Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Transport & Health journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jth The working conditions of motorcycle taxi drivers in Tláhuac, Mexico City Luis David Berrones-Sanz ⁎ Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México, Mexico ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Working conditions Driver Taxi Motorcycle Rickshaw Public transport ABSTRACT This study seeks to describe the health and working conditions of motorcycle taxi drivers in the Tláhuac district (delegación) of Mexico City. It proceeds from the premise that a study of the labor process and its social organization make it possible to understand how workers live and think, and how the structures and systems that sustain their labor are maintained. To do so, we must explore the activities, risks, and demands that workers face and examine the relationship of these factors to their health. Workers were given a descriptive, exploratory questionnaire seeking data about them and their family and work environments. The questions related to their health, their job satisfaction, the operation of the taxi service, and their personal satisfaction, including satisfaction with their leisure time. The results reveal precarious working conditions, long hours (11.3 h a day), low wages (US$59.18 per week), and no social protections or benefits. 6.3% reported suffering from a disease, 49.5% corresponded to musculoskeletal conditions and only 11.6% were affiliated to any health system. 53.8% are owners of the vehicle and, although it does not seem to influence physical illness (P=0.03), it is related to the psychosocial ones (P=0.260). The group did show a lower frequency of traffic accidents than other transportation workers (17.9%, versus 45.4% for drivers of taxis and microbuses). However, it can be inferred from these characteristics that there is a relationship among their standard of living (as measured by salary), their working conditions (physical wear and tear), and the state of their health. The precarious material conditions of the drivers' lives makes it difficult to reproduce their labor power and their plans in life, and these conditions determine their quality of life and work. 1. Introduction Motorcycle taxis, or mototaxis, are vehicles operating without a fixed route for the transportation of passengers. They consist of a motorcycle or scooter, generally with an engine smaller than 150cc, fitted with a trailer that accommodates two or more persons. They satisfy a demand not met by public transportation systems, and have become very popular in Mexico City. In Tláhuac, one of the city's 16 delegaciones or districts, there are currently 31 mototaxi associations and 1824 drivers. This number is increasing, as part of the informal economy, with tensions and disputes over territory, not only among the associations, but also with competing forms of transportation, including bicycle and automobile taxis. Drivers have formed associations and cooperatives, less to gain labor rights and benefits than to be able to continue working and providing service in given territories within the delegación. But the mototaxi cooperatives in Tláhuac and the rest of Mexico City have developed without any regulation – a result of the inability of city government to control development. The lack of a regulatory https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2017.04.008 ⁎ Correspondence address: Colonia San Lorenzo Tezonco, Prolongación San Isidro 151, Iztapalapa, Ciudad de México 09790, Mexico. E-mail address: luis.berrones@uacm.edu.mx. Journal of Transport & Health 8 (2018) 73–80 Available online 09 May 2017 2214-1405/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T