Popular transportation is the privately provided, publicly serving local transportation services and systems that emerge in nearly every city in the Global South and they go by many local names—ojeks, tuk-tuks, jeepneys, matatus, danfos, dala dalas, boda bodas, minibus taxis, microlets, angkots, marshrutkas, diablos rojos, bajajas, colectivos, boda bodas, dollar vans, etc. They run on two-wheels, three-wheels, or four-wheels. They are pedal or motor powered. They can even be electric.

These systems proliferate in almost every city, town, village, and rural area of low- and middle-income countries. They also operate in the underserved fringes of high-income countries. They are so common that these systems likely move more people worldwide than all other modes combined. These systems can be powerful engines for economic mobility and for creating more sustainable and inclusive cities.

Life happens in cars. We find that when people tell stories about cars, they tell them in a very different way than any other story. Conversations about car experiences surface emotions like lust, excitement, wonder, worry, fear, contentment, anger, surprise, and even disgust. What are the non-obvious emotional ties between our human to human vs. human to inanimate objects? “Are you driving a Ferrari?” “The first time I saw a Tesla I was driving on 280 and it took my breath away - I remember whispering to myself, ‘what is that?’ “ “I want to be able to tinker on my car on the weekends, and I just can’t do that with the new cars out there.” Prototyped connectedness is at the center of the emotion content that informs this interactive talk with implications for car design. We will talk about the deeper meanings captured by short stories, case examples, and interviews about cars.