UTSG 2023

The TSU's Dr Hannah Budnitz, presented at the annual conference of the University Transport Studies Group in July, held Cardiff University. She described how electric vehicles are considered by national governments as the means to transition to low carbon mobility, and how this is perceived in ITEM's case study cities of Bristol, UK; Oslo, Norway; and Poznań, Poland, where, despite recognising their relative places on the transition trajectory, private car traffic is at the bottom of the sustainable urban mobility hierarchy. Budnitz then used EV charging and Clean Air Zone policies as examples of how the policymaking processes, in terms of agenda setting, decision-making and delivery both reflect and are shaped by these expectations of transition and transition dynamics between different levels of government. Finally, she explored how this affects the advancing of local priorities and the implications for social justice. The presentation was well-received, with insightful comments about politics, visioning, and horizontal pressures within city governments.