How to avoid the busiest hours on our network
Your safety is our top priority. Nowadays, avoiding travel during the busiest hours helps us to remain safe. Discover the expected occupancy* on our network through 3 Q&A: this way, you will be able to adapt your trip whenever possible. Together, let's improve your comfort and respect the distancing rules!
The collected data stems from systems for detecting passages installed at the gates in the stations and on the doors of the vehicles for the buses and trams. Within this framework, we do not collect any personal information and the data are totally anonymous (counting a number of passages).
*Based on a cross referencing of the data of the previous weeks and the seasonal background.
List of links
Which are the busiest stations?
Do you want to avoid large crowds? Thanks to our occupancy ranking, you will be able to avoid the busiest stations. This data is based on the entrance and exit rates in the stations. It does not include connections. That is why a station such as Arts-Loi/Kunst-Wet is left out of the ranking, seeing 80% of its occupancy consists of connections.
Six stations alone represent almost 1/3 of the occupancy: Gare du Midi/Zuidstation, Simonis, Rogier, Porte de Namur/Naamsepoort, Gare de l’Ouest/Weststation and Montgomery.
What are the busiest stations during the week?
Data and calculations: STIB-MIVB - Network Data Analytics
Source: Incoming passages recorded by the gates at the entrance of the stations during the week between 1 July 2020 and 10 July 2020 compared to the period before the Carnival holiday of 2020 (before the lockdown).
When should I travel?
We recommend that you travel in the morning (until noon) instead of the afternoon. In the present circumstances, everyone's behaviour has changed and the occupancy on our network is currently higher in the afternoon. In the past, this was the case during the weekends, but now, it is also the case during the week. The chart below presents the evolution of the current occupancy on our network compared to the occupancy before the Covid 19 crisis.
Globally, the occupancy has dropped by 50% comparing to the rate measured before the crisis. Since the beginning of July, the busiest time on our network is situated between 3:00 pm and 6:30 pm.
When is our network the busiest during the week?
Data and calculations: STIB-MIVB - Network Data Analytics
Source: Incoming passages recorded by the gates at the entrance of the stations during the week between 1 July 2020 and 10 July 2020 compared to the period before the Carnival holiday of 2020 (before the lockdown).
Lines occupancy
Currently, 40% of our bus and tram fleet is equipped with passage sensors, which allow us to count the number of people on board. STIB-MIVB aims at gradually install this type of sensors on every bus and tram by 2025.
Does your favourite line have sensors*? Click here to check the best hour to travel safely!
* Not every vehicle of each line of the network is equipped with these passage sensors.
Highest occupancy periods
Data and calculations: STIB-MIVB - Network Data Analytics
Source: average occupance rates measured by the sensors on board, during the week between 1 July 2020 and 10 July 2020.
The data represents the average situation of the line: on the section you travel on, you could encounter occupancy rates that vary from the calculated average for the entire journey and vehicles.