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More than one in two Belgians live less than 200 metres from a public transport stop
According to the latest update of geographical breakdowns based on population figures as of 1 January 2025, published by Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, nearly 58% of the Belgian population lives less than 200 metres from a public transport stop. This update makes it possible to analyse citizens' proximity to various essential infrastructure such as hospitals, stations, schools, nursing homes and public transport.
Significant territorial disparities
In the Brussels-Capital Region, 83% of residents live within 200 metres of a stop, compared to 60% in the Walloon Region and 52% in the Flemish Region, highlighting significant disparities between regions.
At provincial level, the proportion of residents with a public transport stop within a 200-metre radius is the lowest in West Flanders (45%), followed by Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant (52% each). Conversely, the provinces with the highest proportion of residents living within 200 metres of a public transport stop are Liège (66%), Luxembourg (64%) and Limburg (59%).
Very contrasting situations between municipalities
The municipality with the poorest access to public transport is Stoumont, where 46% of residents have to travel more than one kilometre to reach a stop. In contrast, only 2.5% of residents in Koekelberg live more than 200 metres from the nearest bus, tram, metro or train stop.
Data used:
Situation on 01/01/2025.
For slip roads, the file Open Street Map 2025 (motorway et motorway_link) has been used and contains 771 slip roads in Belgium.
For slip roads, areas of 5 km, 10 km and 20 km have been created, and for motorways, areas of 200 m, 500 m and 1000 m.
Data used
Hospitals
This concerns 121 hospitals with emergency services in Belgium, based on the institutions with initial emergency care (02-06-2025) and specialised emergency care (02-06-2025) of the FPS Public Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment - DG Healthcare - Data Management Service (https://www.health.belgium.be/en/professionals/health-professionals/hum…).
Motorway entrances
For motorway entrances, the file Open Street Map 2025 (motorway and motorway_link) has been used and contains 771 motorway entrances in Belgium.
Stations
The 554 stations in Belgium are active stations, i.e. stations with passenger counts [Numbers of passengers boarding (counts October 2024) - SNCB/NMBS].
Schools
This concerns 6,254 primary school locations and 1,897 secondary school locations in Belgium, based on recognised educational establishments [ordinary basic education (pre-primary and primary education) and ordinary secondary education] in Flanders, Brussels, Wallonia and the German-speaking Community.
https://data-onderwijs.vlaanderen.be/onderwijsaanbod/
http://www.enseignement.be/
http://www.ostbelgienbildung.be/
Retirement homes
This concerns 1,511 senior care facilities in Belgium, based on rest homes and nursing homes of the Departement Zorg Vlaanderen, Wallonia AVIQ: familles santé handicap, Sociaal Brussel/Bruxelles Social and Ostbelgien Live: Wohn- und Pflegezentren für Senioren.
https://www.departementzorg.be/nl/woonzorg
https://www.aviq.be/fr/hebergement/aines/maison-de-repos
https://sociaal.brussels/sector/147
https://ostbelgienlive.be/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-8253/13503_read-3085/
Stations and stops of public transport:
This concerns 64,160 stations and stops of public transport (bus, tram, metro) in Belgium based on the active stations, i.e. stations with passenger counts [Numbers of passengers boarding (counts October 2024) - SNCB/NMBS], and the stops in Flanders (stops from the Flemish transport company De Lijn, situation on 27/10/2025), Brussels (location of stops (stations) of the STIB/MIVB) and Wallonia (Wallonia TEC GTFS data set).
https://data.gov.be/nl/datasets/07257374-68e8-41b2-b95e-200dffa4adeb
https://data.stib-mivb.be/explore/dataset/stop-details-production/table/
https://www.odwb.be/explore/dataset/le-tec-arrets-bus/export/?location=8,50.19989,4.63017&basemap=mapbox.streets