Reply To: Brussels, Belgium
I posted this elsewhere on a discussion about buses, but for completeness I will repost it here. We found that buses are frequent in Brussels and had a mostly positive experience. We didn’t try the metro because you have to pre-book for assistance and we wanted more flexibility.
As for easy boarding/getting off, we were 2 for 3 on the buses that we took (line 27). Two times the ramp deployed, one time it was broken. Even still, the bus ‘knelt’ down and we could board and get off the bus in a manual wheelchair with a bit of assistance without the ramp (probably not possible in an electric wheelchair). Sorry I can’t give you results from a bigger sample size!
Some routes in Brussels are identified as being “more” accessible. (I assume this means the ramp will always work??) Check this his page out:
http://www.stib-mivb.be/article.html?l=en&_guid=d0f0d466-1483-3410-45af-9748427ab131
As you can see, line 27 that we took isn’t on the list, but it was still possible to ride in a wheelchair.
The bus routes from the airport are on the list as “more” accessible (Routes 12 and 21). Good service every 10 to 20 minutes. I ride the bus to the airport frequently, but I have yet to see a wheelchair on it. However, the buses are the same type as the ones we rode elsewhere in the city so I wouldn’t foresee any problems getting on. I recommend telling the driver where you want to get off beforehand and he/she will stop the bus in a easy position to get off.
