Kate
Hosford

Kate Hosford is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University. Her research focuses on the intersections between transportation, health, and equity. Specifically for her PhD research, she is studying the effects of road pricing – a policy that would charge people to drive – on transportation and health equity. Throughout her graduate studies, she has increasingly become aware of the strong connection between transport and climate justice. Kate is keen to communicate the links between transport and climate justice to the wider public.

PROJECT

Kate will leverage her PhD research to develop and publish a series of articles that highlights the potential for transport pricing to readjust for some of the existing inequities in transportation while helping the city achieve climate targets. 

Transport pricing – a policy that would charge people to drive into downtown - was described as the game changer action for the City to shift trips towards active and sustainable modes of transportation. Transport pricing was also one of the most contentious policies that was brought forward in the Climate Emergency Action Plan. Many of the arguments against transport pricing start with the assumption that the status quo of unpriced roads is fair. 

Her series of articles will cover which populations groups drive the most in Vancouver, who bears the consequences, and how a road pricing policy can serve to (re)adjust some of the existing inequities in transportation. For example, in the City of Vancouver, those with the highest incomes drive three times as much as those with the lowest incomes. Yet those living in lower income neighbourhoods typically experience higher exposure to pollution and traffic collisions.

She hopes her articles can help residents connect the dots between transport and climate justice, and help pave the way forward for policies that support a more sustainable future.