Punctuated and Prolonged: A Workers' Inquiry into Infrastructural Failures in Bus Transit

In North America, bus operators are essential but undervalued public servants — the ''human infrastructure'' of public transit. Transit workers face a range of largely invisible health and safety issues that have worsened in recent years. As more attention is directed toward new technologies being commercialized in the sector these operational challenges remain largely unaddressed. Our paper contributes to a turn ''back to labor'' and describes issues bus operators face on the job. Through a diary study of bus operators' working conditions we detail how punctuated moments of workplace violence, inhumane scheduling, and unsafe operational conditions become prolonged infrastructural failure. We outline how CSCW researchers and practitioners can contribute to the design of transit systems that enhance worker dignity and contribute to ongoing efforts to address urgent health and safety concerns.