Intervention

Our group have had many discussions in the workshop throwing out ideas at both ends of the spectrum of the conservative and the ridiculous! There have been periods of confusion, discouragement and skepticism as to which idea should be the main focus for our intervention and how we should move forward with our project. However, we are now at a stage where one intervention is inadequate to relieve the stigma of interaction on public transport. Therefore, we present a number of interventions that we plan to complete in the next two weeks.

Intervention 1

Say Hi! Campaign

The Say Hi! Campaign intends to relieve the stigma of interaction on public transport by sharing anecdotal experiences from using public transport on Instagram and Twitter. The campaign shall be completed by a short film demonstrating how simple it is to acknowledge a driver when boarding or alighting a bus. A YouTube channel shall be created shortly onto which we can upload our final edit.

The Say Hi! Campaign is very much a visual campaign which, fuelled by our rationale, seeks to address this stigma of interaction by restoring a sense of community between customers and transport workers that we feel is largely absent in London. This is despite our transport services being integral to everyday life in our city. After all, public transport is "the lifeblood that keeps London flowing".

The political implications of such a disconnect between public transport staff and members of the public is a growing sense of alienation. Public transport staff are undermined as low-paid workers which then constructs a stereotypical social structure whereby their job defines their low social status, despite the vitality of the jobs of public transport staff to our everyday life. Our campaign peers beneath the stereotypes and the stigma of interaction they consequently ooze.

We would like to think that our intervention could encourage a self-reflecting audience towards getting to know and empathise with the people providing their services - i.e. with each other. As our most recent Instagram post suggests, at the end of the day inside or outside the cab of a bus or train or taxi, "we are all the same" in the inclusive macro sense of the term: public transport staff are just one of us.

Intervention 2

Challenging the Consultation 

Transport for London use their consultation programme to invite the public to share their thoughts on proposed service changes. However, whether supported or not supported by the consultation vote results, changes, cutbacks and withdrawals have intervened with the way local services run irregardless of demand or service tradition as a symbolic part of one's community.

The percentage number of responses supporting these changes do not correspond with the fact that these changes went ahead, anyway. Challenge the Consultation.
Baker Street Corridor | TfL bus service proposal

Therefore, our second consultation is a politically loaded challenge of democracy: does the TfL consultation programme give a voice to the public in negotiating transport policy or does it merely give off the facade of democracy? The implementation of service changes against the response of the public shows a breakdown of communication between voters and politicians. These are two parties which, ironically, do not interact in the democracy, politically-speaking, in which we live.

To challenge the consultation's blatant disregard to the public response it invites, I plan to work with Bethel to create information sheets replicating that found on bus stops displaying route information to then stick over the route information of services recently changed - specifically those which have gone against public response - with our more journey-efficient alternatives.

Intervention 3

Katy's hospitality service

We are thinking to provide a hospitality service at either bus stops or train stations served by infrequent lines or routes to entertain passenger waiting time, or provide the hospitality service onboard public transport. This intervention is a subtle challenge to first-class service that is restricted to the few that can afford the privilege. Such stratifications only contribute to the stigma of interaction, financial capital again the defining theme behind it. 

If we are to provide our own hospitality service on public transport services or at public transport stations, everyone is able to enjoy the service without the class restrictions that separate one group of commuters from another. Katy and I can draw from our experiences working in the hospitality sector to inform a plan of action for this intervention.

Share: