The 71 bus is faster
A number of improvements have been made on Line 71 since 2016, allowing buses to save up to 7 minutes on their route during rush hour. Line 71 is now not only faster, but also more regular. It is much less prone to traffic congestion and its travel time is more predictable.
Among the improvements carried out are dedicated lanes between Trône and Porte de Namur, along boulevard du Régent, and between Arenberg and De Brouckère, rue Ravenstein and rue Fossé aux Loups. The chaussée d’Ixelles has been transformed into a pedestrian zone accessible only to buses during the day. Work also took place on avenue de l'Hippodrome and avenue Buyl. A counterflow has been created at Pont Fraiteur between the Fraiteur and Cimetière d'Ixelles stops. This improvement alone has enabled the 71 bus to achieve an average commercial speed increase of 1.5 km/h between the Fraiteur and ULB stops.
In the morning rush hour, passengers on the 71 bus save 3 minutes to Delta and 7 minutes to De Brouckère compared to the same trip made in 2016. The trend is reversed in the evening rush hour, with a saving of 2 minutes to De Brouckère and 5 minutes to Delta.
Thanks to these improvements and the resulting increases in regularity, the STIB will be able to increase the frequencies of line 71 during 2022.