Dr Ian Philips

Profile

With a disciplinary background Geography, Ian’s specialist expertise covers geographical analysis of socially equitable sustainable transport planning.  Ian has worked at the interface between academic and public policy. 

Ian’s skills include a wide range of approaches to spatial data analysis visualisation, simulation and methods associated with Geographic Information Science (GIS) and geocomputation and geographic data science.  Though Ian works principally with GIS he also works with colleagues on mixed methods research projects. 

Employment History

January 2018 - present Senior Research Fellow Institute for Transport Studies
December 2014 – 2018 Research Fellow Institute for Transport Studies

Main areas of work prior to research:

• Environmental project management for youth organizations (Europe and Africa)
• Teaching (Secondary)

Research interests

Current and recent Projects

ELEVATE (Innovative Light ELEctric Vehicles for Active and Digital TravEl)

Ian was the Principal Investigator of the ELEVATE Project. The ELevate project aims to understand the decarbonisation potential of electric micromobility (such as e-cargo bikes , e-bikes and e-scooters)

CARS - Connecting Administrative vehicle data for Research on Sustainable Transport

Ian is a Co-Investigator on this research project. This project will provide an annually updatable longitudinal dataset (dating back to ~2006/7) of the characteristics, location, annual mileage and associated emissions of every light-duty vehicle (cars and vans < 3.5 tonnes) in GB, which can be used at national and local levels to support sustainable transport policy design and implementation

HELMET study: measuring the health impact of e-bikes and e-scooters.

Ian leads a work package examining the carbon impacts of schemes.

Evaluation of Local NO2 plans

Ian contributes to data analysis of the evolution of the vehicle fleet and traffic flow in “Clean Air Zones” and other areas in UK cities with clean air plans

Selected Previous Projects

Accelerating innovation in new mobility services: matching sustainable new business models to local potential

There is an urgent need for carbon reduction in the transport sector. This project examines the capability of people in particular places to rapidly reduce transport carbon emissions whilst at the same time trying to spot social vulnerabilities, which might occur during rapid change. E.g. are some people unable to use new low carbon technologies or maybe they might not be able to afford them.

tERES Energy-related economic stress in the UK, at the interface between transport, housing and fuel poverty

Ian collaborated on this project investgating transport poverty and vulnerability to oil price spikes

MOT Motoring and vehicle Ownership Trends in the UK

Ian contributed to data analysis on this project. This project developed the capability to understand spatial differences in car ownership and use. Data from annual car roadworthiness tests (‘MOT tests’ in the UK), made available by the Department for Transport, together with additional details of all vehicles registered from the UK Driver Vehicle Licencing Agency (DVLA) were combined and has the potential to transform the way in which energy and emissions are quantified, understood and monitored.

A465: Social assessment of road improvement schemes

Ian was a Co-Investigator on this project. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses, this project was the first of its kind in the UK to identify the social impacts on the local community arising from a road improvement scheme.

Primary investigator (PI)

• ELEVATE

Co-investigator (Co-I)

• A465: Social assessment of road improvement schemes
• CARS - Connecting Administrative vehicle data for Research on Sustainable Transport
• Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions
• National Railway Accessibility Strategy - Economics Benefits Framework

Qualifications

• PhD, University of Leeds
• MSc, Geographic Information Science, University of Leeds
• PGCE, University of Leeds
• BSc Geography, University of Leicester

Professional memberships

• Fellow, Higher Education Academy

Student education

Current postgraduate researchers

• Eran Livne
• Winny Novalina

I have an interest in the topics below, but please get in touch if you have interest in discussing other topics.

Driver’s attitudes and behaviours towards low-carbon forms of personal transport

A e-cargo bike is a heavy-duty electric bicycle featuring a strong frame, a motor, and a large storage area used to carry heavy loads or passengers. In the recent ELEVATE project trial participants reported feeling safer on an e-cargo bike than they did on a normal bike. Reasons included road presence, the size of the bikes, motor assistance allowing better ability to keep up with traffic and being seen as a utility rather than leisure cyclist. With a potential for increased uptake in the use of e-cargo bikes, there will be an increase in the numbers of interactions with motorists. Yet very little is known about how drivers attend to and behave around these types of novel personal transport with which they share the road space and if it differs from driver-cyclist interactions. This PhD would aim to understand drivers existing mental models of e-cargo bike’s size, speed and manoeuvrability and how this affects their attitudes and behaviour towards them. Are the safety margins that drivers afford e-cargo bikes different to that directed at cyclists, or other forms of low-carbon personal transport for example? Mixed-methods could be used (hazard perception, surveys and virtual reality), but there are a range of opportunities with this topic for a student to refine the research questions, and methods generate findings relevant to policy makers. Furthermore, it may provide insights to the design of road infrastructure or provide valuable training data for developers of AV systems.

Current teaching

• Sustainable Spatial Planning and Analysis
• Transport Investment Appraisal (ITS MSc module and external short course)
• Introduction to GIS for MSc transport students

Research groups and institutes

• Social and Political Sciences

Current postgraduate researchers

• Winny Novalina