Improve transport systems to enable low-income communities to access everyday opportunities

Prof Karen Lucas

Prof Lucas is Professor of Human Geography and Director of Research in the Department of Geography within the School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED). She is deputy director of the Manchester Urban Institute (MUI) and leads its Transport and Mobilities research group. She has more than 25 years’ experience of delivering social research into practice in transport, employing a variety of mixed methods approaches to issues of mobility, accessibility and social justice.

View academic profile

Mainstream planning of transport services is failing to account for the needs of low-income communities, limiting access to work, education, and healthcare. Residents should be able to easily, affordably, and safely access these and other life-enhancing opportunities.

Now is the time to...

• recognise the problem of transport poverty within mainstream city planning;
• develop indicators of transport poverty including measurement of social inequalities;
• assess communities' mobility and accessibility needs at grassroots level;
• build social equity criteria into city and transport planning;
• develop community-level action plans to address community needs and concerns.

Find out more

• Visit the INTALInC website to find out how the partners from across the globe are finding innovative ways to address the mobility needs of vulnerable, urban populations.
• Explore the Transport and Mobilities theme, led by Professor Karen Lucas on the Manchester Urban Institute website. The Transport and Mobilities theme brings together established and emerging researchers across the broad and fragmented diaspora of transport studies including engineering, economics, planning, urban design, physical and human geography, sociology, public health and environmental and business studies. The overarching aim is to form new researcher collaborations to innovatively explore the complex and multi-faceted challenges associated with sustainable urban mobility locally, nationally and globally.

Join the conversation

• Find Prof Lucas on X
• Find INTALInC on X

Related research

• Learn more about The University of Manchester’s global inequalities research; advancing our understanding of the world in which we live and addressing inequalities to improve lives
• Find out more about Creative Manchester, which develops and sustains interdisciplinary research communities across the University and promotes creativity as a practice across three themes: Creative Industries and Innovation, Creativity, Health and Wellbeing, and Creative and Civic Futures
  
• Learn more about the University's policy engagement institute, Policy@Manchester, which connects researchers with policymakers and influencers, nurtures long-term policy engagement relationships, and seeks to enhance stakeholder understanding of pressing policy challenges
• Explore the Sustainable Futures platform to find out more about how the University is bringing together internationally leading research communities to create truly sustainable solutions to urgent environmental challenges