Inclusive Low Carbon Journeys

We know, from the work that we and others have done, that people are discouraged, disadvantaged and disabled by the design of many different products, services, environments and experiences along a journey.

For example, this recent study of nearly 3000 bus stops in San Fransisco showed that shelter, seating and signage varies greatly across the city. They also found that areas with “a higher than average share of white residents were more likely to have shelter, seating and unobstructed curbs than those with a higher than average share of people of color”.

A Ph.D. student spent a summer studying every street-level city bus stop in San Francisco — nearly 3,000 of them.

This is what he learned: https://t.co/9W4pVbIAi0

— Bloomberg CityLab (@CityLab) September 8, 2021

It has always been important to consider the design of the entire journey to reduce inequalities and to reduce the ways in which people are disabled and disadvantaged. But it feels even more important now as we rush to ‘decarbonise’ transport. Replacing polluting vehicles with cleaner technology is vital but, as this study shows, unless we fix the seating, shelter and signage, catching an electric bus will be just as much of a challenge for many people.

That’s why we’re suggesting that we design Inclusive Low-Carbon Journeys, considering the many things that make up a journey, how they combine to enable (rather than disable) us to get out and about and how ‘low-carbon’ versions of these can be made more inclusive.

We’re planning an event to look into this - more details here.