Facts

Contact person:
Lina Olsson
Financer:
  • K2 Sweden's national centre for research and education on public transport
Responsible at MaU:
Lina Olsson
External project members:
  • Ren Thomas – Dalhousie University
Time frame:
01 January 2024 - 31 December 2024
Faculty/department:
Research environment :
Research subject:
  • Mobility
  • Public transportation
  • Human Rights

About the project

The purpose of this research project is to explore how an HR approach to public transportation can help to advance the integration of equity and justice into public transportation planning and urban mobility policy. The project does this by analyzing how public transportation is integrated into globally emerging urban HR policies, frameworks, and strategies. A human rights-based approach to public transportation and urban mobility has both normative and instrumental values (Martínes et a., 2023). Firstly, the human rights-based approach positions access to public transportation and mobility as a fundamental part of the well-being and dignity of individuals recognized and promoted by international and national legal frameworks for HR. Secondly, it addresses the conditions and obstacles to shaping equitable public transport systems that enable individuals to enjoy their HR (Ibid.). Focusing on Human Rights Cities (HRCs) – cities that have taken a leading role in integrating HR into their policies – this study aims to uncover how HR and equity issues related to public transportation and urban mobility are dealt with in emerging global best practice cases. The main research question we ask is: What lessons can we learn about the relationship between HR and public transportation from these international best practice examples?