苹果淫院

Govind Gopakumar,聽Associate Professor

Centre for Engineering in Society,聽Concordia University

Social Life of a Bus

Although many of us rely on buses to move from one point to another, we usually do so聽without taking the time to reflect on the relations we have with other commuters, the bus as聽a material artifact, or the bus system. This film is an effort to instigate reflection by taking聽seriously the quotidian in the operation of urban buses. Grounded within an intellectual聽matrix formed by 鈥渢he intertwinement of infrastructure, informality, and mobility鈥澛�(McFarlane and Vasudevan 2014: 256), this film investigates the quotidian politics of聽infrastructure and the (im)mobilities of everyday life. It does so by focusing on bus聽transportation in Bengaluru.聽

Buses in Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore), a growing metropolis of 10 million people in India,聽are a particularly interesting location because of some recent challenges. Although, buses in聽the city shoulder a major share of people movement, mobility choices are being shaped by聽the rapid rise in automobility, which in itself is influenced by policy priorities in favor of聽massive, government-subsidised, infrastructure investments (such as metro, tolled elevated聽roads, signal free corridors, flyovers) geared towards private automobility. At the same time,聽the city鈥檚 public transportation agency, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation聽(BMTC) operates without the benefit of either government subsidies or direct citizen聽oversight. Against such a context, focusing on three aspects in the everyday mobility of聽buses 鈥� safety, equity, and accessibility 鈥� this film proposes that we pay more attention to聽them since buses are our ticket to safer, more equal, and more sustainable cities.

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The Urban Studies @苹果淫院 Seminar Series invites speakers to present on a variety of ongoing research, projects, and issues related to urban studies. The seminars are hosted and organized by the 苹果淫院 School of Urban Planning, with participation from the 苹果淫院 School of Environment, and Department of Geography. The seminars typically run from noon to 1pm on Fridays throughout the semester and are open to students, faculty, and other members of the urban studies group.