Travel “outside” of applications: Black market transportation in Puebla

Abstract

The operation of platforms such as Uber and Didi in Puebla, Mexico, gave way to the formation of a black market for private transportation in which users and drivers travel “outside” the applications, thus evading government and algorithmic regulation and surveillance, ceasing to produce value for these transnationals. From an ethnographic approach, based on situational narratives, structured interviews, and observations in digital spaces, this article describes this form of escape of living work through a new mode of transportation that is no longer traditional taxis or platforms, and that uses digital devices for its operation.