Unseen Commuters: A Book about Mobility Equity with an SDG lens

The Vision Zero Hamilton Road was a collaborative research project led by Pillar Nonprofit Network and Crouch Neighbourhood Resource Centre with support from Hamilton Road Business Improvement Association, City of London and London Cycle Link.

About the Book

One of the final deliverables is a book sharing many of the findings and insights captured during the project. In Unseen Commuters: Navigating Injustices in Urban Mobility, you will find fictional stories with real facts. The fictional characters are a collage of real world occurrences. 

The challenges that many of us face because of mobility poverty are not new, surprisingly, there is not much awareness about it yet. Fortunately, this is changing. Data and numbers are not enough to bring the attention this problem deserves. Worse than that, in some cases, people living with mobility poverty and their lived experiences are still invisible.

Mobility poverty manifests both at an individual and systemic level, sustained by the unequal distribution of resources—be it financial, temporal, human, or intellectual—favoring those already privileged in various aspects of life.

This entails being deprived of job prospects, lacking access to fresh or any food, and possibly even being confined to one’s home, thus remaining invisible in conventional traffic assessments that influence urban mobility infrastructure projects. It involves opting for environmentally friendly choices like reducing car usage, only to sacrifice convenience and freedom when it comes to accessing local amenities within the city. 

Individuals experiencing mobility poverty are stripped of  fundamental human rights including the right to safety, freedom of movement and the right to live. Building a city that caters to everyone requires recognizing the daily hurdles confronted by many of our most vulnerable members.

The people portrayed in the stories are all subjected to the universal human condition in search of happiness, purpose and love. People who care for their children, people who want to enjoy life, people who want to leave a positive mark after they are gone. We all have a little bit of Victoria, Jerry, Aria, Rose, Jess and all the others in this book. We are all a collage of facts in the same reality; we are only rearranged in a different way and order due to the unique life circumstances each of us has.

A Sneak Peek

Here are a few excerpts of some of the stories from the book:

“Then, it happened. I had a stroke. Probably caused by all the stress of losing the love of my life and moving to a completely different city. My recovery was quick, I am physically healthy again but it affected my vision permanently and I am not allowed to drive anymore. Because of that, I started to feel loneliness and isolation stack like heavy bricks on my shoulders atop the existing grief that clings to me.”

“Despite these aspirations, Carlos’s commute to college by bus took a grueling 90 minutes each way. Occasionally, he opted to cycle, seeking a quicker alternative. They soon realized that navigating London… was a challenge without a car.”

“Aria loves riding on the TVP, short for Thames Valley Parkway, a beautiful and quiet route along the river connecting various parts of the city. Unfortunately, she can only use it during day time. Being completely isolated from all the streets, the lack of lighting and people turns the TVP into a terrifying experience at night for a lone young woman.”

The book also includes an alternative view of the future, numbers and stats related to mobility equity, lessons learned and suggestions on how to move forward based on the information gathered during the project.

An SDG Approach to Urban Mobility

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) served as the foundational framework for the book, acknowledging the intertwined nature of urban mobility issues with some of today’s most urgent challenges. Delving deeper into the societal repercussions, this book embraces a mobility equity perspective that views accessibility as the key element of urban mobility and a fundamental human right.

According to the United Nations, transportation and mobility are central to sustainable development and have the potential to improve social equity. Sustainable transport primarily falls under SDG11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) but is also present in several other SDGs and targets.

The SDG framework, conceptualized as a network of targets that require a whole-of-society approach, is perfectly suited to address ‘wicked’ problems. From the beginning, this research project approached the challenge beyond specific mobility issues, considering the ramifications into other realms.

As a network of targets, the SDGs can be used to analyze the interconnections of a specific topic with many of the other crises.The SDG framework shows that mobility equity can have a significant positive impact on many of the challenges that we are facing today. Reduced Inequalities (SDG10) and Gender Equality (SDG5) are obvious connections. Besides those, we can identify 1. ensuring that London is a fiscally responsible city (SDG9), 2. efficient ways to connect people to jobs maximizing economic development (SDG8), 3. reducing poverty (SDG1), 4. tackling climate change (SDG13), and 5. promoting belonging (SDG11) and healthy communities (SDG3).

1. According to the 2023 Corporate Asset Management Plan report to the City of London, the infrastructure gap to achieve the proposed level of service for municipal assets (i.e. road network)  is approximately $546.3 million. Based on the City’s 2022 Annual Budget Update, this gap is expected to grow to $1,378.1 million by 2031.
2. Employers and job seekers regularly report that there are not enough options for shift work and late night or early morning commuters. And commuting by bus can take more than 1.5 hours each way to reach industrial areas. The Employment Sector Council’s former executive director stated this is one of the biggest barriers to fulfilling job vacancies in London.
3. The average cost of owning a car is CAD$16,644/year and it represents more than 50% of minimum wage earnings. Very onerous or inaccessible to many Londoners living at or below the poverty line.
4. Private vehicles are the number one source of GHG emissions in London.
5. It’s well-known that stress, traffic injuries/fatalities and obesity due to sedentary lifestyles are some of the negative impacts associated with private vehicles.

One key takeaway is our realization of how much remains unknown. This lack of information also reflects the systemic injustices ingrained in our mobility systems. Despite our concerted efforts, significant change is still necessary. This underscores the ongoing work ahead of us, suggesting a need to make different decisions if we want different results.