Bus rapid transit as a neoliberal contradiction

Paget-Seekins, Laurel

doi:10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2015.08.015

Cited by 48 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 33 publications

(45 reference statements)

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“…Thus, the public transport investments in the developing countries are meant to improve the reputation of the city, phase out the informal economy and serve the needs of visitors and middle class residents rather than improve the mobility of the urban poor (Paget‐Seekins ). For example, Combs () proved that the introduction of BRTS in Bogota had no or little impact on improving the mobility of the lower income residents.…”

Section: Confronting Constraints With Policy Responses: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Daily Mobility, Livelihoods and Transport Policies in Kampala, Uganda: A Hägerstrandian Analysis

Janusz

Kesteloot

Vermeiren

et al. 2019

Tijd voor Econ & Soc Geog

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In order to construct a suitable transport policy, based on the needs of the inhabitants and city users, planners have to be aware of the needs of urban residents. In this research, Hägerstrand's space-time geography is used to understand constraints that individuals from contrasting livelihoods experience regarding their daily mobility in Kampala. To carry out economic activities, both poor and non-poor face the need to travel, but moving in the city is hampered by congestion and poor walking infrastructure. While non-poor have the financial and economical flexibility to adjust the time and transport mode of their movements, the poor are constrained by affordability. Space-time prisms of the movements show that paradoxically the further the distance from the centre, the less movement is undertaken by the non-poor and more movement by the poor. The policy responses, driven by foreign investments, mainly from China, show that policy circulation plans prevail over tailor-made solutions.

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Section: Confronting Constraints With Policy Responses: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Daily Mobility, Livelihoods and Transport Policies in Kampala, Uganda: A Hägerstrandian Analysis

Janusz

Kesteloot

Vermeiren

et al. 2019

Tijd voor Econ & Soc Geog

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“…Very importantly, BRT projects also open up space to engage the existing minibus systems in a dialogue about reform and give operators and owners opportunities to become partners as well as discuss their needs (Behrens et al, 2016;Flores Dewey, 2016;Gauthier & Weinstock, 2010). Overall, then BRT is perceived by project implementers as a tool to restructure and reform paratransit systems as well as other aspects of transport governance (Flores Dewey, 2016;Paget-Seekins, 2015;Poku-Boansi & Marsden, 2018;Schalekamp, 2017).…”

Section: Overview Of Transportation Planning In African Citiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping minibuses in Maputo and Nairobi: engaging paratransit in transportation planning in African cities

Klopp

Cavoli

2019

Transport Reviews

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Often called paratransit because of their flexible stops, schedules and routes, minibuses make up the bulk of public transport in African cities. Despite their ubiquity and importance, these systems are poorly understood by transportation planners who tend to focus on large-scale urban infrastructure projects such as highways, commuter rail or bus rapid transit systems. The assumption within much of this planning is that these minibus systems are barriers to change and will become at most secondary "feeder" buses within large-scale projects, but structured plans detailing this vision are lacking. This paper argues that frequent failure to collect data and value important paratransit systems as a critical part of transportation in their own right is deeply problematic from the point of view of equity, access and inclusive and effective planning. We ask whether the growing number of bottom up mapping projects of minibus systems can disrupt this status quo. By comparing two mapping projects, Digital Matatus in Nairobi and the Mapa Dos Chapas in Maputo, we find that inclusive, collaborative mapping can help render these minibuses more visible in planning and provoke more grounded and inclusive "planning conversations" on multimodal integration, passenger information and minibus upgrading, all key but relatively marginalised aspects of creating accessible, low emission, high quality and safe public transport in African cities.

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“…; Parsons and Lawreniuk ) in global South cities, or looking at subaltern mobilities using the example of dollar cabs in the Western context (Best ). Such research has brought a range of important topics onto the research agenda, including questions about the agency of precarious transport workers (Agbiboa ) and the ways neoliberal policy projects can affect workers’ incentives to mobilise collectively (Paget‐Seekins ), importantly illustrating the significant political mobilisation power of mobility operators (Sopranzetti ). This article builds on and contributes to this still peripheral but important critical subsection of urban transport and mobilities research.…”

Section: The Mobilities Turn and Critical Urban Transportmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…; Parsons and Lawreniuk ) and North (Best ). These publications articulate the consequences of neoliberal transport politics (Paget‐Seekins ) and transport worker's precarity, but also their subversive agency (Agbiboa ), and capacity for political mobilisation (Sopranzetti ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A few publications have started to address these divides and bring out the critical concerns of mobilities literature when studying transport workers or mobility operators in the global South (Diaz Olvera et al 2016;Parsons and Lawreniuk 2017) and North (Best 2016). These publications articulate the consequences of neoliberal transport politics (Paget-Seekins 2015) and transport worker's precarity, but also their subversive agency (Agbiboa 2016), and capacity for political mobilisation (Sopranzetti 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Placing Transport Workers on the Agenda: The Conflicting Logics of Governing Mobility on Bishkek's Marshrutkas

Rekhviashvili

Sgibnev

2018

Antipode

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Transport workers are conspicuously absent from both mobilities and urban studies literature. This paper therefore starts out with a double critique. First, transport workers, primarily drivers, are largely disregarded in mobilities and urban transport research. Second, the literature we find on transport workers—mostly based in empirical settings in the global South—remains outside recent and ongoing debates in critical urban transport studies. Providing empirical insights from post‐Soviet Central Asia, this paper strives to close these gaps and delve into the struggles and cleavages that structure informal transport workers’ positions and livelihoods. We argue that the diverse and contradictory logics that govern urban mobility affect the livelihoods and working conditions of informal transport workers, as well as their choices and motivations. These, in turn, significantly shape mobility provision, in terms of urban transport's (lack of) affordability, accessibility, convenience and safety.

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Bus rapid transit as a neoliberal contradiction

Cited by 48 publications

References 33 publications

Daily Mobility, Livelihoods and Transport Policies in Kampala, Uganda: A Hägerstrandian Analysis

Daily Mobility, Livelihoods and Transport Policies in Kampala, Uganda: A Hägerstrandian Analysis

Mapping minibuses in Maputo and Nairobi: engaging paratransit in transportation planning in African cities

Placing Transport Workers on the Agenda: The Conflicting Logics of Governing Mobility on Bishkek's Marshrutkas

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