IJHR Mobility Review Peer-reviewed research on human rights and mobility

IJHR Mobility Review

Peer-reviewed research on human rights and mobility

Latest Articles

Discharged to the Curb: When Hospital Planning Assumes a Ride That Does Not Exist
Policy Analysis

Discharged to the Curb: When Hospital Planning Assumes a Ride That Does Not Exist

Peer-reviewed research suggests that hospital discharge protocols routinely treat transportation home as a private problem rather than a clinical outcome. When patients miss follow-up appointments because they cannot get there, the record often reads 'no-show' — a label that conceals a structural mobility failure. This article reviews the evidence and argues that discharge planning must be reframed as a matter of patient rights.
Seconds of Belonging: What Pedestrian Signal Timing Reveals About Whose Movement Cities Prioritize
Policy Analysis

Seconds of Belonging: What Pedestrian Signal Timing Reveals About Whose Movement Cities Prioritize

Walk intervals across US cities are engineered around the gait of the average able-bodied adult, leaving older pedestrians, children, and disabled residents to race a clock they were never meant to win. Emerging research suggests that a handful of seconds at the curb is a measurable indicator of distributive justice in urban mobility.
The Thirty-Mile Ceiling: How Parole Supervision Zones Quietly Redraw the American Labor Market
Policy Analysis

The Thirty-Mile Ceiling: How Parole Supervision Zones Quietly Redraw the American Labor Market

Geographic conditions of community supervision are rarely framed as labor policy, yet they determine who can accept a night shift, attend a job interview, or care for a sick relative. This analysis synthesizes empirical studies of restriction zones and check-in regimes to argue that supervision design functions as an unacknowledged constraint on economic mobility.
The Boarding Pass Problem: How a State License Suspension Can Ground an Air Traveler
Policy Analysis

The Boarding Pass Problem: How a State License Suspension Can Ground an Air Traveler

A suspended driver's license was once a road-level sanction. Peer-reviewed research and administrative data suggest that REAL ID enforcement and interstate data-sharing have quietly extended it to the airport terminal, raising unresolved due process questions at the boarding gate.
Certified Out of a Career: The Due Process Void in DOT Medical Disqualification
Policy Analysis

Certified Out of a Career: The Due Process Void in DOT Medical Disqualification

When a medical examiner checks the wrong box, a commercial driver can lose a decades-long career overnight — with limited recourse and little empirical attention. A growing body of research suggests the fitness-for-duty regime governing interstate trucking warrants the procedural safeguards we routinely demand in criminal and administrative law.
The Silence in the Cockpit: Medical Disclosure, Fear of Grounding, and the Safety Paradox in FAA Certification
Research Methodology

The Silence in the Cockpit: Medical Disclosure, Fear of Grounding, and the Safety Paradox in FAA Certification

The FAA's airman medical certification regime asks pilots to disclose conditions like ADHD, diabetes, and depression—yet the threat of indefinite grounding may discourage the very honesty the system depends on. Drawing on peer-reviewed prevalence data, this analysis examines how certification design can undermine both mobility rights and aviation safety.
Policy Analysis

The Diagnosis That Takes the Keys: Medical Licensing Boards and the Health Costs of Revoked Driving Privileges

State medical review units can suspend a driver's license for epilepsy, diabetes, or declining vision — often with limited due process and little attention to what happens to patients afterward. This review synthesizes the peer-reviewed evidence on how license loss shapes treatment adherence, mental health, and access to care, and evaluates which state frameworks best reconcile road safety with the right to move.
Logged Out and Locked Down: Deactivation Decisions and the Mobility Rights of Platform Drivers
Policy Analysis

Logged Out and Locked Down: Deactivation Decisions and the Mobility Rights of Platform Drivers

Peer-reviewed research and administrative records increasingly document what drivers have long reported: a single algorithmic flag can sever both income and physical mobility overnight. This review evaluates the evidentiary landscape and the due process remedies now advancing in state legislatures.
Bound Before Conviction: The Empirical Case Against Unexamined Travel Restrictions in Pretrial Release
Policy Analysis

Bound Before Conviction: The Empirical Case Against Unexamined Travel Restrictions in Pretrial Release

County-line clauses, GPS check-ins, and residence requirements are among the most frequently imposed conditions of pretrial release, yet they receive a fraction of the scholarly attention devoted to bail amounts. This review synthesizes court data and attorney interviews to assess whether mobility limits function as regulation — or as punishment before conviction.
Priced Off the Pavement: Transportation Burden as a Measure of Economic Liberty
Policy Analysis

Priced Off the Pavement: Transportation Burden as a Measure of Economic Liberty

Peer-reviewed transportation economics consistently shows that low-wage workers in car-dependent American metros surrender 15 to 20 percent of their earnings to the commute. This analysis argues that such costs function as a de facto tax on the right to work — and that policymakers have largely declined to count it.
The Invisible Gatekeeper: Tenant Screening Algorithms and the Right to Move
Policy Analysis

The Invisible Gatekeeper: Tenant Screening Algorithms and the Right to Move

Nontraditional credit scoring in rental applications has become one of the least examined barriers to residential mobility in the United States. This review synthesizes recent housing research and proposes a rights-based test for evaluating screening algorithms used by landlords and property managers.
Hands in the Air: What Five Peer-Reviewed Studies Reveal About Airport Screening and Dignity
Research Methodology

Hands in the Air: What Five Peer-Reviewed Studies Reveal About Airport Screening and Dignity

TSA checkpoints are among the most frequent points of contact between Americans and state power over movement, yet the scholarly literature on screening practices remains scattered across disciplines. This review distills five empirical findings from recent studies and pairs each with the reforms the evidence supports.
The Radius and the Curfew: Measuring the Carceral Geography of Electronic Monitoring
Research Methodology

The Radius and the Curfew: Measuring the Carceral Geography of Electronic Monitoring

GPS ankle monitors and curfew ordinances now govern the daily movement of hundreds of thousands of people on probation and parole, often without individualized judicial review. This methodological review examines how researchers can measure the restrictive reach of electronic monitoring and evaluates the comparative evidence across state regimes.
Documents of Belonging: Why Tribal Identification Still Fails at the Checkpoint
Policy Analysis

Documents of Belonging: Why Tribal Identification Still Fails at the Checkpoint

Tribal identification cards are sovereign documents, yet their acceptance at TSA checkpoints, border patrol stops, and routine traffic encounters remains inconsistent and opaque. This analysis argues that the patchwork of recognition functions as a de facto mobility restriction and outlines the case for federal interoperability standards.
The Lot Size Lock: Single-Family Zoning and the Geography of Staying Put
Research Methodology

The Lot Size Lock: Single-Family Zoning and the Geography of Staying Put

Exclusionary zoning is usually debated as an affordability problem, but its deeper effect is spatial: it fixes low-income households in neighborhoods far from opportunity. This methodological review synthesizes the empirical literature and proposes a metro-level framework for measuring zoning-induced immobility.
Boarding as a Barrier: Auditing the Promise of Accessible Intercity Travel for Wheelchair Users
Policy Analysis

Boarding as a Barrier: Auditing the Promise of Accessible Intercity Travel for Wheelchair Users

Federal statutes promise equal access to intercity transportation, yet compliance data and rider testimony suggest a system built on accommodation rather than entitlement. This analysis examines whether wheelchair users' freedom to travel between American cities functions as an enforceable right in practice.
Arrears at the Border: Due Process and the Federal Passport Denial Regime
Research Methodology

Arrears at the Border: Due Process and the Federal Passport Denial Regime

Federal law bars passport issuance to anyone owing more than $2,500 in child support arrears, a sanction most recipients never see coming. Drawing on administrative data and empirical collection studies, this analysis examines what the research can and cannot tell us about the policy's effectiveness and its constitutional footing.
When the Bus Stops Running: Reframing Rural Transit Loss as a Rights Violation
Policy Analysis

When the Bus Stops Running: Reframing Rural Transit Loss as a Rights Violation

Across dozens of American counties, the elimination of intercity bus service has quietly severed residents from hospitals, courthouses, and jobs. This review synthesizes the empirical record and argues that transit access belongs within the human rights framework, not merely the infrastructure budget.
A State-by-State Scorecard on License Access: Grading the Systems That Govern Immigrant Mobility
Research Methodology

A State-by-State Scorecard on License Access: Grading the Systems That Govern Immigrant Mobility

How should researchers and policymakers compare driver's license policies affecting undocumented residents? This methodological explainer presents a transparent, five-indicator rubric and applies it to five states with divergent approaches.
Involuntary Placement as a Mobility Restriction: Reassessing Nursing Home Admission Through a Rights Lens
Policy Analysis

Involuntary Placement as a Mobility Restriction: Reassessing Nursing Home Admission Through a Rights Lens

Placement decisions for older and disabled Americans are rarely framed as mobility policy, yet they determine whether individuals can remain in their communities. This analysis argues that admission practices deserve scrutiny under established freedom-of-movement principles.