ABSTRACT

In this chapter I explore how experiences in travel generate identities that inform transport choice. Drawing on auto-ethnographic research conducted in Chicago, I argue that ‘street-level moments of assembly,’ when cyclists meet as they wait to proceed onwards at a traffic light, can create feelings of mutuality. In this analysis, I draw on Randall Collins’ (2004) theory of interaction rituals. I suggest that feelings of mutuality that emerge in ‘street-level moments of assembly’ can encourage everyday cycling. However, these micro moments should be situated in wider spatial, social, political, and economic contexts.