Interviews Related to the Bristol, UK Case Study for Inclusive Transitions to Electric Mobility, 2021-2024

Schwanen, Tim and Budnitz, Hannah (2024). Interviews Related to the Bristol, UK Case Study for Inclusive Transitions to Electric Mobility, 2021-2024. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Service. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-857394

European cities' attempts to accelerate the electric mobility (EM) transition are generating environmental benefits and enhancing economic viability. Unclear is how socially just these attempts and their outcomes are in terms of who benefits (distribution), whose needs are considered (recognition), and who gets to decide and how (procedure). The proposed research will advance inclusive EM transitions on the urban scale through a dual perspective on households and urban policy. It will examine inequalities in households' EM-related needs, capabilities, decision-making, accessibility and everyday mobility. It will also analyse how and to what extent EM policies and governance take the aforementioned distribution, procedure and recognition dimensions into account. It will finally co-produce understandings of how urban and transport planning regarding sustainability and accessibility can be strengthened through inclusive EM transition processes. In close collaboration with policymakers and mobility service providers, the project will consider shared and owned/leased electric cars, E-bikes and E-scooters, comparing transition processes in Oslo, Utrecht, Bristol and Poznan. Ultimately, the project aims to bring about a shift in how EM policies and services at the urban scale are developed, implemented and delivered, so that urban EM transition pathways are not only accelerated but also become as inclusive as possible.

Data description (abstract)

City-level ambitions for urban electric mobility, including micro-mobility, are high, with a strong focus on speed of change and efficiency in light of restricted resources, but less is known about the social justice dimensions of these changes and how they will influence electric mobility ambitions across urban communities. To understand this, the primary data collection undertaken in this project comprised of semi-structured interviews. For Bristol, UK, the research participants for the policy and governance perspective comprised a mix of 13 local and national policymakers, electric mobility operators and researchers, and representatives of local civic society groups. A stakeholder mapping exercise was used to identify experts from different sectors, including existing contacts from previous research, who are engaged with policymaking in this domain. Recruitment was undertaken through directly approaching stakeholders, emails to colleagues requesting an introduction, and via the professional social media network, LinkedIn. The guide for the expert interviews was developed following the coding and analysis of published policy documents in the public domain, so that experts involved in the drafting and implementation of different policies could provide greater context and details about the policy processes that underlay those documents. To understand the household perspective, 27 urban residents were recruited through the social media pages / feeds of TravelWest, the Revive municipal charging network, and other local organisations, as well as the civic society group representatives interviewed as part of the policy perspective. Amazon vouchers were offered as an incentive to increase recruitment.

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