Labor Precarity and microbus drivers in Mexico City

Abstract

The Mexico City microbus cannot be understood merely as a vehicle or as a lagging component of the mobility system. It is a social infrastructure where urban form, the economic organization of privately operated transport, travel routines, and the occupational health of its drivers intersect. Based on a systemic analysis of urban dynamics and academic literature on space production, mobility, precarious employment, and ergonomics, this essay argues that the demands of the driver's job are the result of a socio-spatial chain: the separation between housing, employment, and services produces long commutes; these flows put pressure on the transport system; and this pressure is then transferred to the driver's body through long workdays, sustained postures, exposure to noise, informal monitoring of competition for passengers, and limited decision-making capacity. The text proposes that the modernization of public transport must include, in addition to vehicle renewal, criteria for decent work, ergonomic design, rest management, operational reorganization, and road safety understood as an effect of the city that is produced daily.