Transit Mobility as a Spatial Practice

Istanbul’s Metrobus

Abstract

The article inquiries the spatial practice that Istanbul’s metrobus spans as a characteristic of transit mobility. As bus rapid transit, the metrobus has become a popular means of transport in Istanbul. However, the spatial practice it provides represents the problematized mode of mobility in the metropolis. Because efficiency-based quantification transforms the experience of a mobile space into transit practice. Hence, the article analyzes Henri Lefebvre’s spatial theory together with the production of modern mobilities. Then, it discusses how the metrobus is comprehended as the “ultimate example” of “becoming transit.” This has been a direct expression of a regular passenger during an interview that I have conducted for my ongoing doctoral thesis. Since being on the move is a social phenomenon that conceives more than functional details, the article reflects upon the interlocutor’s story to question the spatial practice of the metrobus as a transit enclosure.