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This paper analyses the state of public transport (PT) stops in Brussels through the lens of inclusiveness for disabled persons. The approach mixes qualitative perspectives (including talks and field trips with numerous NGOs, disabled individuals using PT and public authorities) and a comprehensive quantitative analysis of 2 487 stops across the STIB-MIVB network. The study found that the production of PT stops depends on a wide range of stakeholders. The degree of stops’ inclusiveness has been inherited largely from times when little attention was paid to travellers with specific needs. Despite significant efforts over the past years, a notable share of PT stops is still not inclusive, although shares vary subject to the travel constraints considered. There is no clear geographical pattern of inclusiveness, except at the scale of specific PT modes (underground stations vs surface stops) and several homogeneous bus or tram corridors., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

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While high-speed rail networks involve significant public expenditure in the name of the whole nation, scholars have paid little attention to the share of the population served by this modern transport mode. Studies have favoured perspectives that either neglect population volumes or include them but cannot offer a worldwide assessment. Public authorities favour passionate statements about network length and cruising speed but at the same time they neglect the populations served. In contrast, this paper offers a worldwide comparison of populations served by high-speed rail services in 15 countries. We found the range is wide (7%−94%) and depends on several factors beyond network length, including network design, urbanisation patterns, technical characteristics and domestic vs. international purposes., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Public Transport as Contested Public Space: Fare Policies and Daily Mobilities in Brussels and TallinnThis dissertation explores the social and political dimensions of public transport and examines its implications as a public space in cities such as Brussels and Tallinn. By examining the tensions between planned and lived public spaces through four case studies, this research sheds light on the structuring devices of mobility regimes and their impact on everyday mobilities.Using a variety of qualitative methods, including interviews with different passengers and stakeholders, observational research and travel diaries, this dissertation explores the role of fare policies on mobility behaviour, the transformative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on public transport atmospheres and behaviour, and the establishment of social rules of behaviour and their impact on deviant experiences. Through analyses of fare evasion in the Brussels metro and the effects of the free public transport policy in Tallinn, the author outlines the interplay between policy decisions, infrastructure and social control mechanisms. Incorporating feminist perspectives on the body and embodiment in urban spaces, the dissertation sets out at the micro level to explore users' everyday experiences and practices, to reveal how marginalised mobility needs intersect with societal norms and socio-cultural constructions of space, and to highlight the importance of practical knowledge and 'lived expertise' in understanding the realities of diverse urban citizens. This research contributes to the existing literature on urban theory and public transport by highlighting the political, social and communal functions of public transport. It makes empirical contributions to the literature on fare policy and fare evasion, and to frameworks of mobility justice, by examining urban inequalities manifested in public transport and identifying deviant practices as avenues for wider access and publicness. By illuminating, Le transport public en tant qu'espace public contesté :Politiques tarifaires et mobilités quotidiennes à Bruxelles et à TallinnCette thèse est née dans le but de comprendre ce qui constitue le "public" se trouvant à la fois dans les "transports publics" et dans l'"espace public". Ce n'est que récemment que les transports publics ont été inclus dans la littérature sur l'espace public qui, depuis des décennies, avait déjà discuté de leur rôle dans la vie sociale, culturelle, économique et politique des villes. En outre, la recherche sur les transports, qui s'est généralement concentrée sur une approche fonctionnaliste, ainsi que sur les besoins des navetteurs et les objectifs de planification urbaine axés sur la croissance, a négligé les différents besoins des usagers et la mobilité en tant que phénomène complexe au-delà du mouvement physique. Pour combler ces lacunes, je m'appuie sur la littérature des études sur la mobilité, de l'espace public et des approches féministes de la justice sociale. Ainsi, je souhaite étendre l'approche conventionnelle des transports publics à un éventail plus large d'expériences, en les examinant en tant qu'espace public à travers une étude empirique des expériences et des pratiques quotidiennes de mobilité au niveau individuel. La recherche a été menée à Tallinn (Estonie) et à Bruxelles (Belgique). Ces deux villes sont confrontées à des défis similaires, tels qu'un taux de motorisation élevé et un étalement urbain croissant, la diversité de la population et la ségrégation socio-spatiale. Les principales données pour Bruxelles sont 27 entretiens avec des passagers fraudeurs, des observations ethnographiques dans les stations de métro et sur les médias sociaux, ainsi qu'une enquête en ligne et 33 entretiens semi-structurés avec des passagers pendant la pandémie COVID-19. À Tallinn, 22 personnes ont été interrogées lors de deux entretiens et ont rempli un journal de voyage de sept jours.Les quatre publications présentées dans cette thèse a, Doctorat en Sciences, info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

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SCOPUS: ed.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Airport location is a well-known planning issue that can have a significant impact on a city’s accessibility, economy, noise pollution, and residents’ well-being. In this article, we leverage existing open-source geoinformation and geographical information system (GIS) software to compute statistical indicators that allow us to characterize worldwide the extent to which airports are enclosed in their surrounding urban environment, considering both human overcrowding and actual land use around airports. A so-called enclosure index is developed based on the number of residents and their distance from the airport. A significant number of airports face a high enclosure index, but no clear relationships with air traffic volumes are found. This study also investigates actual land use around airports through a principal component analysis, which unveils interesting contrasts across airports’ surroundings and suggests that, on average, airports with more traffic tend to be located close to—or within—densely built districts. All the original materials produced for this research, including the indicators, the computational code, and the visualization of the context of airports globally through atlas, are provided in open access for future research on the topic., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

This paper complements the existing literature on Bike Share Schemes (BSS) by investigating their use from a spatiotemporal perspective to assess their relationship with public transport (PT). We address these questions through the case of Brussels and its long-standing docked BSS ‘Villo!’. Our study analyses comprehensive (consecutive 12 months) and disaggregated (station level) data on rentals and returns and finds that Villo! is used mostly in dense (although not all) districts also well served by PT. However, temporal structures suggest Villo! overtakes PT at night in vibrant districts and possibly in selected districts with lower PT services over weekends. In addition, Villo! stations at key PT hubs usually do not show specific temporal patterns, which suggests intermodality may work at all times during PT operations. There could be an evening peak effect combined with the Brussels’ topography, but this needs to be confirmed by on-site surveys., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published