The Hitchhiker's Guide to challenges in transport policy research: Towards ANSWERing questions regarding life, mobility, and everything

Sebastian Wandelt; Anming Zhang; Constantinos Antoniou; Lucy Budd; Mercedes Castro-Nuno; Yida Ding; Jonas Eliasson; Stefan Goessling; Sylvia Y. He; Stephen Ison; Changmin Jiang; Jasmine Siu Lee Lam; Kevin Li; Zhiyuan Liu; Becky P.Y. Loo; Xiaolei Ma; Juan de Dios Ortúzar; Oscar Oviedo-Trespalacios; Donggen Wang; Xiaoqian Sun

doi:10.1016/j.tra.2025.104650

The Hitchhiker's Guide to challenges in transport policy research: Towards ANSWERing questions regarding life, mobility, and everything

Sebastian Wandelt
, Anming Zhang
, Constantinos Antoniou
, Lucy Budd
, Mercedes Castro-Nuno
, Yida Ding
, Jonas Eliasson
, Stefan Goessling
, Sylvia Y. He
, Stephen Ison
, Changmin Jiang
, Jasmine Siu Lee Lam
, Kevin Li
, Zhiyuan Liu
, Becky P.Y. Loo
, Xiaolei Ma
, Juan de Dios Ortúzar
, Oscar Oviedo-Trespalacios
, Donggen Wang
, Xiaoqian Sun^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Beihang University
University of British Columbia
Technical University of Munich
De Montfort University
University of Seville
Tsinghua University
Linköping University
Linnaeus University
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Zhejiang University
Southeast University, Nanjing
The University of Hong Kong
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Delft University of Technology
Hong Kong Baptist University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Abstract

Transport policy research has been developed systematically since the second half of the 20th century, when urban planning and transportation systems became critical components of economic development and urbanization. The field has evolved through a wealth of diverse publications and scholarly contributions. Our comprehensive guide synthesizes the state of the art in 20 major categories of transport policy research, identified based on a data-driven categorization. Each category is represented by a leading expert in the field, providing a rigorous assessment of the state of the art on an area together with an identification of challenges to inform future research and policymaking. Aggregated analysis reveals six major trends in policy research, namely: Adaptability, Network Integration, Sustainability, Wireless Connectivity, Equity, and Resilience — combined to form the word ANSWER, with each component being crucial to understanding and addressing the field's multifaceted challenges. Our guide aims to provide answers to pressing challenges and serve as an essential, accessible reference regarding transport policy research for academics, policymakers, and industry stakeholders alike.

Original language	English
Article number	104650
Journal	Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice
Volume	200
ISSN	0965-8564
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2025.104650
Publication status	Published - 2025

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

Keywords

Challenges
Policymaking
Review
Transportation

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10.1016/j.tra.2025.104650

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Wandelt, S., Zhang, A., Antoniou, C., Budd, L., Castro-Nuno, M., Ding, Y., Eliasson, J., Goessling, S., He, S. Y., Ison, S., Jiang, C., Lam, J. S. L., Li, K., Liu, Z., Loo, B. P. Y., Ma, X., Ortúzar, J. D. D., Oviedo-Trespalacios, O., Wang, D., & Sun, X. (2025). The Hitchhiker's Guide to challenges in transport policy research: Towards ANSWERing questions regarding life, mobility, and everything. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 200, Article 104650. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2025.104650

@article{a7bde53f3bf8434b87046666b8b586f8,

title = "The Hitchhiker's Guide to challenges in transport policy research: Towards ANSWERing questions regarding life, mobility, and everything",

abstract = "Transport policy research has been developed systematically since the second half of the 20th century, when urban planning and transportation systems became critical components of economic development and urbanization. The field has evolved through a wealth of diverse publications and scholarly contributions. Our comprehensive guide synthesizes the state of the art in 20 major categories of transport policy research, identified based on a data-driven categorization. Each category is represented by a leading expert in the field, providing a rigorous assessment of the state of the art on an area together with an identification of challenges to inform future research and policymaking. Aggregated analysis reveals six major trends in policy research, namely: Adaptability, Network Integration, Sustainability, Wireless Connectivity, Equity, and Resilience — combined to form the word ANSWER, with each component being crucial to understanding and addressing the field's multifaceted challenges. Our guide aims to provide answers to pressing challenges and serve as an essential, accessible reference regarding transport policy research for academics, policymakers, and industry stakeholders alike.",

keywords = "Challenges, Policymaking, Review, Transportation",

author = "Sebastian Wandelt and Anming Zhang and Constantinos Antoniou and Lucy Budd and Mercedes Castro-Nuno and Yida Ding and Jonas Eliasson and Stefan Goessling and He, \{Sylvia Y.\} and Stephen Ison and Changmin Jiang and Lam, \{Jasmine Siu Lee\} and Kevin Li and Zhiyuan Liu and Loo, \{Becky P.Y.\} and Xiaolei Ma and Ort{\'u}zar, \{Juan de Dios\} and Oscar Oviedo-Trespalacios and Donggen Wang and Xiaoqian Sun",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 Elsevier Ltd",

year = "2025",

doi = "10.1016/j.tra.2025.104650",

language = "English",

volume = "200",

journal = "Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice",

issn = "0965-8564",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

Wandelt, S, Zhang, A, Antoniou, C, Budd, L, Castro-Nuno, M, Ding, Y, Eliasson, J, Goessling, S, He, SY, Ison, S, Jiang, C, Lam, JSL, Li, K, Liu, Z, Loo, BPY, Ma, X, Ortúzar, JDD, Oviedo-Trespalacios, O, Wang, D & Sun, X 2025, 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to challenges in transport policy research: Towards ANSWERing questions regarding life, mobility, and everything', Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, vol. 200, 104650. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2025.104650

The Hitchhiker's Guide to challenges in transport policy research: Towards ANSWERing questions regarding life, mobility, and everything. / Wandelt, Sebastian; Zhang, Anming; Antoniou, Constantinos et al.
In: Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Vol. 200, 104650, 2025.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to challenges in transport policy research

T2 - Towards ANSWERing questions regarding life, mobility, and everything

AU - Wandelt, Sebastian

AU - Zhang, Anming

AU - Antoniou, Constantinos

AU - Budd, Lucy

AU - Castro-Nuno, Mercedes

AU - Ding, Yida

AU - Eliasson, Jonas

AU - Goessling, Stefan

AU - He, Sylvia Y.

AU - Ison, Stephen

AU - Jiang, Changmin

AU - Lam, Jasmine Siu Lee

AU - Li, Kevin

AU - Liu, Zhiyuan

AU - Loo, Becky P.Y.

AU - Ma, Xiaolei

AU - Ortúzar, Juan de Dios

AU - Oviedo-Trespalacios, Oscar

AU - Wang, Donggen

AU - Sun, Xiaoqian

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - Transport policy research has been developed systematically since the second half of the 20th century, when urban planning and transportation systems became critical components of economic development and urbanization. The field has evolved through a wealth of diverse publications and scholarly contributions. Our comprehensive guide synthesizes the state of the art in 20 major categories of transport policy research, identified based on a data-driven categorization. Each category is represented by a leading expert in the field, providing a rigorous assessment of the state of the art on an area together with an identification of challenges to inform future research and policymaking. Aggregated analysis reveals six major trends in policy research, namely: Adaptability, Network Integration, Sustainability, Wireless Connectivity, Equity, and Resilience — combined to form the word ANSWER, with each component being crucial to understanding and addressing the field's multifaceted challenges. Our guide aims to provide answers to pressing challenges and serve as an essential, accessible reference regarding transport policy research for academics, policymakers, and industry stakeholders alike.

AB - Transport policy research has been developed systematically since the second half of the 20th century, when urban planning and transportation systems became critical components of economic development and urbanization. The field has evolved through a wealth of diverse publications and scholarly contributions. Our comprehensive guide synthesizes the state of the art in 20 major categories of transport policy research, identified based on a data-driven categorization. Each category is represented by a leading expert in the field, providing a rigorous assessment of the state of the art on an area together with an identification of challenges to inform future research and policymaking. Aggregated analysis reveals six major trends in policy research, namely: Adaptability, Network Integration, Sustainability, Wireless Connectivity, Equity, and Resilience — combined to form the word ANSWER, with each component being crucial to understanding and addressing the field's multifaceted challenges. Our guide aims to provide answers to pressing challenges and serve as an essential, accessible reference regarding transport policy research for academics, policymakers, and industry stakeholders alike.

KW - Challenges

KW - Policymaking

KW - Review

KW - Transportation

U2 - 10.1016/j.tra.2025.104650

DO - 10.1016/j.tra.2025.104650

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:105015473978

SN - 0965-8564

VL - 200

JO - Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice

JF - Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice

M1 - 104650

ER -

The Hitchhiker's Guide to challenges in transport policy research: Towards ANSWERing questions regarding life, mobility, and everything

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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Cite this