French data analytics company Vianova is helping shared mobility companies in Brussels manage their fleets.

Brussels, once one of the world’s most congested cities, has seen a boom in popularity for shared mobility and is now home to one of Europe’s largest micromobility fleets as part of its Good Move Mobility Plan to reduce traffic and improve living in the city.

Following a public procurement process, Vianova will work with Brussels Mobility and the city’s micromobility partners over a multi-year agreement.

After winning a public procurement competition, Vianova will continue to provide its mobility analytics platform to Brussels Mobility, the city’s transport agency, helping shared mobility operators better manage fleets, improve road safety and overcome challenges in the shift towards more sustainable city transport.

The agreement builds on Vianova providing its services to Brussels Mobility since 2020 and extends the platform use to all modes of micromobility: e-scooters, cars, bikes and car-hailing services, from supporting the deployment of mobility hubs and performance to managing the implementation of new regulatory frameworks.

Urban spaces across the globe are increasingly turning to new forms of mobility, turning away from polluting modes of transport and towards eco-friendly options. For city planners, repurposing streets, parking spots and city layouts is a critical part of reaching net-zero targets, reducing congestion and making cities more liveable for the modern era. To meet this growing appetite for different micromobility options, a range of operators have sprung up, and the shared mobility market is booming, despite the controversy in certain cities. 

Since 2020, Vianova has been working with Brussels Mobility to ensure a safe transition to shared and eco-friendly mobility, supporting this once-congested city to embrace micromobility as part of its Good Move Mobility Plan. As the city’s fleet size increased from around 5000 vehicles to over 20,000, Vianova’s mobility platform was instrumental in helping create 120 geofenced slow-speed zones, no-go rules and incentivised parking hubs for riders across the city.

This infrastructure reduced pavement clutter and street patrols by 30%, saving resources and improving public opinion of shared mobility. As well, fleet operators were able to use the platform to ensure the correct distribution of their vehicles throughout the city, from an initial device rotation of 1.14 to 1.69, to ensure they were accessible to more customers.

Brussels is now home to major mobility players, including Dott, Bolt and Lime, with recent data showing that 9% of journeys are made by bike and 1% are by e-scooters, with car journeys falling from 38% in 2010 to 27% in 2022.

After building on the work achieved so far, the partnership with Vianova will enable the city to continue making safe micromobility a liveable reality and ensure operators have the tools they need.

Founded in 2019 by Thibault Castagne, Thibaud Febvre and Frédéric Robinet, Vianova exists to optimise urban transport to make it safer and more sustainable.

“Brussels is one of Europe’s growing city hubs and the people that live there want a way to move around that is safe, sustainable and accessible,” said Castagne. “We’re delighted to reaffirm our partnership with Brussels Mobility and support the region to lead the way in the shared mobility transition by providing data-led insights that will reduce pavement clutter, make the streets safer, and encourage even more people to use shared mobility options.”

Martin Lefrancq, new mobility policy advisor at Brussels Mobility, added:“We are looking forward to continue collaborating with Vianova to enhance shared mobility in the Brussels region. Shared modes of mobility, such as scooters, bikes and cars, are the future of transport, they are helping us reach key net-zero targets and create healthier, more liveable cities for all.”

The cloud-based mobility analytics platform leverages IoT and data from over one million connected vehicles every day to help public and private organisations, including mobility providers, cities and infrastructure managers, collaborate and build methods that turn complex data into intelligence for solving mobility problems.

Over 60 cities use Vianova’s connected platform, with around 75% using it exclusively for managing micromobility fleets, including Abu Dhabi, Paris and Berlin.