Mobility Justice: A New Framework for Transportation Researchers and Professionals

This research project will study the implications and policy/practice/planning possibilities of the emerging framework of mobility justice. Mobility justice risks being conflated with transportation equity, but has important differences. This research project will elucidate those differences and explore how practitioners and researchers are using mobility justice to address historic and ongoing injustices, specifically tied to race and class. The study will review uses of mobility justice within transportation organizations, interview practitioners who use a mobility justice framework, and engage them actively in the research process. The majority of those influencing the growth of a mobility justice framework identify as Black, Indigenous, or as people of color, and academic literature on mobility justice centers the experience of those historically marginalized. As usage increases, it is increasingly important to understand the racialized roots of this framework and avoid appropriation or “watering-down” of its meaning. This project will (1) investigate the origins of mobility justice in both practitioner usage and academic literature, (2) collaborate with practitioners and researchers to generate a consensus on the definition, implications, and positive examples of mobility justice, and (3) produce videos and a final report that offers clear guidance on how to use a mobility justice framework.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $90,030.00
• Sponsor Organizations:

  Department of Transportation

  Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC    20590
• Managing Organizations:

  METRANS Transportation Center

  University of Southern California
  Los Angeles, CA  United States  90089-0626
• Project Managers:

  Brinkerhoff, Cort

• Performing Organizations:

  University of California, Davis

  Institute of Transportation Studies
  Davis, CA  United States  95616
• Principal Investigators:

  McCullough, Sarah

• Start Date: 20220101
• Expected Completion Date: 20221231
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers
• Source Data: https://www.metrans.org/research/mobility-justice-a-new-framework-for-transportation-researchers-and-professionals

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Mobility; Mobility applications; Professional personnel; Transportation
• Subject Areas: Passenger Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01781465
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: METRANS Transportation Center
• Files: RIP
• Created Date: Sep 8 2021 7:00PM