Mobility Club

How can data-driven tools improve transport policymaking? How should researchers use AI responsibly? And why can simpler models sometimes lead to better decisions?
In this episode, we talk about the power of mobility data with Robin Lovelace, Professor of Transport Data Science at the University of Leeds Institute for Transport Studies. His work combines research, software development, and teaching to advance evidence-based transport planning.
We discuss what makes data-driven tools not only open but truly usable, how travel-to-school data can help address biases in cycling infrastructure planning, and how researchers can make their work more accessible and actionable for practitioners.
More about our guest: https://www.robinlovelace.net
Explore the Propensity to Cycle Tool: https://www.pct.bike
Music recommendation of the episode:“Only So Much Oil in the Ground” by Tower of Powerhttps://open.spotify.com/track/4L6cv7W4EpaB62kPoyCQK7?si=YBJ6JtquTVao-coETRy7Vw

Why is it still so complicated to book a train ticket from Munich to Lisbon? Should short-haul flights in Europe be banned? And can night trains really become a viable alternative?
In this episode, we talk about the challenges of long-distance travel in Europe with Oded Cats, full professor at the Delft University of Technology. He recently received an ERC Consolidator Grant to study how long-distance passenger transport systems can be better designed, coordinated, and scaled across borders.
We discuss why international rail travel is still so fragmented, what role policy and infrastructure play, and why banning short-haul flights might not be as effective as we might think.
More about our guest:
https://www.tudelft.nl/citg/over-faculteit/afdelingen/transport-planning/staff/persoonlijke-paginas/cats-o
More about the research project:
https://www.tudelft.nl/citg/over-faculteit/afdelingen/transport-planning/labs/smart-public-transport-lab/3mars

Music recommendation of the episode:The Warmth, by Incubus
https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/track/0LkssuXRYPFYapjXH9pJBX

Mobility Club is the podcast where we meet and talk transport. Supported by EIT Urban Mobility. Season 1 airs in February