The Impact of Multimodal Transport on Access Across Socioeconomic Groups

ABSTRACT

Urban mobility networks shape access to opportunities and social integration, yet their impact varies significantly across socioeconomic groups. We examine how public transport and bike-sharing systems influence accessibility and equity in European cities, focusing on Budapest, Helsinki, and Madrid.
In this talk, I will present two projects. First, we propose a framework that incorporates public transport into the 15-minute city model using openly available data. We construct transport networks to measure access to amenities and social mixing across income groups. Our findings reveal that multimodal mobility substantially increases access within 15 minutes, particularly benefiting urban peripheries. However, network topology matters: radial transit systems create uneven accessibility.
Second, we study how bike-sharing complements public transport in Budapest by bridging gaps in poorly served areas. Low-income users, though less numerous, rely more heavily on these services for accessing economic opportunities. These findings highlight the need to search for optimal public transport networks that can improve inclusive urban accessibility and complement active mobility in urban peripheries.

SHORT BIO

Zsófia Zádor (she/her) is an Assistant Professor and an affiliated faculty member at the Network Science Institute at Northeastern University London.
She earned her PhD from the University of Greenwich, where she focused on trade networks. Her research lies at the intersection of network science and economic geography, focusing on economic networks and urban inequality. Her work examines how mobility patterns, through public transport networks and remote work practices, shape social mixing and segregation across socioeconomic groups, with implications for spatial access to resources, urban structure, and mental health