Communting is a main driver of motorised travel in Sweden and consequentially, the implementation of workplace-based mobility management measures (WBMM) has been found to be an effective leverage to change travel behaviours across contexts. However, municipalities often struggle to recruit workplaces to implement such measure with them not regarding them their primary responsibility. "Intermediary" organisations in-between municipalities and workplaces have the potential to alleviate this collaboration challenge. We bring together transportation research with theory on intermediation in transition governance, i.e. the facilitation of collaboration in changing socio-technical configurations. With that we aim to improve on the conceptual clarity of the role that intermediary actors, who carry out “relational work” in-between municipalities and workplaces, play when municipalities pursue increased implementation of WBMM in their jurisdiction.

We are in the planning stage of a comparative qualitative case study of organisations that take on intermediary roles with the aim to promote the uptake of WBMM in one or more municipalities. The study includes a secondary analysis of existing qualitative data (interviews, documents, workshops, and observation field notes) on the cases of the initiatives “Cykelvänligast arbetsplats” and “Malmö works”. The cases, while both focusing on WBMM, operate on different levels, with different funding sources and in different organisational forms.

The tentative results identify various activities through which intermediary actors facilitate collaboration between workplaces and municipalities. Additionally, the findings emphasize the impact of key distinctions, such as whether the intermediary operates at a local or national level, and highlight the significance of the diverse motivations and shared interests among members within these organisations. The results further imply the need for transport research to consider interpersonal relationships and their formation to fully understand how and when mobility management measures are adopted at workplaces. For public authorities, the insights by our study are likely to contribute with guidance on how to set-up interactions with workplaces by explicating the intermediary activities necessary to achieve this aim.