A Mobility Justice Framework to prioritize areas for mobility interventions

Abstract

Understanding, visualizing, and quantifying how resources are allocated and the fairness of distributions and access is significant for supporting decision-makers in incentivizing development and ensuring that future changes are widely beneficial and fair. By pointing out the need for mobility justice research to shift from state-centric to more society-centric frameworks and metrics, this study proposed a Mobility Justice Framework that integrated two important theories of justice: distribution and recognition justice. The proposed framework highlights the distribution of amenities and burdens in providing transport infrastructure. It also aims to identify those disadvantaged socio-economic groups more exposed to mobility inequalities. To make the framework applicable within the city context and guide decision-making, several metrics (variables) were identified to make principles of distributive and recognition justice operationalizable. Variables such as 1) accessibility by walking, 2) exposure to traffic negative effects, 3) frequency of use of transport modes, and 4) availability of transport infrastructure were used to identify neighborhoods and the different types of mobility resources/burdens that disadvantaged socio-economic groups are exposed to. To showcase its usability, the framework and methodology have been applied to the city of Munich to highlight neighborhoods with a higher proportion of older people and the transport disadvantages associated with these target groups. A higher negative correlation between older people and mobility resources/burdens can be observed for the following variables: accessibility by walking to activities, availability of walking and cycling infrastructure, and availability of car-sharing services. When measured against exposure to negative transport effects, a higher positive correlation was observed. The paper ends with a discussion section on the relevance and usability of the proposed framework for transport planning and policy and its limitations.