This project represents an inquiry into topics raised by a previous ethnographic study which we conducted on the Orange County bus system. That study began by asking who rides the bus in Orange County? and trying to understand this alternate form of mobility in a car-dominant culture. During the course of that project we were struck by the diversity of both the ways in which different riders created and maintained their identities, as well as the different conceptions we as researchers might have of mobility. For this project, then, we tried to delve deeper, starting with the question, if mobility isn't all about seeking resources, finding a means to an end, and being purely functional, then what is it about and how do we get at that?

The Orange County study was fascinating in that it addressed a very limited group of people; only about 200,000 people ride each day. We thought that the London Underground would be a good place to study the opposite extreme, almost 3 million people ride every day, and the populary held view is that "everyone rides the tube." Indeed, studies have shown that the tube is such an integral part of the way in which Londoners conceived of their city, whether they were frequent riders or not. Taking off from that, as well as work which had been done by Scott in "global cities," including London, on Mobile Kits, we decided London would an interesting and relevant place to conduct our inquiry.