“In the 60s, for example, the colourful bostas (in Arabic, a type of bus) was used to serve intercity transport, and service (in French) in the form of sedans and station wagons” expressed Tammam Nakkash, a transport expert (interview, 11 Jan. 2022). Then, it became a “gap filler” (Cervero, 2000; p.5) for the absence of adequate public transport after the war due to the perpetual equilibrium of fragmented realities (Assaf et al., 2021). Informality has hence become a self-managed practice that could subtly be the manifestation of unmet social services, such as the provision of electricity through private generators to compensate for cuts in daily, the supply of water by actors not mandated by the state; waste collection became an integral part of the residents’ lives (Farjalla et al., 2017). In other words, these informal services could be considered community-based initiatives initiated by people and for people since the state is quasi-absent. They are however perceived by an outsider as “quixotic” (Scott, 1989; p.37). Accordingly, informality “is inscribed in the ever-shifting relationship between what is legal and illegal, legitimate and illegitimate, authorized and unauthorized” (Roy, 2009; p.80). Especially that the authoritarian state entities produced an oligarchic sectarian political system, which caters to the needs of the various communities in everyday life necessities (Salamey & Tabbar, 2008; Traboulsi, 2014), including mobility practices (Assaf et al., 2021; Mady, 2021). They have been supporting and feeding such processes of informality over the years (Farjalla et al., 2017). As such, the informal transport system is a formal and community-based innovative practice advanced by a group of people away from technocrats and formal institutions to introduce innovation into modes of societal organization and provide the right to transport for all, including drivers and operators.
In the conventional sense, such an informal transport system operates between the public and individual private spheres (Cervero & Golub, 2007; Behrens et al., 2016). The system takes on the characteristic of informality not only because it is self-regulated and supported by providers who decide when and how the system operates since the drivers could divert off the designated routes. But also partly due to the laissez-faire and informal nature of the socio-political contexts that allow the emergence of these practices (ibid). The system has been large, though not entirely, unregulated and run by various arrangements, with either operator associations or unions heavily involved with connections to the Ministries of Public Works and Transport, and Interior. Most of the operations are, for instance, family businesses or cooperatives that engage family members and/or unskilled labours. As such, new inter-community relations and institutional structures are being built. The drivers and the operators often belong to a union that determines who may serve a given route and use the route’s terminals. Regardless of having a government operating license, the unions charge their members for use of the terminals and for the right to operate on specific routes. Unions are usually very rigorous in the enforcement of their prerogatives and are a significant political force in most developing countries (Kumar et al., 2021). Their influence is due in part to the number of people involved in the sector and the fact that government officials (e.g., police, regulatory employees) are often directly involved in the industry through license and vehicle ownership. Even when such services are regulated and legalised, they continue to be referred to as informal transport to distinguish them from bus services operated by large organizations that adhere to fixed routes and schedules.
In sum, the informal transport system may appear as chaotic, disorganized, and unsafe for an outsider. However, the system has a vertical hierarchy among the drivers and operators. The system is hence considered as a hybrid public-civic-private transport since it is made by people and for the people, yet it operates on public roads and is legally registered. Last, as successful as the practice appears to be, it remains sectarian its routes division and operation within a sectarian mosaic.
References
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