Mobility BiographiesAndy Miles, Niamh Moore, Stewart Muir, CRESC, University of Manchester

Strand 1 The Qualitative Longitudinal Study

5 year qualitative longitudinal study 4 areas in Leeds and 4 in Manchester panel of 240 people repeat contact annually for 4 years

Mobility Biographies Approach

In transport studies: to add depth to cross-sectional

approaches through consideration of panel studies

versus retrospective interviews e.g. Lanzendorf; Scheiner; Axhausen; Frändberg

Mobility biography: the total of an individual’s longitudinal trajectories in the mobility domain and assumes that events in these trajectories exist or, put in other words, that at certain moments in individual’s life the daily travel patterns, the car ownership or other mobility characteristics change to an important degree. (Lanzendorf 2003)

Wave 1: 2011-2012

Travel diaryResidential and mobility historyLife history including life diagram,

timeline and mobility historyLast week, travel and activities

How did you come to live where you do?Q: […]so how long have you lived here?A: Nine years. I moved here when they were new.Q: Right, okay, yeah.A: In fact the plasterers were still in, so nine years.Q: Yeah, how did you come to live here?A: Well my two grandsons who were then--, they're 19 and 17

now so knock nine years off that, live a hundred yards away and I used to look after them when they came out of school 'cause their mum's a doctor and works funny hours. So they'd come out of school, come to me for a glass of milk or--, and a lump of cake and do their homework and watch a bit of television till she came home. But of course that's long gone. But I--, I'm installed here and it's a great area to live, I really would sell it to anybody.

Q: Right, okay, that's good.A: Great bus services, they whizz up and down here, good

shopping, my do--, I could spit in my doctor's surgery if I leaned out of the window, there's nothing I need. For an old girl like me on her own 'cause me sons are never, never about, it's perfect. So I'm very happy. (4811, Female, 83, White British)

SCSB03, Female, 75, White British

A: Yeah. [Pause] And then 19... oh, come on, 78, 48, 11... 49 right

through really to 1956 I was in secondary education, which... what can you say about that? I enjoyed it. I was lucky, I was at an excellent school, I had excellent teachers. I messed up my A Levels, I picked the wrong subjects completely and failed the lot because I fell in love at the same time. So that sent me on a path of life one way. I could’ve gone a completely way but I didn’t. So what can I say about

secondary education? Q: […] I mean that sounds fairly important, the A Levels. A: [Laughs] I keep that very quiet [both laugh] and I failed my Latin and

every time I tried to take Latin again the course closes [laughs] and that really annoys me [laughs]. [Pause] There we go. Secondary education, very happy but failed my A Levels due to poor choices and a disastrous love affair. Q: [Laughs] A: I was a good all rounder, really, at school. And I should’ve gone to university no problem because I was in the top class and up in the top group of five where there was very strong competition. Er, I failed my G

GCSE--, no, School Certificate Latin purely--, I could do the grammar but I was just too darn lazy to learn the vocabulary and I’ve regretted that for the rest of my life. (SCSB03,Female, 75, White British)

3290, female, 41, White British.

Q: So, what’s that one?A: My gran being around and then gran not being around. Will that do?Q: Yeah, that’s perfect, that’s brilliant, thank you. So was your gran--, gran recently died or...A: Not recently, but… she died just before Jake was--, was born, so she never got to see Jake.Q: Right, right. Okay. But was she a big influence in your life when you were a child then, or teenager?A: Yeah, very much so.Q: Okay. A: They’re not--, they’re not a 100 per cent accurate those.Q: Oh, that’s alright, don’t worry. So it’s all visual kind of representation, isn’t it? So, she was like a big support or something for you was she?A: Yeah, very much so.Q: Okay. Right. And, what about--, I don’t know about relationships or anything like that? I mean, I’m presuming Jake’s dad’s not around?A: No.Q: And has there been any other kind of things like that or...A: Yeah, but they’ve all fizzled out into nothing so..

(3290, Female, 41, White British)

Life diagramsA: […] It’s interesting though. But it hasn’t--,

it hasn’t down. I mean I’m quite happy, but it is--, but it does diverge. Maybe I should do a bit of a wriggle like that. I don’t know that it’s really up and down. Have there been any downs? Hmm. Sorry. [Pause]

Q: Tricky one.A: No, it’s not just that. [Pause] Erm, right, I

think I’ll--, yeah, ‘cause there have been downs, you’re right. [Whispering] [Inaudible 0:35:37] Quick downs, or a few. [Inaudible 0:35:32] But there were some, quick downs, a few and then it went on and it was all right. And it’s gradually gone up, but as I say--, […] It hasn’t really--, I don’t know--, I don’t know that that’s really--, that should be higher, maybe that should be a bit lower.

Q: It’s kind of generally going up with a few downs and then--, and then some splitting at the end. Diverging in…

A: Hmm.Q: Okay. What’s the diverging though?A: Erm, I’m happy with my activities but not

as happy in the house I suppose. And the downs, my brother not being very well, which was quite hard. (2531, Female, 74, White British)

Transport historiesBus, Metro, walking. That’s it. I don’t cycle either, although I’d really love to, that’s something I regret not having done. It’s my father’s fault, he never taught me [laughs].

Q: Did he cycle? A: Yes. He had a bike and my older sister was taught to ride and he

used to take her down these really, really, really, really steep hills and she’d be screaming [laughs] so I think as a result of that he thought it wasn’t worthwhile teaching me [laughs]. But I would’ve loved to have learnt and it’s always harder as an adult, and now I’m frightened of breaking my bones so [laughs].

Q: And you never learned to drive? A: No. Q: Was there a reason? A: Well my husband failed his test so many times and we never had

a vehicle in the family, so I think I might have been an okay driver had I been able to practice on a vehicle, but never really thought about it until I was sort of in my 30s or 40s. And it’s kind of--, it’s very hard then because I think the window of learning has kind of got very narrow by then and I didn’t actually have a vehicle to practice in. My sons drive [laughs].

Q: And your husband didn’t because he just failed too many times? A: I think he failed about five times and after that, you know, you

become discouraged [laughs]. We've always organised our lives so that we do have access to transport, so it has been a problem but you kind of work your way around it. (SCSB02, Female, 62, White British) .

No, no transport. When I was a lad, erm… trucks--, well, quite a few cars but I wasn’t privy to that sort of thing. Well, I can even remember the first truck as you call it going about, erm, which it was like an invention out of this world [both laugh]. Yeah, [inaudible 0:42:57]. I remember the first radio that somebody bought in the district where I lived and people were coming from all over to sit there to listen to bloody music from America. This Guantanamo Bay where they’ve got this prisoner bloody--, you know Cuba, Guantanamo Bay, where they’ve--,Q: Yeah.

A: Got all these Al Qaeda prisoners and things. It used to be a big radio station where they used to play records, picked up in Jamaica. That was the first radio that somebody had and people were coming from all over to listen [laughs]. I think transport came into being for me when I was probably about 18-ish when I started work, 17, 18. I started work at this wholesalers and they had a van and they also had what you call a dray, you pull with a horse but, erm--, which that van was absolutely necessary. You could go all over where there’s good--, where there's some sort of road. So that’s when I came into touch with transport as such.

……….Well, it--, I mean coming to this country is a new horizon in it to me.

There was transport everywhere, everybody going about in transport. It become the norm and as such--, I’ve had about 12 cars--,

Q: Wow.A: Me [laughs]. They were all--, I mean I’ve had this car--, it’s

about four Volkswagen cars I’ve had. And so transport is very important to me. If I didn’t have that car now, because I’ve got a bit of trouble, my legs have [inaud] and I’m in all sorts of pain. If I didn’t have that car I probably would be--, I would have to move house to somewhere that’s, you know, got shops nearby sort of thing. It’s very important to me, transport, I’ve always had transport. (SC825, Male, 75, Afro-Caribbean)

Mobility Biographies

Andy Miles, Niamh Moore, Stewart Muir, CRESC, University of Manchester

www.changing-mobilities.org.uk