Just a correction Benjie. I actually coined the term "popular transport" in an article for LSE :) Like you, I was not satisfied with existing terminology. These modes are transit not para-transit. As you know, many of these systems have licenses and pay fees and are highly routinized in society. I wanted to use the term popular transport to confront the marginalization of these systems in formal planning and the inequities of not investing and supporting them when they matter a lot to people and, in fact, most people in many places. When a system is so fundamental to your transportation system and the often the one used by most people (of and for the people) it deserves to be the central focus of attention. Great to see it works in Arabic nicely. There is a vibrant conversation about this in Amman (Maan Naser), Beirut (Bus Map project and Yalla Bus) and Cairo (Transport for Cairo)...
I like 'makeshift mobility', this is the first I'm hearing the term, it makes me think of bricolage.
But I will stick up for 'informal transit', with the understanding that informality isn't worse or less than formality. It's not all about central control - it's about clear information, regulation, legal recognition. Informal transit isn't worse, it's just less formalized. We all know how important the informal economy is in other sectors, after all. 'Informal' also creates space for 'semi-formal' transit, as in cities where lines are authorized and fares are set by the gov't but schedules are left to the operators.
Also, re: 'popular transit', this one happens to work really well in Arabic. The adjective 'شعبي' doesn't so much mean 'people like it', rather, 'it is of/for the people'. It's used for lots of informal and semi-formal shopping markets, cultural products, and practices.
"Mobility"is a key part of the term, but "makeshift" points toward something temporary rather than as transportation that is part of the landscape. "Informal transport" captures the concept without so much of a hierarchy.
I like Makeshift Mobility. I've been working on it from an even broader perspective: the giving of rides, sharing of vehicles, and even informal freight/deliveries, that happen within communities. This type of makeshift mobility is common in rural areas, religious communities, ethnic networks, tight-knit neighborhoods. There is a lot of makeshift mobility in the United States that takes place outside the marketplace or in the very informal economy.
Just a correction Benjie. I actually coined the term "popular transport" in an article for LSE :) Like you, I was not satisfied with existing terminology. These modes are transit not para-transit. As you know, many of these systems have licenses and pay fees and are highly routinized in society. I wanted to use the term popular transport to confront the marginalization of these systems in formal planning and the inequities of not investing and supporting them when they matter a lot to people and, in fact, most people in many places. When a system is so fundamental to your transportation system and the often the one used by most people (of and for the people) it deserves to be the central focus of attention. Great to see it works in Arabic nicely. There is a vibrant conversation about this in Amman (Maan Naser), Beirut (Bus Map project and Yalla Bus) and Cairo (Transport for Cairo)...
I like 'makeshift mobility', this is the first I'm hearing the term, it makes me think of bricolage.
But I will stick up for 'informal transit', with the understanding that informality isn't worse or less than formality. It's not all about central control - it's about clear information, regulation, legal recognition. Informal transit isn't worse, it's just less formalized. We all know how important the informal economy is in other sectors, after all. 'Informal' also creates space for 'semi-formal' transit, as in cities where lines are authorized and fares are set by the gov't but schedules are left to the operators.
Also, re: 'popular transit', this one happens to work really well in Arabic. The adjective 'شعبي' doesn't so much mean 'people like it', rather, 'it is of/for the people'. It's used for lots of informal and semi-formal shopping markets, cultural products, and practices.
Some french academics have termed it "artisanal transport" - not sure how I feel about it!
My vote is for pop transport.
"Mobility"is a key part of the term, but "makeshift" points toward something temporary rather than as transportation that is part of the landscape. "Informal transport" captures the concept without so much of a hierarchy.
I like Makeshift Mobility. I've been working on it from an even broader perspective: the giving of rides, sharing of vehicles, and even informal freight/deliveries, that happen within communities. This type of makeshift mobility is common in rural areas, religious communities, ethnic networks, tight-knit neighborhoods. There is a lot of makeshift mobility in the United States that takes place outside the marketplace or in the very informal economy.