Social Impacts and Social Equity Issues in Transport Workshop Series

Social issues are important in the contemporary transport challenges facing in our cities, towns and rural areas today. However, they have been much less studied by transport researchers than other aspects of transport policy delivery, such as the economy and the environment. Meanwhile, academics across a range of social sciences disciplines have been involved in numerous research studies which consdier social impacts and social equity issues in transport, but the take up of this work has been limited in transport policy circles and has been virtually non-existent outside of the transport sector. Hence the priority under this theme is to expose and synthesise this diversity of work, and consider its applicability to contemporary policy and practice, by holding a series of linked Research into Practice events. Each one will have a different focus and be led by a different institution, with the exercise being overseen and drawn together by Dr Lucas at Oxford University in collaboration with Professor Anne Power at the LSE.

The overall aim of the series is to promote interdisciplinary collaboration and capacity building to better equip researchers, policymakers and practitioners to address the social challenges in transport now and in the future within the UK context. It will draw on state-of-the-art research and best practices across a wide range of disciplines both here and abroad, to identify gaps in knowledge and the appropriate methodologies and evidence base for addressing these.

The exercise will explore various theoretical, policy and practical aspects of transport, social equity and social impacts of transport through a number of themed events. This will facilitate a broad-based approach to the subject and draw on the capacity and skills of non-transport professionals who have not previously contributed to this debate to bring their different perspectives, knowledge and experience to the subject. In this way, we will be able to generate a network of interested people across the disciplines, capable of advising on policy issues and participating in future research in this area.

The workshop series is designed to have direct impact on approximately 100 academics and 100 currently active members of national and local government, NGOs, transport operators and other key local stakeholder delivery agencies. More specific details of these organisations and the specific pathways to impact are described within the 'Pathway to Impact' attachment which accompanies this application. The project is designed to promote active dialogue around how best to collaboratively address the social issues and concerns which arise in relation to the impacts of transport spending and policy decisions. It will generate a collaborative future research agenda around these issues, which aims to have an impact on the direction and funding of future research in this area.