Understanding Post-secondary Student Mobility and its Impact on Wellbeing Jacqueline Gervais, BA Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree: Master of Arts in Geography Department of Geography and Tourism Studies Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario © April 2020 Abstract There are approximately 30,000 Brock University and Niagara College students making their way around Niagara region to attend school, engage in social activities, and contribute to the local economy through their employment and shopping, among many other activities. Unfortunately, however, transportation barriers discourage or prevent many of these students from fully participating in community life. While numerous studies have examined the linkages between transportation and public health, few have been focused specifically on the post-secondary student demographic, including Niagara’s university and college students. Through the application of a mobilities lens, along with The Five Ways to Wellbeing and Determinants of Health frameworks, this study examines the ways in which students’ levels of transportation accessibility impact their levels of mobility and subjective wellbeing. By applying a mixed methods approach, including an online survey and a photovoice project, this study has found that there are geographic-type and person-type barriers that create inequities and, in some cases, exclusions. Geographically, students living in certain Niagara municipalities, or attending certain campuses, have longer and more convoluted trips leading to a lower sense of satisfaction and subjective sense of wellbeing. Person- type barriers are characteristics that are unique to populations of people such as being domestic or international students, gender and having hidden disabilities. Building on Cresswell’s relational moments of mobility and Flamm & Kaufman’s motility, this study exposes the ‘hidden’ power relations that are fundamental to being mobile subjects and, ultimately, students’ subjective wellbeing. ii Acknowledgements There have been many people who have shared in my journey towards my master’s degree and the writing of this research thesis. What started out as a personal desire to learn more, became a testament to the strength of the relationships I have with others in my life. The words “thank you” seem tripe to share my appreciation, and yet it with true gratitude that I would like to acknowledge the following people. Charles, for always being my rock and opening the space for me to grow. Sapphyre, Chaz, Kianna and Sage for relating to my learning pains. To my late mother, Lydia, who always believed in what I could achieve. To my parents, Leon and Karen, who did not always understand my need to return to school but cheered me on just the same. A huge thank you to my thesis team. Chris, for encouraging my daughter and me to commence geography degrees and agreeing to wholeheartedly take on this project, both as an advisor and professionally outside of this degree. David, for inspiring excellence and helping me to stretch my theoretical understandings. Madelyn, for years of working together and now supporting my own academic achievement. To Bianca, there are not enough words of thank you that I could give you. You have been an unrelenting motivational force through all of this! I own you a huge debt of gratitude. To my work colleagues who have inadvertently been along for the journey but believed in the work that I was doing. Thank you, Erin, Marty, Jan and Lisa! I couldn’t have done this without you. Thank you to the students who participated in my study; the many who participated anonymously and particularly those who participated in photovoice. Your voices made this research possible and I hope to honour your words by being part of the change to make Niagara iii post-secondary students’ lives better. To the steering committee, thank you for coming together to guide this work and for taking action to make our community an even more amazing place. To my many more friends and family, thank you for listening, advising and allowing me the time to achieve this milestone. No success is ever accomplished in isolation. I am grateful to all of you for your love and support. iv Table of Contents Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................ ii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................................ v Chapter One: Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1 Chapter Two: Literature Review .............................................................................................................. 6 Wellbeing .................................................................................................................................................. 7 Wellbeing and Transportation ................................................................................................................. 11 A Brief History of Niagara’s Infrastructure Development and Automobile Dependence ...................... 14 Western transportation development in North America ..................................................................... 15 Mobility and Motility .............................................................................................................................. 18 Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................................... 23 Chapter Three: Research Design and Methodology .............................................................................. 26 Pragmatism ............................................................................................................................................. 26 Project Steering Committee .................................................................................................................... 28 Data Collection ....................................................................................................................................... 30 Online Survey ...................................................................................................................................... 30 Photovoice ........................................................................................................................................... 35 Study Recruitment .................................................................................................................................. 39 Data Analysis .......................................................................................................................................... 41 Online Survey ...................................................................................................................................... 41 Photovoice ........................................................................................................................................... 44 Ethics Review ......................................................................................................................................... 46 Chapter Four: Findings ............................................................................................................................ 48 The Access Rights Portfolio: Modes of Transportation ...................................................................... 49 Access Geographically: Municipality of Dwelling while Attending School ....................................... 53 Understanding more about the Impact to Student Access: Gender, Year of Study, Campus and Municipality of Dwelling ........................................................................................................................ 54 Understanding more about the Impact to Student Access: Domestic and International Students, Campus and Municipality of Dwelling ............................................................................................... 58 Understanding more about the Impact to Student Access: Living Circumstances and Modal Options ............................................................................................................................................................ 59 v Exploring the Dimensions of Temporal Access: Transportation Options and Access to School, Employment, and Recreational Activities Travel to School ................................................................... 62 Transportation and Co-op Placements ............................................................................................... 65 Employment ......................................................................................................................................... 66 Transportation to Recreational Activities ............................................................................................... 78 On and Off Campus Events and Activities .......................................................................................... 78 Section Summary ................................................................................................................................. 81 Effect of transportation