Rue Neuve in Brussels… A website that indicates traffic and crowds (COVID)

Updated January 25, 2021 by pierre

World for shopping in the rue Neuve in Brussels: a website set up to know the affluence

Since the reopening of stores in Brussels, the city has obviously taken measures to prevent the spread of virus crown. The instructions of Fabian Maingain, the alderman for economic affairs in Brussels are clear. Especially when it comes to “La rue Neuve”, the most popular and frequented shopping street in Belgium. One of the first measures was that it was no longer accessible via Place de la Monnaie in the event of heavy traffic. Also, please always wear a mask that covers your mouth and nose, respect physical distance, shop alone. Also, stewards are present to give you instructions and advice. These and the police ensure flow management. If necessary, they can limit access to Rue Neuve. Thanks to a dynamic real-time crowd counting system, they always have an idea of the number of people in the street.

During this Christmas shopping season, don't expect to be alone to want to shop… there will obviously be queues.

A website to know the affluence Rue Neuve

The city of Brussels quickly reacted and set up a website. Rather useful, in this period of the end of the year, it allows you to know and manage the crowds of the rue Neuve. In collaboration with the ULB, the city of Brussels and the federal police, a monitoring system has been set up. https://www.rueneuvebruxelles.be provides real-time street traffic information.

The website is very simple. Three color codes inform people who would like to go there for shopping.

Like a red light, the color codes are as follows:

Red: high attendance, access to rue Neuve via place de la Monnaie is likely to be closed.
Orange : moderate attendance, visitors are advised to be very careful… there are quite a few people
Vert: low attendance, there are not many people in the store...it's the best time to shop,

Weekend periods, weekdays at noon and after 16:00 p.m. seem to be very popular.

Visitors can access it through the perpendicular streets. In addition to the reminder of the health measures in force (wearing a mask is compulsory; respect for physical distance; shopping alone for a maximum of 30 minutes), the days and times of greatest attendance are clearly indicated. The objective is to highlight the least congested days, namely Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday morning, Thursday and Friday morning. The City reminds that during the month of December, the stores on rue Neuve will also open their doors on Sundays, which will further dilute attendance. In parallel with the new website, screens installed at various locations giving access to the street broadcast the same color codes in real time so that visitors can better organize their journeys.