Vernacular governance of public transport: contesting formalisation from below

Abstract

This paper examines the governance of public transport – shared taxis and autorickshaws – in two small Indian cities, Dehradun and Shillong, through the concept of vernacular governance. Vernacular governance denotes locally embedded mechanisms of regulation and organisation that emerge alongside or in the gaps of formal state structures and are tailored to specific socio-political and spatial contexts. These vehicles have operated in the cities for decades despite repeated legal rulings and official decrees declaring their operations ‘illegal’. The paper analyses the governance strategies devised by the operators, which exhibit parallels with other transport systems in the Global South while also incorporating distinctive local characteristics. Operationalising vernacular governance through rationalities, technologies, actors, and processes, the paper shows how these governance practices have become a source of power for transport operators, enabling their continued dominance in the cities’ public transport landscape. Consequently, these mechanisms have also resisted national government initiatives to formalise urban transport.

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