Centre for Mobility and Transport
A Newcastle University Centre of Research Excellence
We're driving mobility and transport toward an inclusive, joined-up, healthier zero carbon future. We seek innovative solutions to global, national and regional challenges around movement of people and goods.
Multi-disciplinary approach to sustainable transport
We generate research outputs that address crucial challenges in relation to the:
- mobility of people and goods
- transport systems that underpin them
- the impact that both of the above have on health and wellbeing
We do this using a novel cross-disciplinary approach.
We provide insight, innovation, experience, expertise and solutions from engineering and science.
In doing so, we incorporate the wider impact this has on society.
Understanding the wider context
We focus on identifying a realistic and sustainable approach to add value for industry, government, place, and society.
We apply innovative multidisciplinary research approaches to the way people and goods move. We're working towards a better, more sustainable and healthier zero carbon world.
By understanding the wider context, this strategy offers us more clarity. We can better assess the pathways to, and mobility implications of, a net zero carbon society.
Our research aims and ethos
We recognise that science, engineering and technology on their own are not enough. We engage the end-user and society to co-create effective solutions together.
Transport thinking cannot take place in silos. We recognise there is a broad multidisciplinary area concerned with mobility.
We can break down silos by:
- understanding the facilitators and barriers to mobility
- looking at technology and innovative system design for solutions
Our cross-disciplinary research will help us transition to a zero carbon society.
Centre activity
The launch event, where the keynote speakers explain the vision for the Centre.
More from our launch event
More from our launch event, where we delivered the vision for the Centre's valuable work.
The Centre will:
- be the regional hub for transport and mobility innovations
- develop and sustain collaborative partnerships to deliver impactful societal change in our communities
- provide evidence-based academic research and technological development
- inform government policy as well as global mobility strategies and policies within organisations
In the next five years, the Centre aims to contribute to research advances in the following areas:
| Technology | Behaviour and health implications |
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| Data and advanced modelling | COVID resilience |
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Our cross-disciplinary research themes
We work within the following three themes:
- Pathways to decarbonisation
- Technologies
- Transport, society and place
These intertwined themes provide a platform for researchers from all three faculties.
This creates the added value sought after in the Centre’s mission.
We will develop methods and tools to design, assess and deliver decarbonisation strategies. We'll look at new societal habits, including remote working and online shopping.
We will look at perceptions of climate emergency. This will help us design strategies leading to achieving decarbonisation of transport.
Another key aspect related to this is the role of infrastructure in its broadest sense. We'll look at:
- resilience to extreme weather events
- digital infrastructure supporting change in habits
- energy infrastructure requirements to deliver electrification of mobility
- changing urban form enabling active travel
- the role of novel materials in developing infrastructure with a lower carbon content
Research leading to the advancement of knowledge in areas such as:
- vehicles (batteries, automation)
- infrastructure (inspection and monitoring of resilience)
- urban mobility (active mobility)
This needs the establishment of multidisciplinary teams that bring together:
- engineering disciplines
- urban planners
- geographers
- architects
- ageing experts
- other relevant subject specialists
They contribute to the development and deployment of fit-for-purpose technologies. These will minimise the impact of transport and mobility.
We explore impacts of transport interventions on the health and wellbeing of an ageing society. We look at their implications at individual, organisational and societal level, including:
- transport poverty
- liveability
- social connectedness
- health and wellbeing
- people and transport data linked to public health
- supply chain
- changes in habits
- work and global mobility
- emerging new skills
The theme acts as a conduit to measure the added-value and influence of outcomes from the previous two themes. It will run concurrently and in cooperation with them to:
- co-create societal impact
- measure the return on society
Breadth of expertise
Newcastle University possesses a unique breadth of expertise in disciplines addressing transport challenges. The challenges encompass:
- engineering and the underpinning science
- design and use of technology
- energy/transport nexus
- policy and planning
- advanced data analytics (machine learning, AI)
- ageing
- inequalities
- organisation work and employment
- health and wellbeing
- multi-objective evaluation of schemes
We work closely with the National Innovation Centre for Ageing, the National Innovation Centre for Data and VOICE Global.
They relate to social, data and medical sciences. We can intertwine these disciplines to create a multi-faceted and integrated pathway. Few competitors have this scale of relevant expertise.
Transition to zero carbon transport targets creates tensions between different technologies. This requires a skillset and knowledge that our Centre brings together. The engineering of those technologies is necessary but not enough. We need to understand other key aspects, including:
- economic considerations (e.g. scalability and skills development)
- behavioural patterns (e.g. acceptability of novel technologies)
- health and wellbeing (e.g. impact on air quality and healthy lives)
- data implications (e.g. how to infer meaningful information and derive value)
- policy (e.g. providing leadership and enabling others to deliver)
- impact on work patterns, organisations and society
We are uniquely positioned to develop innovative approaches to address these issues.
Major contributions so far
We have strong track record in transport-research, including:
- pioneering work on EV charging demand (IUK, Nissan)
- decarbonisation of transport
We'll build on this within areas of strength across all three faculties, including:
- Open Lab
- Newcastle University Business School
- Centre for Rural Economy
- National Innovation Centres for Ageing and Data
- Urban Observatory
- DER-IC
- UKRRIN
- UKCRIC
Working with our other Centres of Research Excellence
We'll work with the Newcastle University Centres of Research Excellence, including Energy, Ageing and Inequality, Researching Cities and Healthier Lives. This will have a profound social, economic and health impact.
Linked to this is collaboration between our Centres, DER-IC and Zero Carbon Futures (ZCF), in:
- identification of viable new technologies
- expansion of battery manufacturing capability in the UK (e.g. gigafactories)
- behavioural and charging infrastructure needs that will determine their uptake
Research-led teaching will emerge through existing and upcoming new programmes related to mobility, health and work, including:
- MEng (General Engineering)
- MEng Mechanical Engineering with Sustainable Transport Engineering
- CDTs Geospatial Systems and Sustainable Electric Propulsion
- MTEC Marine Propulsion
- MSc Transport Planning
- MSc Data Science
- MSc Global Human Resource Management
- MPH in Public Health
The strength of the Centre will come from the whole University community. Researchers, postgraduates and undergraduates will have opportunities to work together to respond to existing challenges at the core of our work.
Leadership team
Prof Phil Blythe (SAgE) is Director and visible lead of the centre supported by Co-Directors leading each of the three themes representing all faculties.
The current leadership reflects the science and engineering grounding of the Centre (Phil Blythe, Roberto Palacin, Mark Robinson). It's complemented with unique strength of relevant expertise at Newcastle in:
- ageing and health (Andrew Kingston)
- micro, meso and macro-level impact of mobility in society and work (Susan Kirk, Geoff Vigar)
Once established, the NUCoRE leadership will come from the governance strategy being drawn by a steering group.
Representatives of the three faculties will make sure that relevant expertise and EDI principles are clearly present.
This will include a mentoring format where early career colleagues lead together with more senior members of our community.