From KTH to Linköping - Bhavana Vaddadi reflects on a journey spanning sustainable mobility

Tell us a bit about your background, where did you do before coming to KTH and ITRL?

I started out as an urban planner back in India, where I did my bachelor’s. After my master’s in urbanism at TU Delft in the Netherlands and a work on low-carbon mobility in India, I eventually landed at KTH and specifically at Integrated Transport Research Lab for my PhD. I’ve been here since, first as a PhD student, then researcher, and up till now as a postdoc.

Can you summarise your research you’ve conducted at ITRL?

My time at Integrated Transport Research Lab has been a mix of research, coordination, and supporting the organization overall. On the research side, I’ve focused on new mobility solutions from a system-level perspective. During my PhD, I studied Mobility as a Service and its impacts on users, organizations, and society, using real-life cases in Stockholm such as Scania’s corporate mobility solutions and a work hub living lab in Tullinge. I also developed frameworks to evaluate these systems more holistically.

During my postdoc, my work expanded to include both system-level impacts and user experience. This included projects on autonomous public transport, social robots, inclusive on-demand transport, and digital logistics services, with a focus on making them usable and meaningful for people. Beyond research, I’ve also been involved in organizing seminars, coordinating events, managing day-to-day operations, supporting communication and outreach, and contributing to strategic discussions about ITRL’s future research directions.

Overall, it has been a holistic experience—combining research with actively helping build and run the research environment itself.

What problem does it solve?

The main problem I’ve addressed is that many innovative mobility solutions are developed without fully understanding their real impact. They are often evaluated too narrowly, focusing only on areas like user adoption or environmental benefits. My work brings these perspectives together by examining effects on users, organizations, and society at the same time. The contribution is a more holistic approach to evaluating and designing mobility systems, helping them work in practice and support a shift toward sustainable mobility.

What makes this field particularly exciting to you?

What excites me most is that mobility is still evolving. With autonomous systems, digital services, and new ways of working and traveling, there is no single right answer yet. I enjoy that the field combines technology, design, policy, and human behavior. It’s not just about solving technical problems, but understanding everyday life and how systems can adapt to it. What makes it especially meaningful is that the work can directly shape future cities and daily life.

You will move to Linköping – tell us more?

Yes, I’ll be a postdoc at Linköping University for the next two years. I’m excited to join the LOGQ (Logistics and Quality Management) team, which feels like a natural next step and a seamless transition since ITRL has collaborated with them for years. Although logistics is new to me, my methods are highly relevant, especially given their close industry collaboration. My project focuses on resource use in freight transport electrification, building on work already done at ITRL. I’ve also started collaborating with my new colleagues on a paper for the NOFOMA conference in June.

What will you miss from KTH and ITRL?

I’ve experienced ITRL as a very unique workplace. What sets ITRL apart is how hands-on it is, both in research and everyday life. I’ve been there for 8 of its nearly 11 years, so it has been a huge part of my life and something I feel proud of and connected to. It has been more than a workplace—it’s where I’ve celebrated many important milestones. The people have meant the most. Some of my closest friends in Stockholm are from ITRL, and many colleagues and partners will remain lifelong favorites. I’m especially grateful to senior colleagues like Jonas, Mikael, Mia, Anna, and Andres for their support, trust, and guidance throughout my journey from PhD student onward. They helped shape me as a researcher, colleague, and person.

Being part of KTH has also been central to my journey. It’s where I grew academically and had the chance to collaborate widely, which I’ll truly miss.

Do you have a hidden talent or an interest that your colleagues do not know about?

After 8 years all of my colleagues know all my talents and interests like knitting, painting etc. but I can imitate Mr.Bean quite well - haha not sure if this is even a talent.