CeMoRe
Research Day
2011
j.ebrey@chester.ac.uk
Riding the 86
Bus
Mobility on
a‘suburban’ bus
route
Urban Mobility
 As Jensen suggests (2009), ‘Urban mobility is an
important everyday practice that produces
meaning and culture’.
 But which meanings and cultures?
 How might an analysis of these in the context of
the Manchester 86 bus, contribute to our
understandings of mobilities and the city?

Research Questions (1)
 I wanted to find out something more about ‘the
multiplicity of histories that is the spatial’
(Massey,2000:231)
 How important, for instance, might the bus be to the
people who travel on it? What kind of journeys were
they making, in a physical, emotional and
imaginative sense? And how were these related to
other spatial trajectories?
 Linked to the idea of ‘journeys’, I wanted to know
what kind of space was produced on the bus. Was it
noisy, contemplative, joyous, mundane?
Research Questions (2)
 Amin and Thrift (2002:22) discuss the way in
which a seemingly simple journey can be
understood in terms of ‘a complex simultaneity
of trajectories’, which they identify as:
 “The practices and thoughts of those travelling
 The histories of places crossed
 The trajectories of places left, now getting by
without you”
Research Questions (3)
 Amin and Thrift’s observations suggested questions
that I wanted to address:
 What kinds of people were travelling when, and why.
I was interested in whether there were ‘waves’ of
travellers, perhaps going to work on a Sunday, or
indeed riding home after work late in the evening.
 Related to my work on the weekend, this research
may, for instance illuminate how workers felt about
working at the weekend and how many buses they
may need to catch to get to their place of work.
Research Questions (4)
 What might we mean by ‘the space’ of the bus?
We can consider its design, the physical space in
which we sit, the proximity of others and their
connections, the interaction between
passengers and between them and the driver.
We might also consider the spaces through
which the bus travels.
Research Questions (5)
 Do buses and the people they carry ‘write’ the
city in a particular way. We do, after all refer to
bus routes as a means of orienting ourselves in
the city
 How is the space of the bus produced at
different times and different days. Does the bus
feel qualitatively different on Tuesday afternoon
for example, than it does on a Friday night
To sum up…what am I doing?
 Assessing the role and importance of the bus in
the lives of the people who travel on the 86
 Thinking about the relationship between the bus
and the city
 Considering and reassessing the bus as a form of
everyday mobility
 Finding out more about the role of the bus in the
weekends of actors
The Research Methodd…
 Permission from the bus company for interviews
on bus…
 Some diary work done on several occasions
written on bus as I was travelling
 Spent one weekend sitting on bus for two
journeys to and from town asking fellow
passengers whether they would talk to me
 Did mini interviews with approx 25 people as we
sat on bus
The ‘Omnibus’
 An etymology of the term ‘omnibus’ reveals its
origins in the Latin for ‘for all’
 Since the Industrial Revolution, certainly in the
UK, buses have been the form of public transport
that has made city mobility possible for most
people. In fact, the bus and the modern city
have a symbiotic relationship. Could one exist
without the other?
The bus, modernity and the city
In the Omnibus (1864) Honore Daumier
 Daumiers painting of the ‘omnibus’ signifies the city and
the new spaces and rhythms. The bus represents the city
in microcosm and reveals the new public role of the
working class.
 Buses have historically had a role as urban imaginaries,
signifiers of the modern city. This was particularly evident
when municipally owned…
 ‘Their corporate presence spoke of continuity, civic
pride and a sense of place, where the liveries of their
successors speak simply of money.’ (David McKie
quoted in Wright, LRB -2006 of buses in Leeds)
Buses in Manchester…thinking
about a history…
 Visited an old bus depot now reconstituted as
Manchester’s Transport Museum in Cheetham Hill.
 Visit told me more about another side of bus
culture…that of the former workers involved in public
transport who knew most things about buses and bus
routes and who love buses.
 In the former depot canteen, now the museum café,
a spontaneous group discussion emerged, about
buses and their histories, involving former employees
of bus companies in the North West who like to spend
time with each other and talk about life…and buses.
The Public Realm…
 Here, amongst the buses and the souvenirs and
the archive of timetables and schedules lay a
moving commitment to the public realm, in
particular bus travel, and a quiet anger about its
deregulation, even if there seemed to be more
than a little resistance by some former drivers, to
the relatively new spaces provided on buses for
buggies and wheelchairs
 This commitment was evident in some of the
Transport Museum archive material.
Deregulation (1)
 50 years later, a very different approach to
public transport was advanced by ‘Margaret
Thatcher and her eager disciple Nicholas Ridley
(who) privatised the National Bus Company in
1985’.(Paul Foot Jan 1999 LRB)
 . ‘The buses White Paper was the basis of the
Transport Act 1985 which provided for the
deregulation of local bus services in the whole of
the UK, except for N. Ireland and London…it
allowed for competition on local bus services for
the first time since the 1930’s.’
Deregulation (2)
 One of the conversational group at the Transport
Museum was a driver who told the story of the
‘saddest day of his life’, when the buses were
deregulated and the depot where he worked in
Salford was closed on the same day. At a stroke,
he lost his loved group of workmates and was
moved to an unfamiliar location somewhere else
in Manchester to work.
Everyday Life (1)
 Everyday life has often been understood as the
routine, the dull, the uninspiring, though feminist
writers offered an epistemological break with this
perspective. Smith (1987), hooks (1991) and Felski
(2001), have challenged this gendered idea of
the everyday.
Everyday Life (2n)
 Provincial bus travel is often viewed as part of
this ‘routine and uninspiring everyday’ through its
association with the least powerful - women, the
elderly, schoolchildren, ethnic minorities and the
working class. I wanted to see whether travellers
felt this way or whether for them (us) it
represented something more
 M Thatcher and buses…failure if you travel on
buses after age 26
Buses are ordinary…(1)
 Buses we might say then, are indeed ‘ordinary’.
 Raymond Williams, in his (1961) essay Culture is
Ordinary tells a story of his journey from the
nearest city of Hereford back to a rural border
village on the bus. The markers of his journey
back home, accompanied by a mutually
‘absorbed’ driver and conductress are viewed
from the windows of a bus
 The account is framed by the title of the piece
which situates culture and the bus firmly in the
quotidian
Buses are ordinary…(2)
 Williams’ journey is both ordinary and extraordinary.
On one level it is a story of a short bus journey from
home, a small settlement near the Black Mountains,
to the nearest town of Hereford.
 This is a place where he can, within a few hundred
yards, both view the 6.05 Special plus the cartoon
version of Gullivers Travel at the cinema and nearby
at the cathedral look at the medieval interpretation
of the world in the Mappa Mundi. The spatial
trajectories are complex, even in this small city
located in one of the most rural counties in England
Buses are ordinary…(3)
 Williams’ bus ride was a journey through a landscape
where the traces of social, cultural and economic
history revealed themselves through the bus windows
 It was, too a biographical journey. He says ‘I was born
and grew up halfway along that bus journey…not far
away…my grandfather worked as a farm labourer’
 Mobilities are about more than just physical journeys.
As Jensen points out, the mundane journey is as
forming of ‘our understanding of place, identity and
subjectivity’ as heroic travellers tales’
The bus as extraordinary…(1)
 Although bus journeys are seen as ‘commonplace’,
as having ‘no special or distinctive features’, there
are occasions when the space of the bus has
become particularly significant
 As Jordan (2002) has pointed out, ‘the ordinary can
quickly become extraordinary’ Historically, this has
been the case with the bus…for instance, when
segregation and civil rights were challenged in the
US, the space of the bus became a resistant space
and a central focus for the struggle
The bus as extraordinary…(2)
 Examples of such moments of historical significance
are:
 Rosa Parks and Montgomery bus boycott (1950/51)
 Freedom Riders USA (1961) Southern states riding
interstate buses to test out whether anti-segregation
laws made a difference
 The current struggle of the LA Riders bus union using
civil disobedience to draw attention to fare rises and
service cuts

The ‘Rosa Parks’ Bus
The Space of the Segregated
Bus…
The Space of the segregated
bus…2
 The space of the segregated bus was very carefully
delineated
 Montgomery's segregation laws were complex: black
people were required to pay their fare to the driver,
then get off and reboard through the back door.
Sometimes the bus would drive off before the paid-up
customers made it to the back entrance. If the white
section was full and another white customer entered,
black passengers were required to give up their seats
and move farther to the back; a black person was not
even allowed to sit across the aisle from whites. These
humiliations were compounded by the fact that twothirds of the bus riders in Montgomery were black.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,991
252,00.html#ixzz1I4k47UUS
The LA Bus Riders Union – resisting
for buses…
 The Los Angeles Bus Riders Union are currently in
dispute with the LA bus authority about
increased fares and cuts to services which they
argue are racist, since these cuts affect
minorities disproportionately, as they are the
biggest users of the services in question
 In order to challenge these decisions, made with
no consultation, the Union asked for the US
equivalent of a judicial review. A decision is
awaited
The Politics of Bus Riding…
‘Service buses’…in the UK
 No distinction between seats (cost)
 Buses seem to be seen as the province of those
on low incomes and therefore receive little
recognition as a form of mobility…
 Rarely mentioned in government initiatives (like
the recent high speed rail proposal), despite
millions of people travelling on them every day.
 Cities would literally grind to a halt without the
option of bus travel
The 86 Bus
 Double Decker, generally with room for 2/3
prams or wheelchairs
 One man operated
 Large windows: ‘panoramic’ view (esp top
deck)
The 86 Bus: Route

Begins at bus station in the centre of town (Picc Gdns)

Wends its way down Portland St (19c hotels, edge of China town)

Whitworth St (Large 19c Refuge insurance building (now hotel) , Palace
Theatre

Oxford Rd (Cornerhouse, BBC)

RNCM and University

Redeveloped Hulme

Moss Side

Whalley Range
Chorlton
Journey begins: Piccadilly Bus St
Palace Hotel…
Cornerhouse Cinema
Royal Northern College of Music
Hulme Garden Centre
Hydes Brewery
Upper Chorlton Rd
Chorlton Bus Station (final stop)
The ‘Inhabitants’ of the 86 Bus (1)
 I spoke to 23 people in total – 14 women and 9
men
 Ages:
 15 -24 2 women. 1 man
 25-44 9 women. 4 men
 45 – 64 2 women. 3 men
 65 and over 1 man 1 woman
The ‘Inhabitants’ of the 86 Bus (2)
Women
 4 women worked in the home. 3 had small children, 1
had grandchildren
 Chemotherapy nurse (1)
 Classroom assistant/working in nightclub (1)
 Waitress at hotel (1)
 Creative industries (3)
 Unemployed (1)
The ‘Inhabitants’ of the 86 Bus (3)
Men
 Data Entry clerk (1)
(1)
 Student (1)
 Hotel maintenance (1)
 City Council: admin (1)
 Cleaner (1)
 Retail (2)
 IT (1)
Retired Cash and Carry owner
Retired Insurance manager (1)
Travellers on the 86…
 Most women when asked were happy to have a
conversation with me
 Men were not so willing and I got several refusals
 Two men apologised for their refusal, saying they
were too tired…one had been on the phone all day
at work and he wanted some quiet time
 Another reminded me that working in retail at the
Arndale Centre meant that you had to work until 8
on at least some nights. Shops are contractually
obliged in the AC to open until then
The Space of the 86 bus (1)
 The production of space within the bus changes at
different times of day.
 Double decker: each tier seems to have a particular
meaning:downstairs seems to be the more
‘respectable’, space associated with being older. C,
a young man in his 30’s, now always sits downstairs.
When he was younger he sat upstairs, but ‘maturity’
he now says is ‘downstairs’
 Most with whom I spoke sat at least on the same
deck, if not in the same seat every time they got on
the bus, something you do when somewhere familiar
–home or work perhaps
Upper or lower deck?
 Saint corroborates this understanding ‘The levels
of double-deckers have always been at odds.
The lower deck is for the old, the sedentary and
the incurious; the top deck is for fighting,
necking, sightseeing and making maddening
calls. It used to be for smoking; on Routemasters
it was for fare evasion, too. In their dying days
conductors hardly bothered to go upstairs.
Personal devices had put a distance between
them and the passengers, one told Elborough.
And they handled little money any more, mostly
checking passes and cards’ LRB Vol 28. No 2. 26
Jan 2006 p35 Andrew Saint
The Space of the 86 Bus (2)
 There is, however a reproduction of power relations in
the space of the bus. Several women with whom I
spoke had suffered sexual assault in particular parts of
the bus – the back seat and the upper deck being in
this case.
 . Subsequently, they have both made sure they sit in
what is perceived to be a safe space on the bus
 A, now in her 60’s had ‘…a few experiences like this
as a teenager. I haven’t sat in the back seat since’.
 I, now in her 20’s always sits upstairs, ‘…but not if on
her own at night time. (I was )exposed to, as a
young(er) woman
What does the bus mean to
people?
 For many the bus is literally a lifeline. Without it they
would not be able to get to work.
 For V (in her 30’s and a care worker), travelling across
the city from north to south Manchester to her job,
the bus ‘ means a lot. (I can) get from one place to
another’. Workers often have to catch 2 or 3 buses to
get to work. Reductions in everyday services,
particularly on a Sunday morning when many now
have to work, mean massive inconvenience.
 B (30’s,creative consultant) is ‘grateful there is a bus
and I don’t have to walk’.
The Rhythms of the Bus…
 The bus has a kind of rhythm of its own, humans
(passengers and driver) interacting with the mechanisms
of the bus to produce a series of sounds and visual cues
 Stop, pick people up, button pressed, bell rings, panel
lights on, people get off and so it starts again. In the
background always, louder at some times of day than
others, is what Tim Dant (2010) calls ‘the babble of
humanity’
 Lefebvre (1986) suggests that each town/city/place has
its own rhythm developed through the cultural, political
and social sediments developed over the long duree. I
wonder how this is true of Manchester. How has the
‘beat’ of the city been produced through its initial role
as first industrial city.
Rhythms and Routines…
 For those people who work Monday to Friday, there
seems to be a very definite 5 + 2 rhythm to their week
and their bus use.
 Although,‘S’, (30’s, works in IT) works at the weekend, it is
only for 2 hours on one Sat or Sun. He uses the bus for 6
or 7 return journeys every week, so both his work and
social life depends on the bus. The rhythms of week and
weekend are different Friday night always has off.
Meets friends in same place every week outside Central
library. He feels ‘relief on Fri night that the working week
is over’ and ‘celebrates’ that by eating out or going to
the pictures. The bus is part of the rhythmicity of city life
and interweaves with rhythmicities of individuals to
create the ‘beat’ of the city.
The Pleasures of the 86…
 For most people, their daily/weekly/occasional ride
on the bus was a pleasurable one, which meant
more than just getting from A to B.
 For ‘A’,a woman in her 60’s, the bus ‘…passes lots of
familiar places, obviously. ‘(I) got on the bus in
Chorlton, live in Old Trafford, born in Hulme’. The
journey reiterates an autobiographical trajectory,
emphasising her identity which she says is ‘definitely
Mancunian’. However, the bus journey is one that
allows one to travel in some sense through the diverse
mobilities of fellow passengers (though I did not ask
her about that)
The Pleasures of the 86…
 About half of the people I talked to, positively
enjoyed their rides on the bus. Comments in response
to being asked whether they enjoyed the bus jouney
included:
 ‘I do actually yeah. I s’pose it’s because nobody
knows you in a way’. (‘A’)
 ‘I do. It’s nice because you can just sit there and look
out of the window’ (‘B’)
 ‘Yes it’s alright. Nice and quiet. No kids around me’.
(‘L’)
The Pleasures of the 86…
 Two women felt real pleasure on a journey which was
theirs to enjoy. They travelled on their own, with no
children or partner and felt a sense of freedom.
 For ‘D’, a undergraduate studying in the Midlands but
a Mancunian, remembers the culture of the bus,
whilst still a student at a Manchester college. The
buses provoke ‘Happy memories, college days.
Water fights on bus – got kicked off. Loads of drunken
times’. The bus journey was the precursor to a
particular student club night, ‘Loads of us. 90 pence
at Opus (nightclub). Messy Mondays (name of club
night)) The bus was the liminal zone between home
and club, the in-between place where you prepare
for each destination.
The City is a State of Mind
 The city (…) is something more than a congeries
of individual men and of social conveniences –
streets, buildings, electric lights, tramways and
telephones etc; something more also than a
mere constellation of institutions and
administrative devices – courts, hospitals,
schools, police and civil functionaries of various
sorts. The city is, rather a state of mind …A city is
not, in other words, merely a physical
mechanism and an artificial construction. It is
involved in the vital processes of the people who
compose it; it is a product of nature, particularly
human nature (Park 1925, quoted in Pile(2005:1)