Karel Martens (professor)

Karel Martens (1967) is a full professor, specializing in fair transport planning and mobility, at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, where he heads the Fair Transport Lab. From 2017-2021, Martens headed the Graduate Program in Urban and Regional Planning, one of four graduate programs within the Technion's Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning.
Martens obtained a master's degree in spatial planning (1991) and a doctorate in policy sciences (2000) from Radboud University. After completing his PhD, Martens held research positions at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology and Tel Aviv University. He held the director position of Transport Today & Tomorrow, a non-profit aimed at promoting sustainable mobility in Israel, from 2002-2006. In 2023, he rejoined the organization as the chair of the board. From 2006 to 2015, Martens was an assistant professor and later an associate professor at Radboud University. In 2014, Martens was voted most inspiring transport professional by the magazine Verkeerskunde.
Martens is known for his book Transport Justice: Designing Fair Transportation Systems (2017). In his book, he expresses a fundamental criticism towards transport planning as practiced since the early 1960s, which focuses on the functioning of the transport system, notably the road network, rather than on the service the system provides to its (potential) users. He argues that transport planning should always start from people. In his view, the central question in transport planning should be whether the transport system enables everyone to fully participate in society. This can be assessed by measuring accessibility: the set of destinations (such as services, jobs, and other opportunities) a person can reach within a certain time, cost and effort. Accessibility measurement should be based on individuals’ residential location and the transport modes available to them, taking into account people’s financial, physical, cognitive and other capabilities and limitations. 
In his empirical research, Martens shows that people with access to a car are currently well served by the transport system, even during congested peak hours. The situation, however, is very different for people who cannot afford a car or are not (yet) able or allowed to drive a car: many of them have limited access to opportunities as a result of poor public transport and long distances, which means that cycling and walking provide access to only a limited set of opportunities. The consequences of a lack of accessibility can sometimes have a profound impact on people's lives, such as unemployment, insufficient medical care, lack of education and even social isolation.
In his book, Martens draws on social justice theories advanced by a range of philosophers, including Michael Walzer, John Rawls, Ronald Dworkin and Amartya Sen, to develop a perspective on transport planning that is based on principles of justice. This philosophical search results in a systematic argument for the right to "sufficient accessibility" or, in other words, the right to basic accessibility. This can be seen as a new fundamental right, which explicitly expresses the implicit right to accessibility, hidden in the right to education and housing, among other rights, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Viewing accessibility as a right also emphasizes the obligation of the collective to guarantee that right for everyone. Martens therefore argues in his book that government's primary task in the domain of transport is to provide basic accessibility for everyone.
The right to basic accessibility has far-reaching implications for transport planning and policy. In many countries, much of the policy attention is still directed at reducing road congestion, often resulting in proposals for substantial road building schemes. This implies that governments are de facto investing most of their public funds in improving the accessibility of people who already enjoy the highest levels of accessibility, in spite of congestion. Martens argues in his book that people who already enjoy sufficient accessibility should pay themselves for the costs of further improvements in their accessibility. He considers it unfair that road improvements would be financed through road taxes or fuel excise, as it will burden all motorists rather than only those who benefit from the improvement. If governments insists on reducing congestion, it can be done fairly by introducing "high-occupancy toll lanes" that are fully financed by the users of the toll lanes themselves (including construction, maintenance and management). Such "high occupancy toll lanes" consist of lanes where the toll amount depends on the traffic intensity of the moment, so that those who are prepared to pay (considerably) more can move faster and thus enjoy a higher level of accessibility.
Martens also warns that the advent of electric cars could lead to renewed investments in roads, and thus to improvements in accessibility for people who already enjoy a high level of accessibility, in part because it may reduce environmental concerns related to such investments. Such a policy response would not only overlook the fact that electric vehicles only solve some emission problems, while other issues such as local air pollution from tires and breaks, space consumption for driving and parking cars, and road safety remain unresolved. Even more important from Martens' perspective is that electric cars do not contribute in any way to improving accessibility for people who do not have access to a car. The same concerns apply to self-driving cars, which may potentially improve road safety, but are unlikely to deliver benefits to people who are poorly served by current car-dominated transport systems.
Category:1967 births
Category:Radboud University Nijmegen alumni
Category:Professors
Category:Transportation planning
Category:Mobility