“Government investments in public transport systems may very well be exacerbating inequality due to their direct ties with the global capitalist system.”
To claim that investment in public transportation goes against the interests of low-income workers is counterintuitive. It is expected that the highest someone’s income is, the less likely they are to rely on buses to get around. Therefore, if money is spent to make improvements in this sector, we naturally expect investments to target users’ interests and well-being. And, because of this expectation, whenever buses are vandalized during a protest, many observers perceive this destruction as symbolic of ungratefulness — to bite the hand that feeds. Could it be, however, that investment in public transport in fact leads to disadvantages to the lowest income working population?