economie. Met één voertuig voor minder dan twee inwoners behoort Brussel tot de steden met de hoogste motoriseringsgraad in Europa. De voorbije tien jaar hebben verschillende Belgische steden geëxperimenteerd met “gratis” openbaar vervoer, gebaseerd op het concept van het “derdebetalersysteem”, om mensen aan te moedigen het openbaar vervoer te gebruiken in plaats van de wagen. Aan de hand van een grootschalige enquête wil deze studie nagaan wat het modal-shiftpotentieel is van die maatregel voor pendelaars in Brussel. Uit de resultaten blijkt dat er nog steeds een marge is voor een verdere modal shift ten nadele van het autogebruik. Om het openbaar vervoer echter aantrekkelijker te maken voor wagengebruikers zou de prijs die de pendelaar ervoor betaalt, moeten worden verminderd en zouden de kwaliteit en de capaciteit van de openbare diensten moeten worden verbeterd. Ook zou het mobiliteitsbeleid van bedrijven moeten worden aangepast ten voordele van het openbaar vervoer

How worthwhile is teleworking from a sustainable mobility perspective? The case of Brussels Capital region.

Since the 1960s, the number of commuters in the Brussels Capital Region has doubled: nowadays more than 400,000 workers commute in and out of Brussels on a daily basis. In order to preserve the liveability of the region in terms of mobility, environment and traffic safety, policy measures should be taken to reduce the number and/or distances of commuter trips. Telework is often suggested as an instrument to reduce the environmental and socio-economic impacts of mobility on society. Currently, the implementation of teleworking is however still rather limited and fragmental in most companies in Belgium. Goal of this paper is to assess whether further encouragement of telework is advisable from a sustainable mobility viewpoint. Based on Belgian survey data, an appraisal of the environmental and mobility related impacts of telework for companies located in the Brussels Capital Region is performed, using an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of telework. In order to quantify the effects, external costs of trips to the central headquarter office are compared to those of trips to decentralized satellite offices and those caused by additional distances travelled when teleworking at home. Modal shifts occurring between trips travelled to the central office and trips travelled to the satellite office are taken into account and play an important role in the overall impact on external transport costs. Also receptor density and congestion levels along the routes travelled are taken into account

Faire la navette vers Bruxelles : quelle attractivité pour les transports en commun « gratuits » ?

Un enjeu majeur à Bruxelles consiste à améliorer la mobilité afin d’en enrayer au mieux l’impact sur l’environnement et l’économie. Avec un véhicule pour moins de deux habitants, la ville de Bruxelles a un taux de motorisation parmi les plus élevés d’Europe. Depuis ces dix dernières années, plusieurs villes belges expérimentent la « gratuité » des transports publics basée sur le concept d’un système de tiers payant qui stimule l’utilisation des transports en commun au détriment de la voiture particulière. L’étude qui suit explore le potentiel de report modal de cette mesure pour les navetteurs bruxellois, en s’appuyant sur une enquête à grande échelle. Les résultats montrent qu’il reste encore un peu de marge pour le report modal au détriment de la voiture particulière, mais que les transports en commun seraient plus attractifs si l’on en réduisait le coût pour l’usager, si l’on améliorait la qualité et la capacité des services et si les entreprises adaptaient leur politique de mobilité au profit de ces transports.Op het vlak van mobiliteit staat Brussel voor enorme uitdagingen, die – als ze niet worden aangegaan – een grote impact zullen hebben zowel op het milieu als op de economie. Met één voertuig voor minder dan twee inwoners behoort Brussel tot de steden met de hoogste motoriseringsgraad in Europa. De voorbije tien jaar hebben verschillende Belgische steden geëxperimenteerd met “gratis” openbaar vervoer, gebaseerd op het concept van het “derdebetalersysteem”, om mensen aan te moedigen het openbaar vervoer te gebruiken in plaats van de wagen. Aan de hand van een grootschalige enquête wil deze studie nagaan wat het modal-shiftpotentieel is van die maatregel voor pendelaars in Brussel. Uit de resultaten blijkt dat er nog steeds een marge is voor een verdere modal shift ten nadele van het autogebruik. Om het openbaar vervoer echter aantrekkelijker te maken voor wagengebruikers zou de prijs die de pendelaar ervoor betaalt, moeten worden verminderd en zouden de kwaliteit en de capaciteit van de openbare diensten moeten worden verbeterd. Ook zou het mobiliteitsbeleid van bedrijven moeten worden aangepast ten voordele van het openbaar vervoer.Brussels is facing huge challenges in the field of mobility which, if not tackled, will have a large impact on both the environment and the economy. With one vehicle for less than two inhabitants, the city of Brussels has one of the highest motorization rates in Europe. Over the past decade, several Belgian cities have been experimenting with “free” public transport based on the concept of a third payer system to stimulate the use of public transport instead of the car. This study explores the modal shift potential of this measure for commuters in Brussels by means of a large scale survey. The results indicate that there is still a margin for a further modal shift away from car use, but in order to make public transport more attractive to car users the price paid by the commuter should be lowered, the quality and capacity of the public services should be improved and the mobility policy of the companies should be adjusted in favour of public transport

Whole Exome Sequencing in Multi-Incident Families Identifies Novel Candidate Genes for Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a degenerative disease of the central nervous system in which auto-immunity-induced demyelination occurs. MS is thought to be caused by a complex interplay of environmental and genetic risk factors. While most genetic studies have focused on identifying common genetic variants for MS through genome-wide association studies, the objective of the present study was to identify rare genetic variants contributing to MS susceptibility. We used whole exome sequencing (WES) followed by co-segregation analyses in nine multi-incident families with two to four affected individuals. WES was performed in 31 family members with and without MS. After applying a suite of selection criteria, co-segregation analyses for a number of rare variants selected from the WES results were performed, adding 24 family members. This approach resulted in 12 exonic rare variants that showed acceptable co-segregation with MS within the nine families, implicating the genes MBP, PLK1, MECP2, MTMR7, TOX3, CPT1A, SORCS1, TRIM66, ITPR3, TTC28, CACNA1F, and PRAM1. Of these, three genes (MBP, MECP2, and CPT1A) have been previously reported as carrying MS-related rare variants. Six additional genes (MTMR7, TOX3, SORCS1, ITPR3, TTC28, and PRAM1) have also been implicated in MS through common genetic variants. The proteins encoded by all twelve genes containing rare variants interact in a molecular framework that points to biological processes involved in (de-/re-)myelination and auto-immunity. Our approach provides clues to possible molecular mechanisms underlying MS that should be studied further in cellular and/or animal models

An exploratory study of perinatal hair cortisol concentrations in mother–infant dyads with severe psychiatric disorders versus healthy controls

Background Maternal psychopathology during pregnancy is associated with negative outcomes in offspring. Increased placental transfer of maternal cortisol may contribute to mediate this association. Hair cortisol concentrations (HCCs) appear to be a good biomarker of long-term prenatal stress exposure. Little is known about the associations between severe maternal psychopathology and perinatal infant HCCs. Aims We assessed HCCs in the perinatal period in mother–infant dyads with and without severe psychiatric disorders. Method We examined group differences in HCCs of mother–infant dyads (n = 18) subjected to severe maternal psychiatric disorders versus healthy control dyads (n = 27). We assessed the correlation of HCCs between mother and infant within both groups, and the association between current maternal symptoms and HCCs in patient dyads. Results Median (interquartile range) and distribution of HCC differed in patients compared with control mothers (U = 468.5, P = 0.03). HCCs in infants of patients did not differ from control infants (U = 250.0, P = 0.67). Subsequently, we found that HCCs within healthy control dyads were correlated (n = 27, r 0.55 (0.14), P = 0.003), but were not within patient dyads (n = 18, r 0.082 (0.13), P = 0.746). HCCs in infants of patients showed a positive correlation with maternal symptoms (n = 16, r = 0.63 (0.06), P = 0.008). Conclusions These preliminary findings suggest that infant HCC reflect perinatal stress exposure. In infants, these early differences could influence lifetime hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis functioning, which might be associated with increased susceptibility to later disease

New loci associated with birth weight identify genetic links between intrauterine growth and adult height and metabolism.

Birth weight within the normal range is associated with a variety of adult-onset diseases, but the mechanisms behind these associations are poorly understood. Previous genome-wide association studies of birth weight identified a variant in the ADCY5 gene associated both with birth weight and type 2 diabetes and a second variant, near CCNL1, with no obvious link to adult traits. In an expanded genome-wide association meta-analysis and follow-up study of birth weight (of up to 69,308 individuals of European descent from 43 studies), we have now extended the number of loci associated at genome-wide significance to 7, accounting for a similar proportion of variance as maternal smoking. Five of the loci are known to be associated with other phenotypes: ADCY5 and CDKAL1 with type 2 diabetes, ADRB1 with adult blood pressure and HMGA2 and LCORL with adult height. Our findings highlight genetic links between fetal growth and postnatal growth and metabolism

How persuasive is \u27free\u27 public transport?: A survey among commuters in the Brussels Capital Region

In Belgium, several cities have been experimenting with \u27free\u27 public transport based on the concept of a third payer system. This study explores the modal shift potential of this measure for commuters by means of a large-scale survey. The results indicate that there is still a margin for a further modal shift, but in order to make public transport more attractive to car users, the price paid by the commuter should be lowered, the quality and capacity of the public services should be improved and the mobility policy of the companies should be adjusted in favor of public transport