MANUELA UNVERDORBEN

Transnational mobility often finds its own infrastructural and spatial expressions on an informal level. Grauer Verkehr (grey transport) is an ethnographic view on a bus station in Munich, which connects the city with destinations in southeast Europe.
The bus station is located in Hansastr. 53, and more resembles a huge parking place than an international bus station. Grey in this sense means a status in between legal and illegal, which is seen in the informal, nonetheless complex, structures. There are no official sales agencies. It is only possible to contact a bus driver through social connections and that way learn more about the routes and purchase the tickets. The activities are coordinated through cell phones. For passengers inside this network and in possession of the specific knowledge, this becomes a "normal" way of organizing the journey.

Catalogue: Crossing Munich (ISBN 13 978-3889601087)