An uncomfortable turnstile: Bodily exclusion and boarding practices in a public transport system

Abstract

In 2017, Santiago de Chile's public transport system was populated by a new kind of device. The new ‘butterfly’ turnstile, whose purpose was to fight off the extremely high fare-evasion rates, also brought along a new dimension of embodied interactions between passengers and this technology, which has been deemed ‘uncomfortable’ and ‘exclusionary’. Older people, wheelchair users, fat people, among others would not be accommodated by the turnstile, being routinely exposed as ‘out of the norm’ bodies. This paper draws on video analysis of passenger-turnstile interactions to explore the ways in which passengers deal with the turnstile. Some passengers would have to shrink and contort their bodies to negotiate their way in, others would experience the discomfort of having to ask the driver to be let in through the rear doors. The paper concludes by reflecting on the place comfort has within public transport policy, and the diverse affective intensities involved. By confronting its users with a very specific set of standard bodily expectations, the turnstile subjects some passengers to a form of exclusion that is experienced through the body.