Dr Hannah Budnitz

Dr Hannah Budnitz is a post-doctoral researcher whose work at the Transport Studies Unit at Oxford University focuses on the transition to electric mobility in the UK from the social, behavioural and policy perspectives using both qualitative and quantitative methods. She is leading the Shared Electric Mobility in Towns and Smaller Settlements: SEMiTaSS project investigating how shared electric mobility services and infrastructure can emerge, evolve and become embedded in rural communities. She also works with the Environmental Change Institute researching household energy use.

Dr Budnitz’s research aims to understand the interactions between daily practices, land use, infrastructure and technologies, and policymaking in order to inform a more just transition to the low-carbon, socio-technical systems of the future.

Her current role on the EDOL project explores British household energy use over time by gathering and applying a variety of contextual data combined with smart meter data to investigate challenges such as the flexibility of demand and impact of disruptions. Understanding the relationships between occupancy, behaviour, the built environment and household capabilities is essential to support the decarbonisation of the energy, building and transport sectors. 

During the ITEM project, Dr Budnitz’s research considered the processes and policies aimed at supporting the transition to electric mobility in Bristol and whether they are fair, equitable and inclusive. By comparing Bristol with three other medium-sized cities across Europe at different stages in the transition, multiple aspects of social justice and governance were assessed using a multi-perspective and mixed methods approach.

Prior to that, as part of the Park and Charge project, Dr Budnitz researched barriers to electric vehicle adoption, particularly where at-home charging is not achievable due to residential parking layouts and urban form. She investigated the acceptability of a car park, hub-based parking and charging service as a solution in Oxfordshire, and supported Oxfordshire County Council in their pilot of electric car clubs based at the hubs. Dr Budnitz won a Transport Research and Innovation Grant to develop a prototype tool designed for local authorities, operators and other stakeholders to appraise, benchmark and evaluate the place-specific potential for and contribution of electric car clubs. This work builds on previous awards from the Business Engagement Seed, OPEN Seed and Public Policy Challenge Funds to make the case for scaling electric car clubs, particularly outside dense urban areas.

Dr Budnitz was one of the authors of the Pathways to Zero Carbon Oxfordshire report, and this work has led to ongoing discussions with local stakeholders, including to explore the potential delivery of further innovative transport schemes through public-private-academic partnerships such as that formed for the Park and Charge project. She has also written a number of policy briefs published on the TSU website, and has written articles for professional and wider audiences via publications including Citti Magazine, The Conversation and Local Transport Today (transportXtra). 

Dr Budnitz completed her PhD at the University of Birmingham, where she researched the relationship between travel choices, internet accessibility and extreme weather, and the opportunities that trends in improving ICT and increasing space-time flexibility of work and travel offer for more resilient responses to transport disruption. Prior to starting her doctoral studies, Dr Budnitz worked as a transport planner in the UK for Arup then Reading Borough Council.

She also holds a BA in Urban Studies from Columbia University and an MSc in City and Regional Planning from Cardiff University.