From yanivbin at gmail.com Mon May 14 03:39:36 2018 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Mon, 14 May 2018 00:09:36 +0530 Subject: [sustran] No ticket to ride: Japanese bus drivers strike by giving free rides Message-ID: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/may/11/no-ticket-to-ride-japanese-bus-drivers-strike-by-giving-free-rides-okayama No ticket to ride: Japanese bus drivers strike by giving free rides A protest in the city of Okayama is the latest in a long line of fare-free travel in response to privatisation and price hikes Cities is supported by [image: Rockefeller Foundation] About this content Naomi Larsson @naomilars Fri 11 May 2018 07.30 BSTLast modified on Fri 11 May 2018 13.05 BST - - - [image: Bus drivers working for the Ryobi bus company in Okayama refused to take fares from passengers during a dispute with the company over job security.] Bus drivers working for the Ryobi bus company in Okayama refused to take fares from passengers during a dispute with the company over job security. Photograph: Alamy Instead of forming a picket line, protesting bus drivers in the Japanese city of Okayama have been completing their routes ? but not taking fares from passengers. The dispute between workers and the Ryobi bus company reportedly began after a rival bus service launched in April, offering cheaper fares. Worried drivers called for more job security, according to Japanese media . When that wasn?t agreed, they covered the ticket machines on buses and refused to take fares from passengers. [image: View image on Twitter] [image: View image on Twitter] mipo????????&????@mipourako ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????#????? 2:47 PM - Apr 26, 2018 - 16.7K - 12.6K people are talking about this Twitter Ads info and privacy It?s not the first time transit workers have taken this kind of action. Last year in Sydney, bus drivers from 12 depots conducted a ?fare-free day ?, turning off card machines as part of a dispute over government plans to privatise services . Brisbane bus drivers tried a similar tactic last July, leading fare-free days as part of action calling for increased wages, improved safety on buses and better rosters. View image on Twitter [image: View image on Twitter] Ruth McCosker *?*@RuthMcCosker Have you had a free fare on a Brisbane City Council bus today? @RTBUQld have service strikes planned for tomorrow. 6:53 AM - Jul 27, 2017 - 5 - See Ruth McCosker's other Tweets Twitter Ads info and privacy Advertisement But it?s far more common to have passengers pushing for free rides. The most prominent protests have come from Brazil?s *Movimento Passe Livre *(Free Fare Movement), which argues that paid-for public transport creates social exclusion. Starting in 2003 in the city of Salvador, when thousands of Brazilian students and workers closed roads to protest against rising transport fares, the movement climaxed in nationwide protests in 2013. The targets of the demonstrations broadened from transport fees to corruption and poor public services in general ? and as many as a million people took to the streets. The Cityscape: get the best of Guardian Cities delivered to you every week, with just-released data, features and on-the-ground reports from all over the world On a much smaller scale, a group in Sweden has been advocating for free transit across cities for almost two decades. Formed in 2001, Planka encourages people to dodge fares, helping members pay any penalty fees through a group fund. Private companies want to replace public transport. Should we let them? Read more They share videos offering guidance to citizens in Stockholm and Gothenburg on how to jump barriers and keep watch for ticket inspectors . ?Mobility and class are tightly linked,? the group writes in its book The Traffic Power Structure . ?A society based on the current mobility paradigm ? contributes directly to the increase of economic and social injustice.? And in New York, a group of activists reacted to a hike in subway fares in 2013 by using unlimited passes to swipe in other commuters. Back in Okayama, working while on strike might seem strange ? but it appears the bus drivers have got the public on their side. *Follow Guardian Cities on Twitter , Facebook and Instagram to join the discussion, and **explore our archive here * From paulbarter at reinventingtransport.org Thu May 17 17:53:19 2018 From: paulbarter at reinventingtransport.org (Paul Barter) Date: Thu, 17 May 2018 16:53:19 +0800 Subject: [sustran] The Reinventing Transport podcast is now live Message-ID: Dear sustran-discussers I hope you will forgive the shameless self-promotion here. The Trailer Episode of the new Reinventing Transport podcast is now out. This episode tells you what to expect when regular Reinventing Transport show episodes begin in June. Early episodes will include interviews with some very familiar names on sustran-discuss! Visit https://www.reinventingtransport.org/2018/05/trailer-for-new-reinventing-transport.html to: - listen to the trailer (it is less than 5 minutes) OR - watch a video version of the trailer OR - read a summary AND/OR - find out how you can subscribe to the podcast (with a podcast app on your phone or computer). Please do share the news about this new podcast with anyone else you think might find it useful. All the best, Paul Paul Barter www.reinventingparking.org www.reinventingtransport.org http://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg/faculty/barter-paul/