Social Capital as Informal Mobility Infrastructure: Ride-Hailing Platforms and Transport Inequality in South Tangerang
Aprilia Cahyani Prabudiantoro Putri (a*), Zaki Zamzami (b)

a) Universitas Terbuka, South Tangerang, Banten
b) Socialwellbeing.id, Depok, West Java

Abstract

Rapid urbanization in Jakarta^s peri-urban region has intensified mobility pressures in South Tangerang, where structural deficiencies in public transit have produced acute transport inequalities. Drawing on Harvey^s framework of urban capitalism and uneven geographical development, this article argues that the expansion of corporate ride-hailing platforms (Gojek and Grab) should not be misconstrued as an inclusive technological solution- rather, it stands as a living critique of state infrastructural abdication. In response to these transit deficits, underserved communities actively mobilize their social capital conceptualized through Bourdieu^s theoretical lens as an alternative, informal mobility infrastructure consisting of neighborhood carpooling and local digital networks. However, instead of resolving these spatial inequalities, platform capitalism systematically commodifies this urban mobility crisis. By leveraging algorithmic structures, these platforms are appropriate for the pre-existing trust and organic coordination of residents, effectively locking them into a compulsory dependence on market-priced services for a basic public need. Employing a descriptive qualitative approach that combines data from Statistics Indonesia with field observations, this study exposes how corporate platforms extract economic rents from community vulnerabilities induced by the absence of formal feeder transits. The article concludes that achieving equitable urban mobility requires a fundamental shift in governance frameworks that recognize, protect, and integrates community social capital rather than allowing market mechanisms to exploit it.

Keywords: social capital, digital power, mobility inequality, urban capitalism, spatial inequality

Topic: Digital Power, Social Capital, and Inclusive Resilience: Interrogating Gender and Inequality in Technologically Mediated Societies (Digital Power- Social Capital- Inclusive Resilience)