Our Work

Informal and shared mobility modes are the dominant forms of transport across large parts of the world. They often take the form of motorcycle taxis, auto-rickshaws and minibuses and some are connected to passengers via growing numbers of platforms and ride hailing technologies. These forms of mobility are critical to people's ability to live, work and thrive in most of the world's cities. Yet they remain inadequately understood, recognized and integrated into planning and investments. Even in cities with more institutionally supported bus systems and mass transit such as rail, these forms of mobility provide critical connectivity and first and last mile services that boost public transport ridership, which in turn is key to addressing multiple profound problems from air pollution, climate change, road safety to equitable access to opportunities.

We do this through three pillars of action:

Knowledge Building: Through our living labs across diverse cities, we work to produce high quality research to build an evidence base and shared understanding of informal and shared mobility in context. A specific focus is on interventions that can lead to multiple benefits  including improved lives, livelihoods and the environment. By working in depth in cities while engaging in research exchange across cities, we also explore what are common problems across context but also how to engage with specific contexts and constellations of specific actors and conditions. 

Community of Practice: We are building an expanding network of knowledge exchange through a growing consortium as well as South-South cooperation and peer to peer learning on ISM ecosystem improvements. Concretely, we are launching a paper series, a series of research exchange webinars and "meet and greets" that open up research to a broader public. The living lab model also enables policy engagement at local and country levels while the consortium enables building up a shared cross-city and region knowledge and inclusion in global policy conversations around how to support and leverage ISM to meet goals such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate accord.  We will be publishing a series of policy briefs and blogs in collaboration with World Resources Institute and the Global Network for Popular Transport, key global policy facing partners in this consortium.

Next Generation Scholars: PRISM supports a network of next generation scholars who are working in and/or learning from the the living labs and research exchange. They are the critical foundation for innovating on and building this work further in terms of research, approach and policy impact.  Together we work on improving learning and curriculum to ensure the next generation has the tools, skills, knowledge and support and know how to do strong research and engagement around ISM for improved services, livelihoods, access, equity, emissions reduction and integration.