ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that a mass rapid transit (MRT) system, as a component of urban infrastructure traversing a particular locality, and the meanings and interpretations that it helps to engender are mutually interdependent. It takes its departure from the discrepancy between the enthusiasm for the coming of the Kaohsiung MRT and its underutilization, and examines the circumstances under which this discrepancy was produced. It highlights the salience of locality and locatedness in understanding mobility, through a case in which huge funding allocated for its construction was perceived as a belated step towards regional equality in Taiwan. It also highlights the significance of spatiality in the understanding of mobility, approaching the 'why mass transit' question in two different but interrelated ways. The chapter is derived from nearly a decade of ethnographic fieldwork coinciding with the construction of the Kaohsiung MRT. It offers new insights to advance our understanding of urban transportation as a nexus of space and flow.
