We spend much of our lives in transit to and from work. Although we might dismiss our daily commute as a wearying slog, we rarely stop to think about the significance of these daily journeys. In Transit Life, David Bissell explores how everyday life in cities is increasingly defined by commuting. Examining the overlooked events and encounters of the commute, Bissell shows that the material experiences of our daily journeys are transforming life in our cities. The commute is a time where some of the most pressing tensions of contemporary life play out, striking at the heart of such issues as our work-life balance; our relationships with others; our sense of place; and our understanding of who we are.

Drawing on in-depth fieldwork with commuters, journalists, transit advocates, policymakers, and others in Sydney, Australia, Transit Life takes a holistic perspective to change how we think about commuting. Rather than arguing that transport infrastructure investment alone can solve our commuting problems, Bissell explores the more subtle but powerful forms of social change that commuting creates. He examines the complex politics of urban mobility through multiple dimensions, including the competencies that commuters develop over time; commuting dispositions and the social life of the commute; the multiple temporalities of commuting; the experience of commuting spaces, from footpath to on-ramp, both physical and digital; the voices of commuting, from private rants to drive-time radio; and the interplay of materialities, ideas, advocates, and organizations in commuting infrastructures.

我们生活中的大部分时间都是在上下班途中度过的。尽管我们可能会认为每天的通勤是一种疲惫的劳作，但我们很少停下来思考这些日常旅程的意义。在《交通生活》中，大卫-比塞尔探讨了城市的日常生活是如何越来越多地被通勤定义的。通过考察通勤中被忽视的事件和遭遇，比塞尔表明，我们日常旅行的物质体验正在改变我们城市的生活。通勤是当代生活中一些最紧迫的紧张关系发生作用的时间，冲击着我们工作与生活的平衡、我们与他人的关系、我们的地方感以及我们对自己的理解等问题的核心。

通过对澳大利亚悉尼的通勤者、记者、交通倡导者、政策制定者和其他人的深入实地调查，《交通生活》从整体角度出发，改变我们对通勤的看法。比塞尔并不认为仅靠交通基础设施投资就能解决我们的通勤问题，而是探讨了通勤所创造的更微妙但强大的社会变革形式。他通过多个维度研究了城市交通的复杂政治，包括通勤者随时间发展的能力；通勤处置和通勤的社会生活；通勤的多重时间性；通勤空间的体验，从人行道到匝道，包括物理和数字；通勤的声音，从私人咆哮到驾车时间的广播；以及通勤基础设施中物质、思想、倡导者和组织的相互作用。