Cellule Mobilité UWE
The Mobility Unit of the Union Wallonne des Entreprises guides the sustainable management of mobility for companies and business parks, focusing on the movement of people. Created in 2002 in a public-private partnership with the Walloon government, it also plays an informative role in the transportation of goods.
Overview of the project
Mobility assessment
The Mobility Unit offers companies the opportunity to carry out a mobility assessment. Its experts go on site to analyze, on the one hand, the accessibility profile of the company (where is it located? Is it served by public transport? Is access easy on foot and by bike? Are there accessibility problems? Is the parking lot saturated? …) and on the other hand, the mobility profile of workers (where do they come from? What are their(s) ) mode(s) of transport? Do they have to travel during the day?…). Also informing itself about measures and current projects, the Unit evaluates for all workers the potential for a modal shift from the car to other transport solutions. The Unit’s advisors then make recommendations, develop an action plan, give advice and refer, if necessary, to mobility operators.
The mobility assessment must be seen as a first structuring step to make companies aware of what they can do to help their workers change mobility. The Unit then remains at their disposal to answer their questions and organizes various events for them to continue to inform and raise awareness.
Such an approach can also be carried out at the scale of an economic activity park at the request of a business association, a park manager, a municipality or an intermunicipal association.
As the Mobility Unit is financed by the Walloon Government, carrying out the mobility assessment is free.
Tous-vélo actif Employers
“Tous-vélo actif” is an awareness and communication operation to promote home-work travel by bike in private and public companies, hospitals, municipalities, universities and colleges with at least one head office in Wallonia. Initiated in 2012 by the Walloon Government and financed by it, the operation is today managed by the Walloon Public Service and implemented on the ground by the UWE Mobility Unit.
What does Tous vélo-actives support consist of? First, a bicycle audit to discover the specificities of the company, identify its needs and determine the potential for a modal shift towards cycling. An action plan is then drawn up and presented to the company. In this action plan, awareness-raising or getting-on-the-road activities are suggested, particularly as part of Spring by Bike or Mobility Week, which are times when Tous Vélo-Actives offers themes and tools for communication. The support also includes training and workshops partly subcontracted to third parties. The action plan is reviewed and evaluated regularly, particularly as part of an external audit which allows Wallonia to grant the entity an official label. The Tous Vélo-Actives team also carries out information monitoring, maintains a website, organizes workshops, intervenes on demand as an expert and answers questions from companies regarding cycling, whether they are integrated or not. in the support program.
Tous velo-active is mainly aimed at entities of a certain size (at least 100 workers), but a project adapted to SMEs will be implemented in 2024.
Support from Tous Vélo-Actives is offered free of charge to businesses.
PME Bike Coaching
PME Bike Coaching is a project to support the use of bicycles for home-work travel that the UWE Mobility Unit would like to test in 2024 with SMEs. To do this, it obtained funding from the Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport.
There are two distinct parts in the imagined support. Phase 1 concerns the management of the SME: convincing them, by analyzing the situation (carrying out an audit), of what they can put in place to encourage the use of bicycles (drafting a plan action) and give them the tools to do so (creation of a toolbox).
Phase 2 relates to changing worker behavior. Several areas of support for change are planned in the project. First, the organization of information and/or awareness sessions for staff (several themes are possible). The idea here would be, in front of the staff, to argue in favor of cycling, to give advice on getting on the saddle, to debate the issues and difficulties, to raise awareness of the positive impact of the approach, etc. . Secondly, the development of a gamification tool (game, competition, challenge, etc.) to give workers a fun excuse to take up cycling. The game will be organized within the company or more broadly by involving the participation of several companies. Thirdly, the organization of personalized coaching to analyze with workers who wish it, the sustainable mobility solutions available to them, taking into account their professional and family constraints. The company will choose the program offer(s) that best meet its needs or realities.
Mobility assessment: Based on a diagnosis, provide the company with an action plan for more sustainable mobility. Tous vélo-actifs Employeurs: Support employers to help them promote the use of bicycles for commuting and work-related journeys. PME Bike Coaching: The aim of this project is to devise and test a concept for supporting SMEs in their modal shift towards cycling.
Ongoing research
Projet toujours en cours
Mobility assessments
In less than 10 years, the Cellule has considerably increased its annual Mobility Assessments, from 4 to almost 40 by 2023, illustrating the growing awareness of companies. Nearly 400 mobility managers receive information from the Cellule, demonstrating the positive impact of the assessments on the mobility of many, often large, companies.
Tous vélo-actifs Employers
Since 2012, Tous vélo-actifs has supported 115 entities, most of which continue to benefit from the support, going from 1 or 2% cyclists to often up to 10%. Take-up has exploded in the last two years, with a 50% increase in employers seeking Tous vélo-actifs support in 2023 compared to 2021.
Mobility assessment
The Mobility Assessment is a tool that allows companies to become aware of what they can do to encourage their workers to opt for more sustainable mobility. This is a first step that puts them in a position to systematically take these issues into account and take measures that will contribute to reducing their GHG emissions. There are obviously other advantages to the approach: relief of parking and traffic congestion; response offered to workers to the rise in fuel prices; better image and therefore attractiveness of the company both for customers and for talents; preparation of the company for future European regulations on ESG; facilitated access to public and private investments
Tous-vélo actif
The advantages of cycling are numerous in terms of costs, environment (no GHG emissions, no noise pollution), health and well-being, efficiency and speed in traffic that it contributes to unclog. It also gives the company that promotes it a positive image because it reduces its carbon footprint and assumes its social responsibility; which attracts talent more easily.
This is what the Tous Vélo-Actives project is trying to demonstrate in its argument. It offers employers tailor-made support, adapted to the needs and realities of each individual. The positive experiences of each person are shared to more easily achieve objectives. In addition, the support is long-term because it takes time to change mobility.
To date, the project has been fully financed by the Walloon government, either through an agreement or, as this year, through an annual grant to the Cellule mobilité for all its activities; Tous vélo actifs is fully financed by the Walloon governmen
organisation
The Mobility Unit of the Union Wallonne des Entreprises supports companies and business parks in their reflections, approaches and actions relating to the sustainable management of their mobility. The focus is on personal mobility (home-work and business trips). In the case of goods transport, the Cellule’s role is more one of information relay.
The Cellule was created in 2002 as part of a highly original public-private partnership between a business federation (Union Wallonne des Entreprises) and the Walloon government.