Professor Greg Marsden

Profile

Employment History

• 2012 to date Professor of Transport Governance, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds
• 2005 to 2012 Senior Lecturer, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds
• 2003 to 2005 Lecturer, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds
• 2001-2003 Seconded as Committee Specialist, House of Commons Transport Select Committee
• 2002-2003 Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Southampton
• 1997-2002 Research Fellow, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Southampton

Professional Engagements

• 2012 to date Member of ESRC College
• 2015 to 2024 Co-Chair of the Governance and Decision-Making Special Interest Group of WCTRS
• 2016 to 2019 Member of EPSRC Energy Strategic Advisory Committee
• 2016 to 2024 Secretary General of World Conference on Transport Research Society
• 2023 to date Trustee of Rees Jeffreys Road Fund
• 2024 to date Chair of Greener Transport Council

Research interests

My principal research interests are:

• The impact of governance structures and institutions on decision-making
• End user energy demand reduction through innovative transport policies
• Place based decarbonisation strategies
• Assessment of the sustainability of transport from local to international scales
• The role of information (indicators, appraisal systems and targets) on the dynamics of public policy decision-making
• Evaluation of policy interventions

I am interested in the design, development and implementation (or not) of policies, programmes and projects to advance sustainable transport systems. In particular I am interested in the role of governance including institutions, resources, power and formal and informal networks across different spatial scales. Some example projects are set out below.

INFUZE – Inspiring Futures for Zero Carbon Mobility – Sponsor EPSRC Programme Grant

The INFUZE project is an exciting five-year collaboration that is developing a new participatory mobility science to understand whether, how and where a transition to places where mobility on demand can produce better outcomes for people, places and the environment than the current model of individual car ownership. The research takes a co-design approach and will build a series of increasingly ambitious trials for delivery in Leeds.

EDRC – Energy Demand Research Centre – Sponsor UKRI

The Energy Demand Reduction Centre is exploring the delivery of integrated technological and social change to create lower energy demand futures which are fairer and consistent with our climate obligations. I lead the Place theme which is exploring the role of infrastructures, services, geography, social capital and politics to understand how we foreground Place as an opportunity for more effective policy design rather than seeing it as a variable which affects the speed and distribution of policy roll out.

TransiT – Digital Twinning Research Hub for Decarbonising Transport – Sponsor EPSRC 

The TransiT programme is exploring how a system of federated digital twins could be developed to diagnose and develop solutions to critical decarbonisation problems. The work which we coordinate in Leeds seeks to understand the extent to which new digital twins can tackle the key decarbonisation challenges in a dynamic policy environment. We also explore the extent to which the governance system is ready to move from an analogue to a digital decision making basis and what the ethical and wider social issues of such a shift might be.

Recently Complete projects include

DecarboN8 – Place based decarbonisation strategies – Sponsor UKRI Energy Programme

Centre for Reduction in Energy Demand Solutions – Sponsor UKRI Energy Programme

UNDER REFORM - Understanding Indian Urban Governance Reform - Sponsor ESRC and ICSSR

DEMAND - The Dynamics of Energy, Mobility and Demand Sponsor - RCUK

DISRUPTION -new approaches to low carbon energy demand reduction policies Sponsor - EPSRC

I have supervised almost 20 PhD students through to completion and am happy to consider supervising research projects in a range of areas related to transport policy formulation and implementation from a quantitative and qualitative perspective. My current students are:

• Vanessa Ternes – Fair and fast decarbonisation of the transport sector
• Eran Levine – Car club operations, networks and member behaviour as indicators for potential car ownership reduction: A data science approach
• Erelu-Ejide Elegba – Transportation technology policy transfer in developing cities: An investigation of stakeholders values
• Nadia Voigt da Mata – Exploring walking perceptions and behaviours (Luanda)

Potential topic areas include:

• The political discourse of transport policy versus the implementation of policy
• The impacts of governance on policy implementation
• Creating effective low carbon strategies
• The transfer of policies at a city, regional or international scale

I am unlikely to take on speculative applications until 2026 at the earliest due to other studentship commitments

• Digital Twinning Research Hub for Decarbonising Transport
• INFUZE (Inspiring Futures for Zero Carbon Mobility)

Qualifications

• PGCLTHE, University of Leeds
• PhD, Urban Pollution Estimation, University of Nottingham
• MEng, Civil Engineering, University of Nottingham

Professional memberships

• FCIHT
• MTPS

Research groups and institutes

• Social and Political Sciences

Current postgraduate researchers

• Megan Pickles
• Ioanna Moscholidou
• Jack Thompson
• Siyi Lin
• Vanessa Ternes
• Nadia Voigt da Mata