Driving equity in public transit infrastructure

Research from Kerstyn Lutz and Rhonda Solomon, two PhD students at U of T Mississauga’s Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment, is advancing insight into the connection between equitable access and our public infrastructure.

Lutz and Solomon are two of four recipients of the Mobility Network’s 2023-2024 Graduate Student Awards. These awards support University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) graduate students in research and professional internships that demonstrate interdisciplinary mobility research, address equity and promote resilient, sustainable and just urban growth.

Lutz’s research identifies environments that do not support active school travel (including walking and wheeling to and from school). Her work aims to empower the strategic targeting of active school travel interventions to those most in need, to ensure an equitable and impactful approach to enhancing mobility.

Solomon’s research considers the provision of equitable transit access across diverse disability groups.  Through a comprehensive scan of Canadian and international transit policy and plans, her work will ascertain how disability is conceptualized/represented by transit authorities and will examine what is being done to make service ‘accessible.’

Lutz and Solomon discussed their projects at the April 11, 2024 MN Student Research Showcase that celebrated the achievements of all the Graduate Research Award recipients as well as the 2023 Summer Internship Award recipients.