The practice of sustainable mobility in Latin American cities: a comparative study of Bogotá (Colombia) and Lima (Peru) – MODURAL

The project started with a bibliographical research and an exploitation of secondary sources, mainly the Origin-Destination Surveys, available in several recent editions and comparable between the two cities. This work has been valorised in the form of webmaps where are identified the areas where mobility and accessibility to employment are the worst. Four such areas have been selected in each city for field surveys. A quantitative survey will be applied to 1600 households (400 households in each area and in each city) and the questionnaire will focus on the conditions of daily mobility and on the prospects for adopting more sustainable practices. The survey will be designed and managed by the Consortium but its implementation will be delegated to specialised service providers. The results will be exploited using a specially designed GIS. In parallel, in-depth interviews will be conducted with individuals from the universe of the quantitative survey (at least 10% of the households surveyed will be targeted). The study will focus on three population groups that are potentially vulnerable in terms of mobility, but which have been little studied from this angle in Latin America: women, children and people with reduced mobility. To enrich the study, other qualitative approaches will be tested: «on-board interviews«, focus groups, «rapid surveys« in traffic, etc.

The main results for the first 18 months are as follows:
- The creation of communication tools (Hypotheses research notebook, HAL collection, etc.) and project management tools (sharing space on Huma-Num, shared bibliography on Zotero, etc.).
- The holding of 9 conferences and workshops (the first one in Bogotá in March 2020, the following ones in virtual mode), to ensure the continuity of the project in the context of a pandemic.
- The exploitation of available data (mobility surveys, opinion polls, etc.) and the development of GIS tools for the exploitation of these data and for the preparation of the surveys.
- The selection of 8 survey areas in the working class peripheries of Bogotá (4) and Lima (4), and the launch of monographic studies on each of the areas.
- The integration of the covid-19 issue into the project, with the launch of several «covid-researches«, carried out remotely, between mid-2020 and mid-2021: 1 section in the Research Notebook, 1 survey by «family chronicles«, 1 survey by tele-interviews, 1 photographic competition, etc.
- Publications: 3 referenced articles, 4 communications, 6 study reports, 4 popularisations, 1 blog post; all referenced in a HAL collection.
- Participation in two associated collaborative projects: ANR RA-Covid-19 «Velotactics« and CNRS study report on SHS in relation to Covid-19.
- The creation of online geomatic tools: 1 FactoQGIS software extension and 1 CartogramR package.
- In terms of human resources: the recruitment of a research engineer on a post-doctoral contract (J. Robert); the integration of a doctoral student (M. Lucas, bit.ly/37YavvI), assigned to Bogotá since February 2021, where she conducted interviews, commentaries and two online surveys; and the arrival of a member of the project (F. Demoraes) as a CNRS delegate, assigned to the IFEA's Colombian headquarters in September 2019, for two years.

The year 2021-2022 will be devoted to the preparation and implementation of field surveys in the 8 selected survey areas in Bogota and Lima.
The year 2022-2023 will be devoted to the processing and exploitation of the surveys and all the data collected, as well as to the valorisation of the results obtained (scientific publications).

The scientific productions are referenced in the HAL-Modural webpage: hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ANR_MODURAL

SCIENTIFIC ISSUE: The project addresses the issue of the sustainability of home-to-work and home-to-study commutes in 2 Latin American metropolitan areas (Bogotá and Lima). These cities gather 10 million inhabitants and are characterized by a strong socio-residential segregation and a growth model that favors the urban sprawl in the outskirts rather than the densification of the central spaces. Young households and the working classes are thus relegated far from the center, where jobs are concentrated. Home-to-work journeys are therefore long distances and under very difficult conditions, because the supply of public transport is deficient, the car is inaccessible to low-income populations, and the roads are constantly congested. In opinion surveys, mobility conditions are the first reason for discontent after insecurity. In this context, and as sustainable development tends to become a norm in these cities for both public authorities and city dwellers, the issue of sustainable mobility represents a major challenge for the 21st century. How to promote more sustainable forms of mobility, by improving the quality of life of populations? What are the leverages that can encourage city dwellers to move towards more sustainable modes or practices, and what are the impediments that can discourage them from doing so? How can we enable people living in the disadvantaged suburbs, who experience the worst travel conditions, to access more sustainable forms of mobility?
METHODOLOGY: The project will start with a bibliographic search and exploitation of secondary sources, mainly origin-destination surveys, available in several recent versions and comparable between the two cities. This work will be made available in the form of maps (webmapping) and will allow the identification of the ZATs (Transport Analysis Zones) where the conditions of mobility and accessibility to employment are the worst. Two of these ZAT will be selected in each city to roll out field surveys. A quantitative questionnaire survey will be applied to 400 households in each area and will focus on the conditions of daily mobility and the outlook for adopting more sustainable practices. It will be designed and supervised by the Consortium, but its application will be delegated to specialized service providers. The results will be processed in particular with a GIS designed for this purpose. At the same time, in-depth interviews will be administered to individuals belonging to the quantitative survey universe (at least 10% of the households surveyed are targeted). The study will focus on 3 population groups that are potentially vulnerable in their mobility, but that have not been studied in this way in Latin America: women, children and people with reduced mobility. To enrich the study, other qualitative approaches will be experimented: in situ "commented" journeys, focus groups, "flash surveys" at intersections.
TEAM: The team of 20 people is international and multidisciplinary. It is evenly distributed between France, Colombia and Peru. It is composed of researchers with expertise in daily mobility and urban surveys in working-class neighborhoods. They will be assisted by administrative staff and by engineers, assistants and trainees. The coordinator will be supported by a co-leader in France and two scientific supervisors in each city.
DISTINCTIVENESS: the project is unprecedented, distinctive and ambitious in its approach. It is international and interdisciplinary. It focuses on cities in the South where sustainable transport is a challenge. It focuses on vulnerable spaces and populations. The social utility and equity issues are strong. It offers a critical insight into sustainable mobility. The survey methodology is hybrid.