Case Studies on Transport Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Case Studies on Transport Policy

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cstp

How urban social movements are leveraging social media to promote

dignified mobility as a basic human right
⁎
Varsolo Sunioa, , Philip Pecksonb, Jedd Carlo Ugayc,d
a
School of Management, University of Asia and the Pacific, Philippines
b
College of Arts and Sciences, University of Asia and the Pacific, Philippines
c
AECOM Philippines, Philippines
d
AltMobility PH, Philippines

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: We study how two mobility social movements with online leverage (namely AltMobility PH and Friends of Pearl
Urban social movements Drive) attempt to reorient the trajectory of transport development in favor of commuters and pedestrians by
Social media activating State apparatus through politics. Both organizations tried to engage politicians and influence agenda-
Dignified mobility setting by the State. Drawing on more than a year of extensive ethnographic data and auto-ethnographic ac-
Sustainability transition
counts, we explain how both social movements leverage online social media to build a spectacular public, forge
collective identity, organize and magnify their advocacy.

1. Introduction stream of literature has emerged focusing on the impact of computer-

There is a growing recognition in the sustainability transitions lit-
erature on the importance of civil society and social movements in the
transformation of several domains, including energy, transport, and
food systems (Köhler et al., 2019). In sociology, social movements have
long been acknowledged as agents of social and political change (Snow
et al., 2008). However, it is only in the past decade that research fo-
cusing on their role in transition towards sustainable mobility and
transportation systems is gaining traction (e.g. Aldred, 2010, 2013;
Horton, 2006; Furness, 2010; Balkmar & Summerton, 2017;
Verlinghieri and Venturini, 2018).
Activism by social movements, advocacy coalitions, and grassroots
organizations towards sustainable transportation may take many dif-
ferent forms and strategies. They may work to directly influence
transport policies (e.g. Stich and Miller, 2008) and transport plebiscites
(Legacy and Stone, 2019), lobby legislators or politicians so certain
policies get adopted (Aldred, 2010; 2013), stage protests or mass de-
monstrations (Furness, 2010; Verlinghieri and Venturini, 2018), raise
issues or mobilize the public to demand change (Balkmar and
Summerton, 2017), or develop innovations and diffuse them (Ross
et al., 2012; Seyfang and Smith, 2007; Sunio et al., 2020).
While these movements have huge potential to transform mobility
policies, practices and systems, the extant literature also recognizes the
difficulty in forming them and activating their emergence, and even-
tually sustaining them (Snow et al., 2008). In the recent years, a new
mediated communication (CMC) on ways social movements are fun-
damentally constituted, formed and organized (Priante et al., 2018;
Dolata, 2018; Stewart and Schultze, 2019; Dolata and Schrape, 2016;
2018). These studies have sought “to identify the extent of the impacts
of these changed sociotechnical conditions on the emergence, devel-
opment and actions of social movements” (Dolata, 2018; p.35). How-
ever, how CMC has impacted social movements in the mobility/trans-
portation sector has remained understudied. Köhler et al (2019) have
recognized that “civil society groups may take on new organizational
forms, such as online user communities and Internet fora” (p.11) and
have called for theorizing in this area in the sustainability transitions
literature.
This paper explores the role of urban social movements (USMs) with
significant online presence in reorienting transportation policy.
Verlinghieri and Venturini (2018) point out that in transport geography
literature, there is a paucity of theorizing of the role of USMs. Two
urban social movements in Manila, the “Friends of Pearl Drive” and
“AltMobility PH”, are studied to understand how USMs leverage online
social media to build constituency, forge collective identity, and mag-
nify their protest/advocacy at the city- and national- levels. In August
2019, “Friends of Pearl Drive” met with the mayor of Pasig City (a city
within Metro Manila) to present their petition with 7,000 signatures
and a concrete plan to make a car-dominated neighborhood street,
called Pearl Drive, walkable. In July 2019, “AltMobility PH” succeeded
in getting the “Magna Carta for Dignified Commuting” filed by

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: varsolo.sunio@uap.asia (V. Sunio).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2020.07.006
Received 28 January 2020; Received in revised form 29 April 2020; Accepted 6 July 2020
2213-624X/ © 2020 World Conference on Transport Research Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article as: Varsolo Sunio, Philip Peckson and Jedd Carlo Ugay, Case Studies on Transport Policy,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2020.07.006
V. Sunio, et al.
legislators. Both USMs framed their advocacy as a struggle for “digni-
fied mobility” in behalf of commuters and pedestrians in Metro Manila.
This article seeks to answer two questions:
a. Using the two urban social movements as case studies, how does
social media facilitate the formation of contemporary social move-
ments that hybridize online and offline collective action in the
mobility sector, considering that both USMs appropriated and uti-
lized social media as an essential organizing agent for their ad-
vocacy?
b. How do advocacy groups influence the State/government to reorient
the trajectory of transport development in favor of commuters/pe-
destrians?
After this introduction, the rest of the paper is structured as follows.
In Section 2, we discuss the theoretical underpinnings of the study,
including literature review. We then describe in Section 3 the metho-
dology and data sources used. A background information about the two
movements is provided in Section 4. We then present the results of our
analysis, including discussion, in Section 5. From this analysis, we draw
in Section 6 important learning points, conclusions and implications for
transport policy and practice.
2. Theoretical context
We begin by explaining how advocacy coalitions/social movements
may influence the political processes involved in political agenda-set-
ting by the State. Two theoretical frameworks are relevant: the ad-
vocacy coalitions framework (ACF) and the multiple streams approach
(MSA) (Kern and Rogge, 2018).
The core idea of the ACF is that in a policy subsystem, several ad-
vocacy coalitions are competing for influence on policymaking
(Sabatier, 1988). Generally, a given policy subsystem consists of 2–4
advocacy coalitions (Markard et al., 2016). One of them is often
dominant and has more influence on policy design (Kern and Rogge,
2018). There are many kinds of advocacy coalitions (e.g. established
industry coalitions, grassroots coalitions, state coalitions), but here our
main interest is on grassroots movement coalitions. Coalition members
can include politicians, bureaucrats, interest group members and/or
practitioners that coalesce because of shared core beliefs. Through
translation, coalition members aim to transform these beliefs into
program of action (Ritter et al., 2018).
The multiple streams approach, first conceptualized by Kingdon
(1984, 1995, 2010), and further developed by Zahariadis (2003, 2014),
has been applied to understand agenda setting, explaining why some
ideas rise to national agenda by the State. At the core of the MSA are
three independent process streams—problem, policy solutions, and
politics. The problem stream consists of public problems that people
want the state or government to address. Applied to transportation-
related issues, these public problems can be traffic gridlocks, trans-
portation crises and low-quality mobility systems. The policy stream
consists of solutions developed by experts and analysts. These can be
policy proposals, feasibility studies, or legislative bills. The politics
stream consists of the “national mood, pressure group campaigns, and
administrative or legislative turnover” (Zahariadis, 2014; p. 34).
There have been attempts to use both frameworks in a com-
plementary way to produce a range of insights (Ritter et al., 2018;
Rozbicka and Spohr, 2016). Advocacy coalitions may engage in active
translation by means of diagnostic, prognostic and motivational
framing in order to influence the problem, policy and politics streams
(Ritter et al., 2018; Rozbicka and Spohr, 2016). For example, since an
“almost infinite number of problems could be considered in the pro-
blem stream”, advocacy coalitions can engage in diagnostic framing so
that “certain problems come to the attention of, and are regarded as
important by, stakeholders” (Ritter et al., 2018; p. 1542). Within the
policy stream, coalition members may use prognostic framing to
2
Case Studies on Transport Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
articulate and advocate viable policy solutions. Finally, within the
politics stream, advocacy coalitions can employ motivational framing
to call to action, stir the national mood and press demands on the
government.
Issues concerning scalability, success and temporal continuity by
grassroots movements are known in the literature (Snow et al., 2008).
In general, grassroots movements have difficulty in scaling up and be-
coming successful (Hossain, 2018). Moreover, they face challenges re-
lated to skills requirements, resource requirements, and vulnerable si-
tuations such as funding scarcity, the departure of key people, high
turnover of volunteers, and changes in policies (Hossain, 2018).
Recently, with the rise of computer-mediated communication
(CMC) (Priante et al., 2018), scholars have begun to theorize on the role
and effect of such technical infrastructures on traditional social move-
ments (Dolata, 2018). In general, the findings of extant literature on
CMC's impact on identity processes during collective action are mixed.
On the one hand, scholars have identified various ways in which CMC
can successfully support identity processes. On the other hand, in the
literature, there are studies that demonstrate how CMC does not sup-
port identity processes (Priante et al., 2018). Our interest in this article
is not to enter into this debate, but to simply review some relevant
studies on how CMC such as the social media may facilitate social
identity processes for the formation of an online collective, including
ways it can be leveraged by advocacy movements to influence agenda-
setting by the State.
Two insights from the literature are of relevance. First, as social
movements are increasingly relying on Internet technology, some stu-
dies explore and confirm the affordances of social media for producing
solidarity and constructing collective identity (e.g. Khazraee and
Novak, 2018; Stewart and Schultze, 2019). Second, while it is true that
social movements will need more than just social media in order to
emerge, initiate and sustain their advocacy, social movements in the
internet age certainly need social media to broaden their collective
action repertoire (Kidd and McIntosh, 2016). For example, social net-
working sites and social media have been used to organize protests in
Colombia and Guatemala, and mobilize voters in the United States,
demonstrating that online activism can spill offline (Harlow and Harp,
2012). Other opportunities for digital activism made possible by social
media include a number of spectator, transitional, and gladiatorial ac-
tivities (George and Leidner, 2019).
3. Methodology
To answer our objectives, we use qualitative methods based on
Gioia approach (Gioia et al., 2013).
The Gioia approach is a well-established methodology for ensuring
rigor in inductive research (Gioia et al., 2013). It typically begins with a
research question and a presentation of the related literature regarding
a phenomenon of interest (Chandra and Shang, 2019). In terms of data
collection, it relies on purposive sampling of cases that are of theore-
tical relevance (Etikan, Musa and Alkassim, 2016). It is an iterative
process: emergent findings/concepts are always checked back and forth
with the literature/theories as well as the data collected. It uses a
method of coding data as first-order categories that are as close as
possible to the raw data and then abstracting them into second-order
themes and, finally, grouping them into aggregate dimensions. These
three orders of data analysis are then organized into the so-called “data
structure”. Lastly, a process model or grounded theory is developed
using the data structure that shows relationships among the emergent
concepts (Gioia et al., 2013; Chandra and Shang, 2019) (Fig. 1).
Three data sources were used. The first source is the ethnography of
the first co-author (VS) based on his experiences following for more
than a year the activities of the two groups, interviewing and inter-
acting with the key members of the founding and organizing team. The
second source is the auto-ethnographic account (Wall, 2008) of PP and
JU, both co-authors of this paper, who are co-founders of the “Friends
V. Sunio, et al.
Fig. 1. Methodology.
of Pearl Drive” and “AltMobility PH”, respectively. We also collect data
from online material/documents, such as posts from “Pearl Project” and
“AltMobility” (both Facebook pages), Facebook groups being main-
tained by both USMs, online petition, legislative bills, and several
media articles featuring the advocacy of both USMs (Appendix A). We
believe that this procedure of data collection is consistent with criteria
recommended for establishing data “trustworthiness” (Greenwood and
Suddaby, 2006).
Using an analytical framework informed by theoretical context and
guided by the research questions, we analyzed the data. Following the
Gioia approach, an open and axial coding is employed to extract first-
order concepts, second-order themes and aggregate dimensions, all
comprising the data structure, in order to build a grounded theory
(Gioia, Corley and Hamilton, 2013). In doing these steps, there is a
constant iteration among empirical data, preexisting theoretical con-
structs, research questions, categories, themes, aggregate dimensions
and the emerging theory; hence, this method is best described as ab-
duction (Maanen, Sørensen and Mitchell, 2007).
4. The Philippine Context: Urban social movements in the
mobility sector
4.1. The Pearl Project: A citizen’s movement for a walkable Pearl Drive by
the Friends of Pearl Drive (City Level)
Pearl Drive is a two-lane road in Pasig City’s central business dis-
trict. It is about 500 m in length. Along Pearl Drive are mid- to high-rise
residential condominiums, office towers, a commercial building, and
one university. Another high-rise office tower is currently being con-
structed along the road. Pearl Drive is an increasingly dense neigh-
borhood.
Like virtually all streets in Metro Manila, Pearl Drive is unwalkable
and car-centric. Its pedestrian infrastructure is not only inadequate but
also dilapidated. Compounding this situation are the curb-cuts on a
significant length of Pearl Drive. These curb-cuts allow cars to drive
over the sidewalk to access parking slots along the perimeter of
buildings or on open-space along a canal. Pearl Drive also has no pro-
visions for people with strollers or on wheelchairs.
The intrusion of cars onto Pearl Drive’s narrow and dilapidated
sidewalks forces pedestrians to walk on the roadway itself, exposing
themselves to passing vehicles. This problem is especially severe in
mornings and early evenings, when people arrive in or leave work or
school. Furthermore, the lack of safe pathways for pedestrians prevents
Pearl Drive from becoming its neighborhood’s foremost public space.
Without walkability, Pearl Drive remains a conduit for cars, a space that
3
Case Studies on Transport Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
is not only unsafe for most of its users but also impossible to enjoy.
Nonetheless, Pearl Drive’s condition is far from unique. There are, in
fact, many other streets that are far more unwalkable. However, what
sets Pearl Drive apart are two potentials: 1) Improving its walkability
will have outsized benefits not just in pedestrian safety but also in
place-making, and 2) Pearl Drive already has the open-space needed for
improvements in walkability. This open-space that is about 6-meter-
wide runs for three-fourths of the length of Pearl Drive and is entirely
tree-shaded. If turned into a linear park, not only can this open space
become a wide, tree-covered promenade; the surrounding neighbor-
hood which already contributes foot traffic can turn the park into a
vibrant neighborhood space. Pearl Drive has all the necessary require-
ments for a successful park: An open-space in a dense mixed-use
neighborhood, tree-cover, and foot-traffic at various times of the day.
It was these conditions–an unwalkable and dangerous street that
nonetheless had great potential for walkability–that motivated some
members of the Pearl Drive community to mount a campaign to renew
their street. This campaign was launched in November 2018. It made
use of the following tools: A signature drive for its petition, social
media, meetings with stakeholders, and events. The campaign was
eventually named “Pearl Project”.
The group believes that people – not cars – must be the priority on
Pearl Drive. They also believe that an unwalkable street is not just an
inconvenience but an affront to their self-respect and dignity as persons.
“To enter Pearl Drive as a pedestrian is immediately to become a
second-class citizen”, the group’s online petition puts it. People deserve
better, and the constant failure to deliver this was something to be
taken personally. People must insist on walkable streets based on their
dignity as persons.
Within a few months, the signature campaign had gained more than
7000 signatures using both an online platform and pen-and-paper.
However, the movement had its farthest reach on social media, parti-
cularly through the Pearl Project Facebook page. Through Facebook,
Pearl Project was able to deliver its message not just to its immediate
stakeholders but also to Pasig City residents and even to decision ma-
kers.
4.2. AltMobility and the struggle for dignified commuting (National Level)
AltMobility PH is a group of policy advocates passionate about
making transport sustainable and inclusive. They advocate a transport
system that is safe, accessible, inclusive, dignified and sustainable, as
well as sensible and humane transport policies which recognize the
needs of people–particularly pedestrians and the commuting public —
above all other interests.
V. Sunio, et al.
AltMobility PH was formed when a group of professionals wanted to
make a difference in the transport sector and try to change the Filipino
car-centric thinking/culture into a more progressive, people-oriented
mobility. They were all coming from a transportation background and
just recently took masteral scholarships abroad. The group started with
doing talks/seminars/forums to influence and educate people. They
also created a Facebook group called “How’s Your Byahe, Bes?” or
HYBB (How is your commute, friend?) in order to have an online pre-
sence. While the talks and social media efforts were doing well, they
thought that it was not enough. They thought they can do more, and
they can leverage on their existing online and offline presence. Later on,
they decided to step up their action by drafting and lobbying for the
Magna Carta for Commuters.
The organizers of AltMobility PH recognize that “mobility is a
fundamental human need” and dignified commuting is a basic right of
every citizen, and therefore the State should “guarantee and protect the
right of each person to travel safely, conveniently, reliably, affordably
and with dignity”. Unfortunately, in the Philippines, said the group’s
co-founder, “commuting is frustrating and robs us of our dignity”.
The group completed the draft of the Magna Carta in July 2019.
Through professional connections, they were able to collaborate with
several legislators. Their first encounter was with Senator Francis
Pangilinan, which liked their proposed bill and filed almost im-
mediately. Their second encounter was with the staff of Senator Grace
Poe, with whom they worked until Senator Poe filed a few weeks later.
With further efforts, they were able to lobby for the following legisla-
tors to also file the bill (in chronological order): Congressman Francisco
“Kiko” Benitez, Congressman Allan Reyes, Senator Manny Pacquiao,
and Congressman Martin Romualdez. Other congressmen namely
Rufino Biazon, Alfred Vargas, Noel Florencio and Juan Fidel Nograles
also filed their own House bills on commuter rights based on the draft
bill prepared by AltMobility PH.
They wrote the bill with eight rights which they believe are people-
centered, progressive, and important: Right to Public Transport Services
that Satisfy Commuters Mobility Requirements; Right to Safe,
Convenient, and Affordable Public Transport Services; Right to
Infrastructure for Pedestrians, Cyclists, and PWDs; Right to a Fair Share
of Public Road Space; Right to Breathe Clean Air During Travel; Right to
Information for Efficient and Convenient Travel; Right to Special
Attention During Service Breakdowns, and Right to Representation and
Participation.
They increase public awareness of the Magna Carta by posting about
it in social media especially in the “How’s Your Byahe Bes” Facebook
group where it is the cover photo and pinned announcement, discussing
it online, and always promoting it during their talks/seminars (Fig. 2).
5. Results and discussion
Fig. 3 presents the data structure consisting of aggregate dimensions
that emerged from the first-order categories and second-order themes.
Four dimensions are identified: Constructing spectacular publics
through portrayal of misery in pedestrian walking and commuting,
Mobilizing the Dignity Frame, Influencing the agenda-setting by the
State, and Leveraging social media as an organizing agent.
5.1. Constructing spectacular publics through portrayal of misery in
pedestrian walking and commuting
One significant observation we make is that both groups utilized
social media platforms to gather and present spectacles of human
misery and pain from everyday commute or walk. AltMobility PH has a
Facebook group, called HYBB, with over 5,000 members to date.
Members of this platform often share powerful personal stories about
daily hardships from commute experiences. The Friends of Pearl Drive
also maintains a Facebook page, “Pearl Project”, which among other
things visually presents the indignity of walking along Pearl Drive
4
Case Studies on Transport Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
(Fig. 4).
Many scholars have examined how social media platforms con-
tribute to the construction of solidarity and collective identity (Stewart
and Schultze, 2019; Khazraee and Novak, 2018). A sense of solidarity is
produced when reciprocal feelings of compassion about shared fate is
developed (Stewart and Schultze, 2019). A co-founder of AltMobility
PH explained, “we started putting a more emotional point of view
which focuses on inequality, social justice, lack of dignity, when we felt
that it is more impactful to move/disturb the Filipino audience than just
purely on design efficiency.” Pearl Project also focuses the attention on
the indignity of walking along Pearl Drive: “To enter Pearl Drive as a
pedestrian is immediately to become a second-class citizen.” This
feeling of being disturbed by the misery of another, who in this case is a
commuter or a pedestrian like me, may dispose me toward a sense of
solidarity with his or her fate (Chouliaraki, 2008). That is to say, this
spectacle of suffering of somebody like me can open up possibilities for
the construction of solidarity – in this case, a sense of “agonistic soli-
darity” (Curato, 2019) because it is borne out of common experience of
misery and suffering.
Curato (2019) argues that portrayals of misery facilitate the con-
struction of publics. Publics is defined as “a partial issue public, whose
participants engage actively in discussions on a given topic and who
exchange about their different ideas or suggested solutions” (Dolata and
Schrape, 2015; p.5). In contrast to audience, which is simply an ag-
gregate of isolated viewers, publics is characterized by a shared sense of
imagination (Dayan 2005; Curato 2019). Curato (2019) argues that
emotional forms of communication about suffering, collectively shared,
can construct “spectacular publics”. Spectacular publics is a type of
publics, composed of spectators who, because of their empathy with the
suffering, misery and fate of others with whom they share some bond of
solidarity, are also moral actors bestowing visibility, voice and atten-
tion to the disturbing misery of others. In this study, the “spectacular
publics” is exemplified by the Facebook pages of the two USMs, but can
also include anyone beyond their immediate network. By giving voice
and attention to misery, spectacular publics can “transform audiences
into publics, which in turn set in motion a series of public deliberations”
(Curato, 2019).
5.2. Mobilizing the dignity frame
One frame that emerged in the messaging of both USMs is that of
‘dignity’. The volunteers behind Pearl Project and the organizers of
AltMobility PH believe ‘dignity’ helps stakeholders more personally
imagine the situation on Pearl Drive and commuting in Metro Manila.
In this way, it is superior to other frames more commonly used to de-
scribe situations like Pearl Drive’s or poor public transportation system,
such as: ‘safety’, ‘safe streets’, ‘move people not cars’, and even ‘walk-
ability’. These frames, it is believed, describe superior infrastructure or
efficient transportation. On the other hand, ‘dignity’ invites the various
stakeholders, as well as its wider audience, to think of an unwalkable
street and physical hardships in commuting not just as an incon-
venience but as an affront to the people’s self-respect. ‘Dignity’ is the
most appropriate frame for moral issues involving persons, and Pearl
Project and AlthMobility PH wish to put forward Metro Manila’s
characteristic unwalkability and undignified commuting as moral is-
sues.
By framing the situation on Pearl Drive and commuting in Metro
Manila as moral, both USMs believe that they could more urgently seek
action from decision-makers, such as the city mayor and legislators. For
them, only political will is needed to transform Pearl Drive and the
public transportation system in Metro Manila. And the failure of deci-
sion-makers to exercise this will is a failure to uphold dignity. That is, a
moral failure. A moral frame also allows Pearl Project and AltMobility
PH to more personally speak to their audience. A walkable street and
dignified commuting are not just something ‘nice to have’ and occa-
sionally enjoyed. Rather, a walkable street and dignified commuting is
V. Sunio, et al.
Fig. 2. Pearl Project’s proposed linear park and petition; Magna Carta for Dignified Commuting.
something they deserve as citizens with dignity.
5.3. Influencing the agenda-setting by the State
Both USMs engage in active translation –the activity of transforming
core beliefs about dignity into program of action – by means of diag-
nostic, prognostic and motivational framing in order to influence the
problem, policy and politics streams. We describe how social move-
ments are endeavoring to influence the agenda-setting of the State. We
use ACF and MSA as a heuristic to make sense of the activities of the
social movements.
For MSA, public policies rise to the national agenda when political
institutions, such as the State, want solutions to issues they perceive as
problematic. Since the State's policymakers are already always dealing
with all-consuming and numerous problems, then “a new problem's
ability to nudge its way into the purview of policymakers is negligible”
(Jones et al., 2016; p.15). Other times, problems may have been iden-
tified and recognized, but there is no viable solution at hand for lack of
value acceptability, technical feasibility or resource adequacy of the
proposed solution (Jones et al., 2016). It is also possible that a viable
solution is proposed for a recognized problem, but without sufficient
politics, the State may not feel compelled to remedy the problem. Ad-
vocacy coalitions may provide powerful impetus for change by raising
the salience of particular problems, proposing solutions to problems,
5
Case Studies on Transport Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
and organizing pressure campaigns by means of diagnostic, prognostic
and motivational framing.
The organizers behind Pearl Project and AltMobility PH are ad-
vocating for the adoption into the agenda of: Pearl Drive Linear Park
and the Commuter's Bill of Rights. This entails attempting to influence
and couple the three streams of problem, policy and politics so that the
State may adopt the two proposals into its agenda. In the figure, we
illustrate this process (Fig. 5):
Problem stream: Problems related to transportation and mobility
have long beset the Philippines, but developments/solutions have been
biased and centered towards car-based mobility, to the neglect of public
transport commuters, cyclists and pedestrians. Although the great ma-
jority of Filipinos are users of public transportation, they are allocated a
smaller share of road space, provided with insufficient transport supply
and prioritized less in transport planning. This neglect only compounds
the problem since this encourages more Filipinos to buy cars. Both
USMs recognize these problems, but instead of considering them as
transport infrastructure and design efficiency issues, their diagnosis of
the situation of an unwalkable Pearl Drive and daily hardships in
commuting is framed as an affront to people’s sense of self-respect and
ultimately as a moral failure by the State to uphold the dignity/welfare
of persons, the commuters and pedestrians.
Policy stream. A number of solutions have been proposed (example is
the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program of the government), but the prognosis
V. Sunio, et al.
Fig. 3. Data structure (using Gioia methodology).
of both USMs frames the “Commuter Bill of Rights” and the “Linear
Park” as not only viable but also the real solution for the identified
problems of the daily hardships in commuting and unwalkable Pearl
Drive. According to founders of AltMobility PH: “While the government
is bombarding the news with their grand infrastructure plans mono-
mania and the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program, this warrants us to ques-
tion, “for whom is this development for? for whom are we really
building the city?” In terms of mobility, clearly, the priority is moving
private vehicles.” Hence, since development leans towards car users,
the proposed bill “fights for the rights of the daily commuter defined as
someone who travels from one point to another using a combination of
transport modes other than private vehicles.” They believe that re-
storing commuter dignity is the essential component to fixing transport
woes. The Pearl Drive organizers also propose to “make Pearl Drive
walkable through the construction of a linear park along the Pearl Drive
creekside, and by reclaiming its sidewalk from establishments that have
usurped it as their parking space”. Since this requires funding and time,
6
Case Studies on Transport Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
the organizers proposed a temporary solution, called “Street Life”,
which are car-free weekends / street closures on Pearl Drive, hoping to
“convert community engagement during the car-free days into more
solid support for our pedestrian promenade”. For them, streets are
meant not only to be walked on but also to be enjoyed, and the State
must guarantee their right to dignified mobility.
Politics stream. To stir the politics stream, both USMs tried to acti-
vate and influence the national/local mood by means of motivational
framing that urges a call to action. Pearl Project organizers did it
through a signature campaign for their online petition, which by August
2019 garnered a total of 7,000 signatures. AltMobility PH also mobi-
lized support for their “Commuter's Bill of Rights” through their
Facebook page and group with a total membership of 5,000. Ever since
AltMobility PH filed the bill in the Congress and Senate at the end of
July 2019, the group has been active in spreading word about it in
online news, newspaper, social media, television, transport forums and
seminars, tagging these posts with #CommutersNaman (which translates
V. Sunio, et al.
Fig. 4. Portrayals of misery in commuting and walking. All images are taken from the posts shared in Facebook groups/pages maintained by the two groups.
to “Commuters This Time”, expressing the call to prioritize commuters
this time) (Appendix B).
5.4. Leveraging social media as organizing agent
In order for projects by new organizations to emerge and succeed,
they must be perceived as legitimate by institutions and individuals that
they hope to engage (Tornikoski and Newbert, 2007). Since both groups
“Friends of Pearl Drive” and “AltMobility PH” have policy-makers and
politicians as their audience, they need to demonstrate that their pro-
jects and demands reflect the will of the people, their constituents.
To this end, the volunteers behind the Pearl Project thought that a
signature campaign, whether offline or online, is a sine qua non. They
understood that the petition could not be submitted to the City Hall
unless substantiated by as many signatures as possible. Hence, when the
movement was launched, it was launched along with a signature
campaign. AltMobility PH also had to legitimize their claim that their
demands for dignified commuting are widely shared by the commuters.
The online public, or netizens, were reached by Pearl Project vo-
lunteers through two platforms. The first is Change.org, which hosted
the online signature campaign. The second is the ‘page’ provided by
Facebook. Change.org played a leading role while signatures were
7
Case Studies on Transport Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
being gathered. Growth in the number of Change.org signatures was
disseminated as status updates on Pearl Project’s Facebook page. These
updates, in turn, invited more Facebook users to interact with the page.
A fraction of these interactions led to more overt support for Pearl
Project whether through ‘liking’ a post, ‘liking’ the page itself, signing
the petition, or all three. In brief, the signature campaign on Change.org
provided the most ‘newsworthy’ content for posting on the Facebook
page.
Once the growth in signatures began to taper off, the signature
campaign on Change.org became less important. With their seven
thousand signatures, the volunteers of Pearl Project felt that they had a
number impressive enough to substantiate their claim to a constituency
of concerned citizens. This number could then be referred to in meet-
ings with decision makers and in Facebook posts on their page.
On the other hand, with a strong membership of more than 5000
members in their Facebook group platform, and being commuters
themselves, AltMobility PH's claim to an authentic representation of the
interests of the commuters is legitimated. According to its official de-
scription, the HYBB Facebook group serves as a “platform to discuss/
brainstorm/strategize about how we can improve mobility/traffic in
the Philippines.” Inputs from the commuters posted in the platform
include positive and negative transport experiences in the Philippines,
V. Sunio, et al. Case Studies on Transport Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Fig. 5. Influencing the process of agenda-setting by the State through multiple streams approach.

and are compiled “for regular reporting (to this Facebook group, LGUs, temporary. In particular, we observe this in the AltMobility PH's
government agencies, etc.) and data analysis purposes.” Curato (2019) #CommutersNaman campaign, one of whose objectives is to solidify
uses the term ‘surrogate publics’ to describe “the ways in which wit- commuters behind a common cause of demanding from the government
nesses to tragedies act as representatives to communities of misery by the recognition and protection of the rights of commuters. Through
making claims about their recovery.” Through the social media plat- hashtag usage, the group is incrementally forging a collective fusion of
form, AltMobility PH is able to legitimize its claims to authentic sur- an online crowd, which may contribute to the creation and reproduc-
rogacy. tion of collective identity (Bonilla and Rosa, 2015).
Aside from being a tool for communication and mobilization in
order to gain legitimacy for claim-making, the social media platforms
6. Conclusion
also facilitated the continuing mobilization and communication during
periods of abeyance. Although the online signature campaign on
A robust civic sector is necessary for renewal of cities. In a study of
Change.org had provided impetus during the early phase of the Pearl
human factors behind recent transportation innovations in several cities
Project movement, any duration longer than a quick victory is better
in the United States, Tsay (2015) found that “a robust civic sector is the
suited to a campaign on Facebook. After the growth in signatures ta-
single most prevalent factor” behind such innovations (p.13). The study
pered off, and after these signatures and the corresponding petition
concluded: “Cities that innovate in urban transportation have a robust
were presented to the mayor, Pearl Project entered into a middle phase
environment of civic organizations outside government that are in favor
characterized by a lull in activity, a lack of clear progress, waning in-
of more walking, biking, and public-transit use” (Tsay, 2015; p.13).
terest, and waning commitment from its volunteers (called the period of
Recognizing the need to “encourage civic organizations to emerge”
abeyance). It is in this juncture that the Facebook page becomes even
in order to foster “more urban transportation innovation” (Tsay, 2015;
more important, for it provides a channel of communication to sup-
p.5), our aim in this article is to understand how online technologies
porters in order to remind them of Pearl Project’s importance, as well as
such as social media affect the processes of formation of social collec-
to potential supporters. At this stage, page likes or likes on posts made
tive with strong advocacy in sustainable urban mobility, and how these
on the page become more useful than signatures on Change.org or
social collectives that hybridize online and offline collective action in-
offline. This is because page likes or numerous post likes increase the
fluence the State to reorient the trajectory of transportation develop-
chances that Pearl Project will feature on the news feeds of supporters,
ment in favor of commuters/pedestrians. We summarize our findings in
potential supporters, or even decision-makers like the mayor. They also
Fig. 6.
invigorate volunteers by affirming that the cause they committed to is
In Fig. 6, we illustrate the process of formation and collective action
considered important by others.
of urban social movements, applicable to both online and offline con-
Finally, social media platforms facilitated the formation of a social
texts. In traditional offline social movements (i.e. those without the
collective, although we contend that this collectivity is fragile and
leverage of social media as organizing agent), the process begins with

8
V. Sunio, et al.
Fig. 6. The process model of formation and collective action of online urban social movements.
formation from individual actors to a collective who are bound by so-
lidarity and shared core beliefs, usually through social identity me-
chanisms (Bamberg et al., 2015). The collective can be a social move-
ment organization or grassroots coalition, engaging in some social
activism, protest and civil advocacy aimed at influencing the agenda of
the towards sustainability (Amenta and Caren, 2004). Through politics,
the collective can pressure the State to deploy state apparatus that can
reorient the trajectory of transport development along sustainable di-
rection (Langhelle et al., 2019). This reorientation is depicted in Fig. 6
as a readjustment from the business-as-usual scenario (or the status
quo). We then place in the same figure the four aggregate dimensions
identified from the previous section (in green). The model shows how
social media platform can be leveraged by social movements (specifi-
cally, through construction of spectacular publics, mobilization of the
dignity frame, and setting the agenda by the State) and its impact on
collective formation and on coupling of the three streams of problem,
politics and policy.
Our case study of two urban social movements, the Friends of Pearl
Drive and AltMobility PH, suggests the following:
Social media platforms enable expanded possibilities for the formation of
social collectivity. In the first place, these technological tools “funda-
mentally enhance connectivity among people” (Bimber et al., 2012, p.
3). Consequently, they “facilitate the situational formation of the col-
lective, in other words, the spontaneous emergence and operation of
non-organized formations” (Dolata and Schrape, 2016; p.14). This
happens because of reduced transaction costs that these technologies
make possible. In the case of AltMobility PH, which maintains the Fa-
cebook group “How’s Your Biyahe, Bes”, the membership grew when
existing members invited into the platform those in their personal
network who may have interest in transport-related issues. The number
of likes of the Facebook page “Pearl Project” was also facilitated by
online technologies and personal networks, and came from those who
have interest in the issue. The social formation can thus be described as
“partial issue publics”, preceded by the emergence of “spectacular
publics”. According to Dolata and Schrape (2016), this kind of social
formation is best characterized as “non-organized collectives”, with “no
organized and action-guiding core, but have shared perceptions,
9
Case Studies on Transport Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
approaches to consumption or ways of perceiving of problems, which
may consolidate into a mass behavior” (p.3). They may then con-
solidate into collective actors, capable of intentional and strategic ac-
tion. Here, web infrastructures may contribute to the cohesion of these
non-organized collectives into online-assisted social movements
through social identity processes. A strong sense of collective identity
drives group members to engage in collective behaviors aimed at im-
proving their in-group's situation (Bamberg et al., 2015; see also Priante
et al., 2018; Stewart and Schultze, 2019). In our case study, an op-
portunity for cohesion and stabilization, and source for collective
identity can come from a sense of agonistic solidarity or shared moral
beliefs on person’s dignity.
Social media platforms enable expanded possibilities for communication
and mobilization. Bennett and Segerberg (2012) argue that digital media
are functioning as “organizing agents” that enable broader and massive
communication, coordination and mobilization. Social media “expand
the patterns of interaction between the participants” (Dolata and
Schrape, 2016; p.15). In other words, social media have enhanced the
repertoire of action of social movements, and facilitated the organizing
functions and requirements of collective action (Cardoso et al., 2019).
As we have seen, social media have contributed not only to the process
of legitimation of the “Pearl Project” and “AltMobility PH” through the
number of signatures and likes they got from their online platforms
which substantiated the groups’ claims of authentic surrogacy, but also
to the process of continuing mobilization and communication during
periods of abeyance.
By coupling the three streams and pressuring the State to adopt sus-
tainable transport policy agenda, urban social movements may contribute to
sustainability transition. Social movements and advocacy coalitions can
be an agent of sustainability transition through organized protests that
express grievances (Blickstein & Hanson, 2001) or development and
diffusion of transportation innovation (Ross et al., 2012; Seyfang and
Smith, 2007). In this case study, we explore another pathway, which is
by reorientation of State policy towards a more sustainable transport
agenda by means of coupling the three streams of problem, policy and
politics. Considering the “range and depth of powers that only the state
can call upon” (Johnstone and Newell, 2018; p.72), influencing the
V. Sunio, et al. Case Studies on Transport Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

political institutions that control the state apparatus is thus necessary if
we are to accelerate the pace of transition towards sustainable futures.
In the Philippines, an example of a sustainability transition project
being implemented is the public transport modernization program,
which aims to replace polluting vehicles with low-emission mini-buses.
Because of the scale and complexity of the transition project, the State
as an actor plays an indispensable and critical role (Sunio et al., 2019).
In the current study, the “Friends of Pearl Drive” and “AltMobility PH”
would have achieved considerable societal impact, or contributed sig-
nificantly to sustainable transition, only once their respective projects
(i.e. the Linear Park and Commuter Bill of Rights) get implemented by
the State. Nonetheless, apart from lobbying these projects for adoption,
both groups are also engaging in various activities that aim to contest
dominant car-centric cultural logics, redefine ways people think about
sustainability, and effect broader cultural changes. Though this cultural
dimension is not explored in depth in this paper, this is also another
pathway by which urban social movements are contributing to sus-
tainability transitions (Köhler et al., 2019).
In this article, we focus on how urban social movements with online
leverage attempt to influence the State to steer its apparatus towards
more sustainable futures. However, there are other ways by which so-
cial movements can affect societal transitions. As already pointed out,
they can bring about broader cultural changes by redefining dominant
systems of meaning, challenging public opinion, contesting policy
preferences and reconfiguring everyday practices (Köhler et al., 2019).
In the Philippines, a dominant advocacy work of both USMs, Friends of
Pearl Drive and AltMobility PH, actually consists in dismantling the
dominant car-centric mentality of many people. Another role of USMs is
the stimulation of industrial innovation through social entrepreneur-
ship, which can be accomplished by “providing protective spaces for
grassroots innovation and by creating consumer demand” (Köhler et al.,
2019; p.10). Here we especially mention the observation made by
Wieczorek (2018) in her review: sustainability transitions in developing
countries can be more effectively induced by “stimulating social en-
trepreneurship, supporting the creation of new business models and
assisting local actors in setting up projects that meet their own needs”
(p.12). Finally, urban social movements can also mobilize public sup-
port for policies aimed at regime destabilization (Köhler et al., 2019).
All these are not explored in this paper and are recommended agenda
for future research.
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from agencies in the
public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Disclaimer
The views in this article do not reflect the position of the institutions
that the authors represent. Any errors, misinterpretations and omissions
are entirely the responsibility of the authors.

Appendix

A. Main online sources

Media articles produced by founders

Authors (founders) Media article title Date of publication

Zaxx Abraham and Mirick Paala (CNN Philippines) A new bill wants ‘dignified commuting’ for Filipinos 31 July 2019
Ira Cruz (ABS CBN) Restoring commuter dignity will fix our traffic woes says this revolutionary group 23 October 2019
Robert Siy (Manila Times) A commuter’s bill of rights 10 August 2019
Philip Peckson (medium.com) How do car-free weekends on Pearl Drive support long-lasting walkability? 22 February 2019
Media articles produced by non-founders:

Authors (non-founders) Media article title Date of publication

Ana Santos (aljazeera.com) Carmageddon: The indignity of commuting in Metro Manila 24 October 2019
Rosette Adel (Philippine Star) Commuter-centered traffic management planning pushed 29 July 2019
Editorial (Manila Standard) Dignified commuting 6 August 2019
Jene-Anne Pangue (Rappler) ‘Let’s do actual things!’: Commuters huddle on solutions to address traffic 2 September 2019
Marc Jayson Cayabyab (One News) ‘How’s Your Byahe, Bes?’ Traffic-Worn Commuters Get Heard Online 20 August 2019
Raya Esteban (peoplemakecities.org) The citizen-led group that is working to transform a street in Pasig 18 December 2019
Matthew Reysio-Cruz (Inquirer) Pasig kicks off unique road experiment 25 January 2019
Facebook Groups/Pages: Pearl Project, AltMobility, How’s Your bihaye, bes?

Senate and House Bills:

Legislative Branch Bill Number, Title and Sub-title Date of filing by the
(Senate/House) legislator

Senate Senate Bill 775: The Dignity in Commuting Act 14 August 2019
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A MAGNA CARTA FOR DIGNIFIED COMMUTING, CREATING THE NATIONAL OFFICE OF COMMUTER
AFFAIRS, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Principal Author: Pangilinan, Francis “Kiko” N.
Senate Senate Bill No. 1064: The Commuter’s Welfare Act 23 September 2019
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A BILL OF RIGHTS OF COMMUTERS, PROMOTING SAFE AND ACCESSIBLE PUBLIC TRANSPORTA-
TION, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Principal Author: Pacquiao, Emmanuel “Manny” D.
Senate Senate Bill No. 847: The Commuter’s Welfare Act 31 July 2019
AN ACT PROVIDING A FRAMEWORK FOR A COMMUTER-CENTERED TRANSPORTATION POLICY, APPROPRIATING FUNDS
THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Principal Author: Poe, Grace
House House Bill 3113: Bill of Rights of Commuters 5 August 2019
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A BILL OF RIGHTS OF COMMUTERS, PROMOTING EFFICIENT, SAFE, CONVENIENT, ACCESSIBLE AND

10
V. Sunio, et al. Case Studies on Transport Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

INCLUSIVE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

Principal Author/s: BENITEZ, JOSE FRANCISCO “KIKO” B.
House House Bill 3125: The Magna Carta of Commuters 5 August 2019
AN ACT CREATING A MAGNA CARTA OF COMMUTERS
Principal Author/s: REYES, ALLAN BENEDICT S.
House House Bill 3613: Bill of Rights of Commuters 14 August 2019
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A BILL OF RIGHTS OF COMMUTERS, PROMOTING EFFICIENT, SAFE, CONVENIENT, ACCESSIBLE AND
INCLUSIVE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
Principal Author/s: VARGAS, ALFRED
House House Bill 4025: The Magna Carta of Commuters 27 August 2019
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A MAGNA CARTA OF COMMUTERS
Principal Author/s: BIAZON, ROZZANO RUFINO B.
House House Bill 5202: The Commuter’s Welfare Act 6 November 2019
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A BILL OF RIGHTS OF COMMUTERS, PROMOTING SAFE AND ACCESSIBLE PUBLIC TRANSPORTA-
TION, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFORE AND OTHER PURPOSES
Principal Author/s: NOEL, FLORENCIO G.
House House Bill 5621: The Magna Carta of Commuters 2 December 2019
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A MAGNA CARTA OF COMMUTERS
Principal Author/s: ROMUALDEZ, YEDDA MARIE K.; ROMUALDEZ, FERDINAND MARTIN G.;
House House Bill 5653: The Magna Carta of Commuters 2 December 2019
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A MAGNA CARTA OF COMMUTERS
Principal Author/s: NOGRALES, JUAN FIDEL FELIPE F.

B. AltMobility PH’s “Commuter Bill of Rights” Media Pick-Up (Selection only)

Senate of the Philippines, 28 July 2019

https://senate.gov.ph/press_release/2019/0728_pangilinan1.asp
Remate, 28 July 2019
https://remate.ph/batas-na-magbibigay-dignidad-sa-mga-pasahero-inihain-ni-pangilinan/
Radyo Pilipinas, 29 July 2019
http://www.radyopilipinas.ph/rp-one/articles/national/magna-carta-for-dignified-commuting-isinusulong-ni-sen-pangilinan
Ecomparemo, 29 July 2019
https://www.ecomparemo.com/info/bill-seeks-to-regulate-parking-fees-the-metro-bus-ban-and-other-motoring-news/
Philippine Daily Inquirer, 29 July 2019
https://business.inquirer.net/275678/ambitious-bill-attempts-to-give-back-to-filipino-commuters-their-dignity/amp
PhilStar, 31 July 2019
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/07/31/1939461/house-bill-seeks-make-commuter-needs-paramount-concern-transport-policy
News 5, 30 July 2019
https://news.tv5.com.ph/breaking/read/ending-the-norm-senate-bill-775-wants-to-promote-commuters-welfare?fbclid=
IwAR1EQxzxDr3cwJYjOMqc4cEHOdIcIxwoKvcNv1RKcuB39LekIPFA1DBYErk
Jip Portal (Philstar), 01 August 2019
https://jip.ph/house-bill-seeks-to-make-commuter-needs-a-paramount-concern-in-transport-policy/
Spot.ph, 01 August 2019
https://www.spot.ph/newsfeatures/the-latest-news-features/78659/magna-carta-for-commuters-a4362-20190801

References
Aldred, R., 2010. ‘On the outside’: constructing cycling citizenship. Soc. Cult. Geogr. 11
(1), 35–52.
Aldred, R., 2013. Who are Londoners on Bikes and what do they want? Negotiating
identity and issue definition in a ‘pop-up’cycle campaign. J. Transp. Geogr. 30,
194–201.
Amenta, E., Caren, N., 2004. The legislative, organizational, and beneficiary con-
sequences of state-oriented challengers. Blackwell Comp. Soc. Mov. 461–488.
Balkmar, D., Summerton, J., 2017. Contested mobilities: politics, strategies and visions in
Swedish bicycle activism. Appl. Mobil. 2 (2), 151–165.
Bamberg, S., Rees, J., Seebauer, S., 2015. Collective climate action: Determinants of
participation intention in community-based pro-environmental initiatives. J.
Environ. Psychol. 43, 155–165.
Bennett, W.L., Segerberg, A., 2012. The logic of connective action: Digital media and the
personalization of contentious politics. Inform. Commun. Soc. 15 (5), 739–768.
Bimber, B., Flanagin, A., Stohl, C., 2012. Collective Action In Organizations: Interaction
and Engagement In An Era Of Technological Change. Cambridge University Press.
Blickstein, S., Hanson, S., 2001. Critical mass: forging a politics of sustainable mobility in
the information age. Transportation 28 (4), 347–362.
Bonilla, Y., Rosa, J., 2015. # Ferguson: Digital protest, hashtag ethnography, and the
racial politics of social media in the United States. Am. Ethnol. 42 (1), 4–17.
Cardoso, A., Boudreau, M.C., Carvalho, J.Á., 2019. Organizing collective action: Does
information and communication technology matter? Inf. Organ. 29 (3), 100256.
Chandra, Y., Shang, L., 2019. Qualitative research: an overview. In: Qualitative Research
Using R: A Systematic Approach. Springer, Singapore, pp. 1–19.
Chouliaraki, L., 2008. The mediation of suffering and the vision of a cosmopolitan public.
Television New Media 9 (5), 371–391.
Curato, N., 2019. Democracy in a Time of Misery: From Spectacular Tragedies to
Deliberative Action. Oxford University Press.
Dayan, D., 2005. Paying attention to attention: audiences, publics, thresholds and gen-
ealogies. J. Media Practice 6 (1).
Dolata, U., 2018. Social movements: the sociotechnical constitution of collective action.
In: Collectivity and Power on the Internet. Springer, Cham, pp. 31–55.
Dolata, U., Schrape, J.F., 2016. Masses, crowds, communities, movements: Collective
action in the internet age. Social Movement Studies 15 (1), 1–18.
Dolata, U., Schrape, J.F., 2018. Collective action in the digital age: an actor-based ty-
pology. In: Collectivity and Power on the Internet. Springer, Cham, pp. 7–29.
Etikan, I., Musa, S.A., Alkassim, R.S., 2016. Comparison of convenience sampling and
purposive sampling. Am. J. Theor. Appl. Stat. 5 (1), 1–4.
Furness, Z., 2010. One Less Car: Bicycling and the Politics Of Automobility. Temple
University Press.
Greenwood, R., Suddaby, R., 2006. Institutional entrepreneurship in mature fields: The
big five accounting firms. Acad. Manag. J. 49 (1), 27–48.
George, J.J., Leidner, D.E., 2019. From clicktivism to hacktivism: Understanding digital
activism. Information and Organization.
Gioia, D.A., Corley, K.G., Hamilton, A.L., 2013. Seeking qualitative rigor in inductive
research: Notes on the Gioia methodology. Organ. Res. Methods 16 (1), 15–31.
Harlow, S., Harp, D., 2012. Collective action on the Web: A cross-cultural study of social
networking sites and online and offline activism in the United States and Latin
America. Inform. Commun. Soc. 15 (2), 196–216.
Horton, D., 2006. Environmentalism and the bicycle. Environ. Politics 15 (1), 41–58.
Hossain, M., 2018. Grassroots innovation: The state of the art and future perspectives.
Technol. Soc. 55, 63–69.
Johnstone, P., Newell, P., 2018. Sustainability transitions and the state. Environ. Innov.
Soc. Trans. 27, 72–82.
Jones, M.D., Peterson, H.L., Pierce, J.J., Herweg, N., Bernal, A., Lamberta Raney, H.,
Zahariadis, N., 2016. A river runs through it: A multiple streams meta-review. Policy
Studies J. 44 (1), 13–36.
Kern, F., Rogge, K.S., 2018. Harnessing theories of the policy process for analysing the
politics of sustainability transitions: A critical survey. Environ. Innov. Soc. Trans. 27,

11
V. Sunio, et al.
102–117.
Khazraee, E., Novak, A.N., 2018. Digitally mediated protest: social media affordances for
collective identity construction. Social Media + Society 4 (1) 205630511876574.
Kidd, D., McIntosh, K., 2016. Social media and social movements. Sociol. Compass 10 (9),
785–794.
Kingdon, J.W., 1984. Agendas, Alternatives and Public Policies. Little, Brown,
Boston, MA.
Köhler, J., et al., 2019. An agenda for sustainability transitions research: State of the art
and future directions. Environ. Innov. Soc. Transit. 31, 1–32.
Langhelle, O., Meadowcroft, J., Rosenbloom, D., 2019. Politics and technology: deploying
the state to accelerate socio-technical transitions for sustainability. What Next for
Sustainable Development? Edward Elgar Publishing.
Legacy, C., Stone, J., 2019. Consensus planning in transport: The case of Vancouver’s
transportation plebiscite. Transport. Res. Part A: Policy Practice 120, 295–305.
Markard, J., Suter, M., Ingold, K., 2016. Socio-technical transitions and policy
change–Advocacy coalitions in Swiss energy policy. Environ. Innov. Soc. Transit. 18,
215–237.
Priante, A., Ehrenhard, M.L., van den Broek, T., Need, A., 2018. Identity and collective
action via computer-mediated communication: A review and agenda for future re-
search. New Media Soc. 20 (7), 2647–2669.
Ritter, A., Hughes, C.E., Lancaster, K., Hoppe, R., 2018. Using the Advocacy Coalition
Framework and Multiple Streams policy theories to examine the role of evidence,
research and other types of knowledge in drug policy. Addiction 113 (8), 1539–1547.
Ross, T., Mitchell, V.A., May, A.J., 2012. Bottom-up grassroots innovation in transport:
motivations, barriers and enablers. Transport. Plann. Technol. 35 (4), 469–489.
Rozbicka, P., Spohr, F., 2016. Interest groups in multiple streams: specifying their in-
volvement in the framework. Policy Sci. 49 (1), 55–69.
Sabatier, P.A., 1988. An advocacy coalition framework of policy change and the role of
policy-oriented learning therein. Policy Sci. 21 (2–3), 129–168.
Seyfang, G., Smith, A., 2007. Grassroots innovations for sustainable development:
12
Case Studies on Transport Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
Towards a new research and policy agenda. Environ. Politics 16 (4), 584–603.
Snow, D.A., Soule, S.A., Kriesi, H., 2008. The Blackwell Companion To Social Movements.
John Wiley & Sons.
Stewart, M., Schultze, U., 2019. Producing solidarity in social media activism: The case of
My Stealthy Freedom. Information and Organization.
Stich, B., Miller, C.R., 2008. Using the advocacy coalition framework to understand
freight transportation policy change. Public Works Manage. Policy 13 (1), 62–74.
Sunio, V., Gaspay, S., Guillen, M.D., Mariano, P., Mora, R., 2019. Analysis of the public
transport modernization via system reconfiguration: The ongoing case in the
Philippines. Transport. Res. Part A: Policy Practice 130, 1–19.
Sunio, Varsolo, Laperal, Miguel, Mateo-Babiano, Iderlina, 2020. Social enterprise as
catalyst of transformation in the micro-mobility sector. Transport. Res. Part A: Policy
Practice 138, 145–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2020.05.027. In this issue.
Tornikoski, E.T., Newbert, S.L., 2007. Exploring the determinants of organizational
emergence: A legitimacy perspective. J. Bus. Ventur. 22 (2), 311–335.
Tsay, Shin-Pei (2015). “A People’s History of Recent Urban Transportation Innovation”.
TransitCenter. July 2015. Accessed November 28, 2019. https://transitcenter.org/
wp-content/uploads/2015/08/A-Peoples-History-of-Recent-Urban-Transportation-
Innovation-Report-Pages.pdf.
Verlinghieri, E., Venturini, F., 2018. Exploring the right to mobility through the 2013
mobilizations in Rio de Janeiro. J. Transp. Geogr. 67, 126–136.
Wall, S., 2008. Easier said than done: Writing an autoethnography. Int. J. Qual. Methods
7 (1), 38–53.
Wieczorek, A.J., 2018. Sustainability transitions in developing countries: Major insights
and their implications for research and policy. Environ. Sci. Policy 84, 204–216.
Zahariadis, N., 2003. Ambiguity and Choice In Public Policy: Multiple Streams And Public
Policy. Georgetown University Press, Washing-ton, DC.
Zahariadis, N., 2014. Ambiguity and multiple streams. In: Sabatier, P.A., Weible, C.M.
(Eds.), Theories of the Policy Process. Westview Press, Boulder, CO.