The classy coach commute

This paper considers a corporate vision for a coach service between Oxford and London in relation to the experiences and observations made by the author through a series of journeys on the same service. The journey is presented as a whole narrative to articulate the context of the passenger performance. The paper is concerned with how time and space are performed through the journey, and considers the relationship between the passenger and vehicle in creating comfort and managing boredom. It suggests that while a vision anticipates and shapes the future through the materiality of the vehicle, the passengers and their various possessions also have to enrol in the emergent performance of ‘doing a classy commute’.

Research highlights► The passenger experience of coach is under-researched. ► Marketing shapes underlying assumptions of the passenger experience. ► Passengers’ experience of travel time shaped individual and contextual. ► Use of heterogeneous carried objects impact on the travel time experience. ► Passing landscape marks the progression of time and space.