Abstract In Beirut, Lebanon, the failure of state-led transport strategies enabled the rise of private initiatives that appear to be monopolies organized through overlapping political, geographic, and sectarian power structures. Underneath this seemingly haphazard informality, lies a system that presents itself as a viable model for urban mobility. This paper discusses the case of Van Line 4 (56,250 daily users) in Beirut. A multidimensional assessment of the empirical findings enables an evaluation of the efficiency, arguably success, and vital socio-economic role of the Van Line 4 across sharp boundaries of the capital's diverse and segregated districts. It also suggests alternative lessons in informal urban mobility. The foundations of this form of public transport diverge from the dominant Western trend of thinking about technology and planning in the discipline. Rather, what is notable is the construction of a cost effective and reliable service balanced on coercion, sectarianism, and agility. Through decoding the process of service provision to a diverse satisfied customer base, we aim to contest the stigma of inefficiency tied to informal transport systems, while putting forth other “success” factors and indicators to be considered. We uncover how Van Line 4 is an efficient, economically profitable, and well-organized system that challenges urban inequality and geographic divides. Finally, we highlight the necessity to consider power structures and politics with the inequalities they recreate in the discussion of informal systems especially when their continuation is directly related to, and lives on the fragmentation of the state.

中文翻译：

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解读城市神话：黎巴嫩贝鲁特 Van 4 号线系统调查

摘要 在黎巴嫩贝鲁特，国家主导的交通运输战略的失败促使私人倡议兴起，这些倡议似乎是通过重叠的政治、地理和宗派权力结构组织起来的垄断组织。在这种看似随意的非正式性之下，隐藏着一个将自己展示为城市交通的可行模型的系统。本文讨论了贝鲁特 Van Line 4（56,250 日用户）的案例。对实证结果的多维评估可以评估 Van Line 4 跨越首都多元化和隔离区的尖锐边界的效率、可以说是成功和重要的社会经济作用。它还提出了非正式城市流动的替代经验教训。这种公共交通形式的基础与该学科中关于技术和规划的主流西方趋势不同。相反，值得注意的是构建在强制、宗派主义和敏捷性之间取得平衡的经济高效且可靠的服务。通过将服务提供过程解码为不同的满意客户群，我们的目标是对抗与非正式交通系统相关的低效率的耻辱，同时提出其他需要考虑的“成功”因素和指标。我们揭示了 Van Line 4 如何成为一个高效、经济上有利可图且组织良好的系统，以挑战城市不平等和地理鸿沟。最后，