Suburban Mobilities Cluster (SuMo) at the University of Toronto Scarborough is a multi-disciplinary research program that draws on expertise across nine disciplines to tackle four suburban mobility challenges: rising suburban inequalities, improving transportation design and technology, increasing transportation impacts on climate change, and emerging stakes on resilience to shocks.
With support from the Mobility Network, SuMo hosted its second Research Day on Thursday, November 14, 2024. The half-day program featured presentations from faculties and students on a variety of research projects that investigated accessibility measures, active travel of older adults, healthcare access and quality of life.
SuMo Cluster’s Director, Dr. Steven Farber, Associate Professor of Department of Human Geography at UTSC delivered the welcoming remarks. Mobility Network's Khadija Butt, Education Specialist, moderated the session.
The highlight of the Research Day was the ‘Scarborough Survey’ which collected data from Scarborough residents on their mobility and built environment barriers, automobility, access to services, politics, social capital, and health outcomes. The survey has been in active use by the cluster members and students, and several ongoing works utilizing the survey have been presented during the program.
Presentations:
Dr. Ignacio Tiznado Aitken: Introduction: SuMo Cluster and the ‘Scarborough Survey’.
Dr. Chunjiang Li: Exploring the Relationships between Physical Accessibility, Online Shopping, and Travel Behaviour for Grocery Shopping in Scarborough, Canada
Zehui Yin: What Makes People Happy with Their Neighbourhoods? Exploring Individual Characteristics Beyond Sociodemographics in Scarborough, Ontario
Dorian DiTommaso: Analyzing Predictors of COVID-19 Related Transit Risk Perception in Scarborough, Ontario,
Alec Khachatryan: Understanding the behavioural determinants of active travel among older adults: A mixed methods study
Dr Fernando Calderon Figueroa: Diversity, Community, and Mobility: Exploring Trust and the Built Environment in Scarborough.
Note: All research works have been carried out using Scarborough as the study area.
More information on SuMo Cluster and its activities are available here.