Robert Hrelja
Associate Professor/Senior lecturer

Presentation

Research interests

My research is primarily concerned with the micro-level practices of transport policy and regional and local transport and spatial planning, often with policy, governance, implementation and power as analytical themes. I am interested in how the actions of interested parties, their attitudes, expertise, and power relationships, influence land use and transport system development and the potential for change. Much of my research is concerned with the development and evolution of sustainable transport systems and cities.

My research has increasingly come to focus on public transport, and how public transport management and planning is carried out in fragmented institutional contexts, where public transport governance has turned into a key feature for the development of well-functioning public transport systems and cities.

Selected recent projects:

• Policies for Reducing Car Traffic and their Problematization. An essential goal when improving public transport attractiveness and long term competitiveness. K2 (The National Knowledge Centre for Public Transport). 2019

• Limiting energy use via reduced car transport in cities – policy, process and institution. The Swedish Energy Agency. 2017–2020

• How to increase the share of travel by public transport? Models for effective measures, The Swedish Energy Agency. 2017–2019

• Collaboration in planning and implementation of measures to increase transit ridership, K2 (The National Knowledge Centre for Public Transport). 2015–2018

• Effective organisational coordination for well-functioning public transport systems. Marie Curie/VINNMER Fellowship. 2017–2017

Background and experience

I joined Malmö University in August 2019. Before that I worked at VTI (the Swedish National Road and transport Research Institute).

I have my academic background at Lund University, the Faculty of Engineering (Associate Professor in Transport and Roads) and at Linköping University (Doctor of Philosophy in the subject area Technology and Social Change).

Much of my research has been carried out in conjunction with researchers at K2 (Sweden's national centre for research and education on public transport). I have also had much responsibility for project management as a research leader at K2.

Student education

PhD supervision: on transport policy and planning, renewable fuel in transport, sustainable mobility.