Mar 29, 2022
Streetsblog USAOn this episode of The Brake, Kea talks to Benjie de la Peña, chair of the Global Partnership for Informal Transportation and author of the must-read Substack newsletter Makeshift Mobility, about all the ways that people navigate their cities on shared modes without the support of taxpayer-funded public institutions. And though they're easier to spot in the global south, these modes exist in U.S. cities, too — though not everyone thinks that's necessarily a good thing.
Still, de la Peña points out that makeshift mobility may move more people than every traditional train, buses, and taxis around the world combined — and it may "represent probably the single greatest lever to decarbonizing the transportation sector" we have.
Tune in for a fascinating conversation about tuktuks, matatus, jitneys, and everything in between, and what the world of informal transportation has to do with decolonizing our collective ideas about what transit can — and should — be. And don't forget to click over to Streetsblog to take a look at a few makeshift mobility vehicles for yourself.
In lieu of our traditional transcript, check out just a few of the makeshift mobility options that are serving neighborhoods around the globe: