So, since I posted about the Belgian verkeershinder recently, I figured I might as well update that post with this one. I was surprised to find this article in our local newspaper only days after I posted on my experience driving in Brussels . . .
ECONOMY Despite the crisis and the long queues, the number of cars in our country in one year increased by 50,000 units to 5.5 million units.
That according to the latest figures from the FPS Economy. A total of 6,993,767 registered motorized vehicles in our country. Besides the ordinary cars concerns include 740,000 trucks and vans, 450,000 motorcycles, 184,000 agricultural vehicles and 16,000 buses.
The electric car remains a marginal phenomenon. The 919 electric cars represent only 0.016 percent of the 5.5 million cars.
No doubt Belgians have an obsession with owning a vehicle despite the vast options for public transportation here. Not to mention the bike!
Of course, there is some added cost to biking too - the likely assured event at some point your bike will be stolen. We should know.
Which reminds me of the time Ross was headed to the train station here in Hasselt and the lock for his bike was all the way upstairs (3rd floor) and I said "Don't worry about it, who would steal that POS?". When he returned to the station, I got this text . . . "Bike's gone". There you have it.
Which reminds me of the time Ross was headed to the train station here in Hasselt and the lock for his bike was all the way upstairs (3rd floor) and I said "Don't worry about it, who would steal that POS?". When he returned to the station, I got this text . . . "Bike's gone". There you have it.
Released just yesterday, these are current gasoline prices (in US dollars) per gallon. Also included are gas prices, for this time of year, since our move to Belgium in 2009.
Release Date: October 2, 2013
| Date | Belgium | France | Germany | Italy | Netherlands | UK | US |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/30/2013 | 7.90 | 7.69 | 8.12 | 8.88 | 8.83 | 8.17 | 3.76 |
| 10/1/2012 | 8.24 | 7.51 | 8.16 | 9.00 | 8.90 | 8.46 | 4.09 |
| 10/3/2011 | 7.81 | 7.45 | 7.55 | 7.95 | 8.15 | 7.83 | 3.70 |
| 10/4/2010 | 7.14 | 6.81 | 7.04 | 6.97 | 7.62 | 6.94 | 2.97 |
| 10/5/2009 | 6.95 | 6.71 | 7.28 | 6.86 | 7.47 | 6.34 | 2.71 |
That's a 5-year average of $7.61 per gallon for Belgians and an average of $3.45 per gallon for Americans. Frankly, I don't know how they do it here.
Nearly 7 million vehicles on the road in this tiny country. No wonder there's often pretty much always a traffic jam!
No comments:
Post a Comment