Broken elevators, temporalities of breakdown, and open data: how wheelchair mobility, social media activism and situated knowledge negotiate public transport systems

Abstract

This paper analyzes the significance of disability for urban mobility assemblages by focusing on the uneven encounters of public transport infrastructures, wheelchairs and their users by connecting media studies, STS, and Dis/Ability Studies. The particular focus of this article is how knowledge and lived experiences concerning wheelchair mobility are related to dysfunctional media infrastructure spaces and their translation to social media activism as well as open data practices. In my analysis, I particularly focus on access work by initiatives in Berlin, Germany, towards inclusive mobile technologies and platforms (Elevate Project) and their potential impact on the field of dis/abling mobilities. The analysis suggests that wheelchair mobility is implemented in urban infrastructures of public transportation, where temporalities of broken elevators might emerge as a challenging effect and trigger responses that affect the lived experiences of the drivers. Some of the effects include social media activism and initiatives to build novel forms of knowledge, digital mapping or data processing.