Punctuated and Prolonged: A Workers’ Inquiry into Infrastructural Failures in Bus Transit

In North America, bus operators are essential but undervalued public servants — the “human infrastructure” of public transit. For decades, the working conditions they face have garnered too little attention or public concern. This is changing. Hazardous working conditions have disrupted transit services, and drivers themselves have called for change with increasing urgency. In a moment of increasing technological disruption in the transit sector, we argue that CSCW can contribute to further contesting such conditions through the framework of “infrastructural inversion.” In this paper, we lay the groundwork for this kind of intervention through a diary study of bus operators’ working conditions. We detail how punctuated moments of workplace violence, inhumane scheduling, and unsafe operational conditions become prolonged infrastructural failure. We outline how CSCW researchers and practitioners can contribute to the design of transit systems that enhance worker dignity and contribute to ongoing efforts to address urgent health and safety concerns.