Recherche Axes de recherche Axe 4 AGIR

Acting on "constrained mobility": challenges and solutions for public and private actors

AGIR Lab (2022-2024)


Lab presentation

The mobility of individuals is structured by multiple constraints. Constrained mobility, barriers to accessibility, social exclusion, and territorial isolation form a set of ills that call into question the injunction to daily and residential mobility linked to professional activity (Marzloff, 2013). Indeed, constrained mobility goes far beyond the single issue of home-to-work, which is nevertheless at the heart of transport policies. Mobility is first of all configured according to the temporalities imposed by the institutions with which individuals interact (work, public service timetables, shops, sociability), it is dependent on the environment limiting modal choices (road infrastructure, public transport, pavements, cycle lanes, etc.), and finally, it is delimited by the time of day and the time of day. ), and finally, they are delimited by the resources and skills that can be mobilised by each individual or group (budget, driving license, ownership of a vehicle, ability to buy a ticket, etc.) (Kaufmann et. al. 2004). However, these multiple interconnected constraints are poorly understood. The term ‘constrained mobility’ is often used to refer to commuting, which is a structuring parameter of individual mobility. However, academic research has highlighted the variety of factors that influence people's ability to be mobile and their modal choices. A better understanding of these three scales of constraint would enable public or private actors to better respond to the needs of citizens in all spheres of daily life (Verlinghieri and Schwanen, 2020).

The actual and experienced constraints vary enormously from one individual to another. The unsuitability of transport infrastructures, lack of knowledge of the existing offer or the absence of such an offer, and lack of financial means, hinder the travel of a significant proportion of individuals and underline the growing inequalities in mobility (Rocci, 2007). Whether they are disabled people or those with temporary disabilities, women picking up their children for food shopping or helping a relative (de Madariaga and Zucchini, 2019), inhabitants of poorly served areas in rural areas (Coquard, 2019) or in the suburbs, elderly people or young adults and adolescents, these individuals suffer from a degraded level of mobility that is sometimes made impossible by the constraints that weigh on them. Moreover, the ageing of the population, which will become even more serious in the coming decades, introduces new challenges for both long-distance travel and mobility at the neighbourhood level. These mobility constraints vary with the crises that society is going through (rising energy costs, restrictions on movement in times of pandemic, increasing difficulties in obtaining cheap housing) (Amsellem-Mainguy, 2019), the consequences of which vary from one country to another depending on the policies pursued and the cultural norms. Thus, taking these multiple situations into account would make it possible to go beyond the solutions constructed solely for the 'average user' - often a well-to-do, young, able-bodied, and active man - in order to develop more inclusive mobility solutions.

Constrained mobility can be linked to dissatisfaction with a trip and a mode of transport that has been imposed (Flamm, 2004; Nguyen-Luong, 2020). This raises questions about the choice of individuals to make or not to make the trip, the modal choice, and the conditions of access to the mode. However, the majority of journeys are made within the framework of constrained mobility, revealing, in particular, the dependence on the car, without this generating dissatisfaction. This is particularly the case in medium or low-density areas, which include territories with characteristics that do not allow individuals to consider other choices than the car, even though this choice is not desirable from a financial or environmental point of view. Mobilities can be constrained, but satisfactory without being desirable. Distinguishing between these elements in the analysis of individual choices is essential for studying the social and cultural influences on mobilities.

Some individuals can overcome this constraint by mastering distance through the Internet, by teleworking, tele-administration, telemedicine, or e-commerce, but a significant proportion of individuals, because of the type of job they hold, the nature of the service and the digital divide, are unable to dematerialise their travel. For example, the development of Internet commerce is leading to an increase in precarious employment and additional travel for delivery. In this context, forced travel cannot be dealt with on the basis of a transport policy, but rather through a global vision of the place of work and consumption in society and the city.

The AGIR lab thus aims to study solutions that will make it possible to better respond to the following constraints: • How can we encourage the empowerment of individuals in their travels and their access to public and commercial services? • What is the influence of the urban, economic, social, and political contexts on constrained mobility? • What actions can mobility actors implement in this respect?

The lab aims to analyse the phenomena of urbanisation, metropolisation, and globalisation and their influence on the inhabitants of these territories, as well as on rural and/or peripheral sectors, by going beyond the framework of home-work journeys, which until the beginning of the 2010s were the focus of public policies and the action of private mobility actors. Particular attention will therefore be paid to the role of public and private actors in taking into account all forms of constrained mobility, those that Anglo-Saxon academic research links to the issues of ‘care’ or ‘household-serving trips’ (de Madariaga and Zucchini, 2019), on which there is currently a lack of research, diagnosis and, ultimately, global solutions.

Finally, the research carried out within the framework of this research programme will highlight the diversity of issues and solutions through an international comparison. The aim is to produce a state of play in several countries, aiming to better understand the constitution of constraints in order to propose solutions and a global strategy for a transition towards sustainable and inclusive mobility. For this first cycle of the project starting in 2022, we propose to focus on 4 case studies: France, Japan, England, and South Korea. This first period will also be used to determine the other areas that will be useful for this research and that will be explored in a second cycle: in South-East Asia, in Central and Eastern Europe, and even in North and Latin America.

Research team

Coordinators
Other members

Research activities

Further information upcoming

Contact

Project manager: Céline Caliaro - celine.caliaro[a]ehess.fr
*change the [a] by @
Do not hesitate to contact us if you want to be added to our mailing list to be informed of upcoming AGIR Lab activities.