ABSTRACT
In light of urban and population growth, motorcycle-taxi services fulfil essential functions within local transport systems in Sub-Saharan Africa. These services are mostly provided by ‘informal’ operators and while following various forms of self-regulation often lack effective formal regulatory frameworks. This brings about negative externalities such as road safety issues, missing service standards and often precarious working conditions. Nevertheless, motorcycle-taxi services provide needed job opportunities and can entail positive socioeconomic effects. Against the background of this ambivalence and inspired by theories of social practice the chapter traces the pathways of motorcycle-taxi drivers in the dynamic public transport field of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Based on preliminary results of an explorative research project it asks why, how and on what basis these transport workers enter this profession, gain a position and struggle for continued participation, social uplift and reduction of social insecurity. In so doing, it identifies opportunities and limitations that result from the drivers’ embeddedness in social networks and everyday practices. The chapter aims to contribute to the overarching question of the book by analysing the micropolitics, the appropriation of public space and the role of power structures in the field in relation to the agency of motorcycle-taxi workers, their associations and the state.
