In many urban areas, the lack of transport services affects particularly socially vulnerable families. The disruptive event of COVID-19 pandemic changed the way that people, particularly in urban areas, faced daily transport. The project ACCTING aims to contribute to producing knowledge and innovations to advance behavioral change at individual and collective levels, and in related social practices, for an inclusive and equal European Green Deal. Supported by twenty individual narratives, this paper presents the preliminary results of the fieldwork developed in Lisbon and its suburban area. Two main research lines related to mobility were set, one related to transport poverty and sustainable travel, and the other to post-lockdown sustainable mobilities. Considering the issue of transport poverty, the mobility conditions, economic vulnerability, and poor health condition of some of the informants, the low quality of public transport, as well as the geographical location and reputation of the neighborhood of residence, reduced their mobility and accessibility levels, increased isolation, and gave them a sense of exclusion. On the other hand, the reaction to COVID-19 did not lead to behavioral change in terms of mobility among a group of less affluent respondents, either because of the lack of infrastructure or health constraints. For respondents holding a combination of enabling factors such as economic capacity, environmental awareness, being part of a social project, education, and access to public funding, the adoption of sustainable mobilities took place before the Covid-19 pandemic situation, and the pandemic only allowed the development of the use of the bike in everyday life.

Nuno Marques da Costa; Alina Esteves
Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, Centre for Geographical Studies , Associated Laboratory TERRA

 
ID Abstract: 809