The Contradictions of Capital and Mass Transit: Chicago, USA

Farmer, Stephanie; Noonan, Sean

doi:10.1521/siso.2014.78.1.61

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Similarly, urban transport researchers pay attention to the uneven social effects of neoliberal transport policies (Walks ) and reveal a tendency to favour affluent populations and interest groups, sometimes in disregard of the broader public interest or of marginalised citizens (Farmer ; Kirouac‐Fram ; Qamhaieh and Chakravarty ). Even systematic longitudinal studies only marginally appraise the importance of the structural and institutional strengths and weaknesses of labour in shaping urban transportation systems (Farmer and Noonan )—all in spite of otherwise dynamically uncovering how capitalism privileges exchange value over use value, thus degrading mass transport.…”

Section: The Mobilities Turn and Critical Urban Transportmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Rekhviashvili

Sgibnev

2018

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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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Section: The Mobilities Turn and Critical Urban Transportmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Rekhviashvili

Sgibnev

2018

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“…Recently, US local and state governments have experimented with transportation infrastructure P3s, primarily for two purposes. First, fiscal austerity at all governmental scales and increasing competition for scarce funds has tightened access to capital for infrastructure repairs and new construction (Farmer and Noonan, 2014). Second, municipalities and states are monetizing their existing transportation infrastructure to pay down debt or cover deficits.…”

Section: Infrastructure Financialization Neoliberal Urban Governance and Risk Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cities as Risk Managers: The Impact of Chicago's Parking Meter P3 on Municipal Governance and Transportation Planning

Farmer

2014

Environ Plan A

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Although the benefits o f infrastructure public-private partnerships are widely promoted, the public has little understanding o f the new forms o f risk and risk management obligations that city governments often absorb in infrastructure leasing concession agreements. This paper examines the City o f Chicago's parking meter lease agreement with Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners. Risk reduction mechanisms embedded in the contract resulted in the city absorbing new costs and risks that negatively impacted city finances and remade the local state as a risk manager tasked with responsibilities that protect the rate of return o f the global infrastructure investment fund. New planning and fiscal risks work as obstacles for transportation planners altering current street-level transportation configurations. Interviews with transportation planners revealed the new barriers put in place to safeguard financial investment that planners must navigate in order to realize environmentally sustainable and innovative street-level transportation planning.

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“…Chicago offers an excellent example of neoliberal ideology at work. In their study of the development of the mass transit system in Chicago, Farmer and Noonan (2014), showed how capitalism distorts and degrades the urban mass transit system in a manner that is favorable for the accumulation of capital, but goes against satisfying people's need for an effective and efficient urban transportation.…”

Section: The Chicago Examplementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, the federal government eliminated its $40 million subsidy for public transit operations in Chicago between 1995 and 1998 for the sake of fiscal austerity (Farmer and Noonan, 2014). The resulting drop in ridership was used to justify the next round of service cuts, yielding reduced ridership that was used, in turn, to justify future cycles of cuts, creating a vicious cycle of recursive austerity.…”

Section: The Chicago Examplementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods of the south and west sides of Chicago have seen their access to transit curtailed the most, while the Loop's residential and office markets have been growing, with transit a key amenity supporting their development. The presence of good mass transit attracts "desirable" firms to move to the area (Farmer and Noonan, 2014).…”

Section: The Chicago Examplementioning

confidence: 99%

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Explaining Unequal Transportation Outcomes in a Gentrifying City: The Example of Portland, Oregon

Cordero¹

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This dissertation examines unequal outcomes of urban transportation policies in the neoliberal era. It focuses on inequalities in the Portland, Oregon metro area between 1994 and 2011 as measured in three key areas: 1) access to public transit; 2) the journey-towork; and 3) "household-serving" trips. Growing concern over the harmful impacts from an increasing dependence on cars has led planners in the U.S. to encourage a modal shift from private car to public transit, bicycling, and walking. The required policies to make this modal shift possible, however, might inadvertently be benefiting 'choice' riders at the cost of transport disadvantaged groups. Other contributing factors to this unequal benefit appear to be the suburbanization of poverty, an ongoing gentrification of central areas, and market forces that make it difficult for low income groups to afford housing in transit-rich neighborhoods. The Oregon Household Activity and Travel surveys are used to answer the three major research questions in this dissertation: what has been the effect of neoliberalism on access to public transit?; how do gender, race/ethnicity, and income inequality affect the journey-to-work in Portland?; and how do household-serving trips vary by gender in Portland? Six hypotheses are tested in answering these questions. Those related to access to transit draw on Fred Block's theory of the capitalist state and the "urban growth machine" concept, both of which predict spatially unequal outcomes from neoliberal policies. Hypotheses about the journey to work draw on a rich body of literature around social relations in the household and the job market, as well as residential location. The final question, about household-serving trips, draws on theories ii of gender socialization. Findings showed that: (i) individuals in the Portland metro area had less access overall to bus public transit in 2011 than in 1994; (ii) impoverished dependent riders have lost access to transit service over time, as compared to choice dependent riders; (iii) low income groups have been 'forced' into greater car-ownership, in part due to their reduced access to public transit; (iv) women in Portland have shorter journey-to-work trips than men; (v) Blacks have longer journey-to-work trips than Whites and Latinos; (vi) low-income individuals have shorter journey-to-work trips than higher income individuals; and (vii) women with children make more household-serving trips than men in similar family structures. iii Dedication To my beloved wife Karin and my children Luciana and Eugenio, and my mentor and friend, Judy. I could not have done it without your help. Thank you for all your support along the way.iv

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The Contradictions of Capital and Mass Transit: Chicago, USA

Cited by 9 publications

References 4 publications

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

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

Cities as Risk Managers: The Impact of Chicago's Parking Meter P3 on Municipal Governance and Transportation Planning

Explaining Unequal Transportation Outcomes in a Gentrifying City: The Example of Portland, Oregon

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