Whitaker Institute Research Day

Researchers and Undergraduate Students from the School of Political Science & Sociology, and under the stewardship of the SSRC

At a Crossroads:Transport & Liveability Futures for Galway

The desire to connect research and teaching to create a productive and progressive framework for undergraduate teaching and learning has become one of the most significant areas for academic development in higher education.

The positive effect on student learning through the inclusion of real-life, complex and unstructured research-like activities is at the core of undergraduate education, and following this paradigm the student acts as 'producer' of knowledge instead of simply knowledge consumer

This research sets out to investigate automobility practice and thinking with respect to people living in Galway City (among other things…)

Such local studies are essential as transport inevitably has detailed local dimensions which are often undertreated in the literature and can be thought of as existing transport cultures and practices

We were seeking to determine how deep the automobility regime is entrenched in the transport consciousness of people living in the city, who may view such practice as an inevitable consequence of growth and progress

Stratified sampling was used, i.e. the urban area was divided into its three electoral areas (Galway City Central, Galway City West and Galway City East)

The population of Galway City stands at 79,504 (CSO, 2016) The percentage population in each area is:

Galway City Central - 24.96% Galway City West – 35.21% Galway City East – 39.83%

We collected 442 questionnaires from across the city and all socio-economic backgrounds

Our sampling percentage breakdown was: Galway City Central – 27.23% Galway City West – 34.65% Galway City East – 38.12%

Our Sampling Approach

24%

5%

8%

0%0%

40%

17%

2% 2%

FootBikeBus etcTrain etc.MotorbikeCar driverCar passengerVan Other

18%

11%

9%

1%

51%

0% 9%

FootBikeBus etcTrain etc.MotorbikeCarTaxiNot Applicable

How People Living in Galway Travel to Work (CSO, 2011)

How People Living in Galway Travel to Work (Liveability &

Mobilities in Galway Project, 2016)

What questions did we ask?

Some demographics…

Some descriptive statistics…

1 to 5 6 to 10 11 to 15 16 to 20 21 to 25 26 to 30 31 to 35 36 or over0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

SCALE OF AUTOMOBILITY

NU

MB

ER O

F IN

DIV

IDU

ALS

Results from this study would suggest that many people in Galway are not as wholly car dependent as county-wide CSO figures would first suggest and people choose a range of alternatives depending on their specific needs. Moreover, individuals have an enlightened and nuanced understanding of transportation that is seldom articulated by local politicians, urban planners, and key decision-makers in the region

This offers an important window of opportunity to effect real and positive change with regards to sustainability in the context of transport, mobility, and liveability in Galway

www.ssrc.ie

Thanks for your attention!