Institutional features driving socially sustainable urban mobility: Contributions from the Northern Central American Triangle

Multiple areas of innovation are contributing to making urban mobility sustainable, but these transformations are only implemented after an arrangement resulting from the exercise of power between agents and participants within the institutional framework. This paper aims to identify the characteristics that transportation management institutions should pursue to promote social sustainability in urban mobility projects. The methodological design is based on a comparative analysis of the cases of transportation regulatory institutions in the countries of the Northern Central American Triangle (NCAT) during the implementation period of their Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system projects, using a qualitative method of thematic analysis of institutional narratives. This analysis focuses on two competencies related to the social dimension of sustainability, namely citizen participation and integration of transport planning and land use. The main outcomes are threefold: firstly, a methodological proposal for institutional analysis; secondly, three key characteristics that are interrelated in institutional processes to promote projects and policies for socially sustainable mobility; and finally, it provides information about the management of these transportation projects in the first two decades of this century in a region with limited available information. • Comparative Analysis: Comparing transportation institutions in NCAT during BRT projects • Power Dynamics: Urban mobility innovations are shaped by power dynamics within institutions. • Key Characteristics: Identifies traits for institutions to enhance social sustainability in mobility • Qualitative Analysis: Uses thematic analysis of narratives focusing on citizen participation and city planning