Mundane intermodality: a comparative analysis of bike-renting practices

Figures & data

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A woman (Jane) walks towards the terminal with both hands raised, looking at something that she holds in her hand (a smartphone). Jane raises her head, moves her hands back to reach the personal shoulder bag on her right shoulder and the back of her body. While slowing down the pace, Jane moves the bag from her back to her right side and over to the front of her body. Jane stops, lifts the bag with her left hand, puts something that she holds in her right hand (a smartphone) in the right-hand pocket of the bag. Jane opens the top of the bag and puts her left hand in the bag to search. She re-balances, carrying the bag, and takes a new grip on the bag with her left hand instead and continues to search with her right hand. The shift makes the opening of the bag bigger, and she looks into the bag with concentration. Jane temporarily raises her head looks around and refocuses on the contents of the bag. Slowly, Jane shifts the direction of her body to the left, towards the terminal. She takes small steps over to the terminal, still with one hand in the bag and still looking down. She stops when she reaches the terminal and looks up at the screen while holding something in her right hand (credit card) that she puts into the terminal. She then continues to look for something in her bag and moves her body back by taking a step back with her left leg lifting the bag even more, lowering the head (as if she is going to dive into the bag). Then, she moves forward again while lowering the bag. Jane moves her right hand to the screen (as if using her hand as temporary sun protection for the screen). She arranges something over her eyes (eyeglasses). Jane stands still for 10 seconds with her right hand by the screen and her left hand raised closely over her eyes. During this interaction, she is keeping a very short distance between her face and the small screen by the terminal. Jane presses a button (or more on the screen) during the ten-second-long interaction.

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After the last button is pressed, she turns around with her body by taking a step backwards with her left leg and rotating the body 180 degrees while holding the shoulder bag with her right hand. Jane moves from the terminal towards one of the bikes. During this walk, she lifts the bag from her shoulder in her right hand so that the bag moves away from her torso. Jane adjusts the bag with both hands while walking and moves the bag from her right to her left hand and places the bag into the basket in the front of the bike. Jane puts her left hand on the handlebar and leans forward with her right hand to press the button by the bike rack on the bike rental location. She then moves her right hand to the handlebar and draws the bike towards herself twice (and with some force). The bike moves away from the rack the second time. Jane relocates her right hand to the seat, followed by the movement of her left hand to the front of the seat. With her left hand, Jane adjusts the lever underneath the seat. She then uses both hands on the seat, swivelling the seat back and forth so that it is lowered to a suitable level. Jane briefly looks up and moves her left hand to the lever again to lock down and fix the seat. Her right hand is moved slightly on the seat and her left hand over to the handlebar. Holding the bike with her two hands, Jane starts to walk forward to the left with one bike rack (empty) in-between the space where she moves her bike and where she moves her legs (body). After passing the bike rack (poles), Jane shifts direction to the right. Her pace slows, and her right hand is moved over to the handlebar. Jane stops and lifts her right leg over the bar and onto the pedal. She looks to the right and takes off by moving her weight forward. The bike is initially unsteady, but Jane sits up on the bike with a foot on each pedal, looks to the right and removes into the street, keeping her focus on a white car that is driving on the right-hand side towards the city. After the car passes, Jane speeds up and removes into the street.

Figure 1. 1–9 A bike-renting sequence unfolding in Toulouse.

Figure 2. 1–2: Watching operations. Curious loiterers and potential users based on the seemingly similar and yet different object referred to as the bike-sharing bike.

Figure 3. 1–4 The bike rental place – a playground or spinning exercise – as a playful way of appropriating the similarities and differences between bikes and bike rental bikes.

Figure 4. 1–3. Returning rental bikes to the stand. Three instances of leaving and adjusting bikes at the rental station.