Transit Cohort makes a splash at Bay to Breakers with all 27 agencies represented

The full Bay to Breakers Transit Cohort! In case you’re counting, here’s who’s in the photo, including each of the 27 transit agencies labeled:

Back Row, from left: (1) Capitol Corridor, (2) Caltrain, (3) Dixon Readi-Ride, (4) FAST, (5) San Joaquins Amtrak, (6) SamTrans, (7) Golden Gate Transit (unfortunately blocked by a flag!), (8) Sonoma County Transit, (9) Petaluma Transit, (10) Santa Rosa City Bus.

Middle Row: (11) Marin Transit, (12) Muni, BART Fan Club #1, at-grade Caltrain crossing, (13) SF Bay Ferry #1, (14) SMART, SF Bay Ferry #2, (15) ACE, (16) LAVTA/Wheels, (17) Soltrans, (18) BART, City Attorney David Chiu, (19) AC Transit, (20) VTA, BART Chief Communications Officer Alicia Trost, (21) Union City Transit, BART Fan Club #2, (22) Napa Vine, (23) County Connection, (24) WestCAT, (25) Rio Vista Delta Breeze

Kneeling/In Front: BART Fan Club #3, BART-Man, (26) Tri-Delta, (27) Vacaville City Coach, BART Fan Club #4.

Forty public transit fans turned out at 8am on an overcast Sunday in San Francisco to be part of the first ever transit cohort for the annual Bay to Breakers race. The cohort, organized by Seamless Bay Area, included 27 runners dressed as each of the Bay Area’s 27 transit agencies, San Francisco City Attorney and seamless transit champion David Chiu, local LuchaLibre star BART-Man, and strong showing of BART fans and employees, including BART Chief Communications Officer Alicia Trost.

Seamless Bay Area organized the transit cohort as both a community building activity to bring together transit supporters from across the region, and as a way of building awareness about just how many transit agencies there are in the Bay Area. Seamless Bay Area board member Liz Broekhuyse designed the costumes, including custom bibs with each transit agency’s vehicle and logo, four wheels for arms and legs, and a custom headband. Running under the slogan “We Run As One”, the effort aimed to inspire hope about what can be accomplished when we work together; and while not intended, the experience certainly also demonstrated how difficult it can be to do anything as a group of 27!

While the annual race goes from San Francisco’s Ferry Building to Ocean Beach, Seamless transit cohort racers came in from across the region, including from the Peninsula, South Bay, and East Bay — many taking advantage of special early morning BART and Caltrain service set up specifically for the event.

After assembling at Rincon Park to put on costumes and take some group pictures, energy was high as the full group made its way toward the race start line near Howard and Main St. While all 27 transit agencies started the race, only about two-thirds made it all the way to the victory picnic organized by Seamless volunteers in Golden Gate Park.

Awaiting patiently at the starting line with Alicia Trost at BART-Man!

Purely for fun, here is the approximate order of transit cohort race finishers based on what time they showed up at the Victory Picnic — some in groups (timed connections?) — as well as those who did not finish (short turn?), and those we’re not sure about (ghost bus?).

  1. Stanford Marguerite Shuttle (technically not an official one of the 27, but the original home-made costume deserves special recognition)

  2. Golden Gate Transit

  3. BART

  4. Muni #1

  5. Muni #2

  6. Dixon Readi-Ride

  7. Tri-Delta Transit, Vacaville City Coach

  8. SolTrans

  9. Capitol Corridor

  10. Petaluma Transit, Sonoma County Transit

  11. VTA

  12. An at-grade Caltrain crossing, San Joaquins Amtrak

  13. AC Transit

  14. SamTrans, Union City Transit, and Napa Vine

  15. SF Bay Ferry #2

  16. Did Not Finish: Santa Rosa City Bus, WestCAT, Rio Vista Delta Breeze, Caltrain, SF Bay Ferry #1

  17. We’re Not Sure: SMART, Wheels, ACE, County Connection

Should we read into any of this at all? Should the Stanford Marguerite Shuttle rule over all Bay Area transit? Certainly not. But it was a fun day all around nevertheless - a great opportunity to connect with fellow transit supporters, meet enthusiastic BART employees, appreciate how transit gives us access to unique events, like Bay to Breakers, that make life in the Bay Area great!

Check out more photos below:

Getting costumes on at Rincon Park, before the sun came out, around 8am.

At 7, Sam was the youngest member of the transit cohort! Dressed as Vacaville City Coach, he raced with his Dad, Nick (Tri-Delta Transit).

After all 27 transit agency costumes were claimed, other runners got creative with other transit agency costumes, like this at-grade Caltrain crossing posing in the left of this image.

Super Mario attempting to overtake four of the smaller Bay Area transit agencies (by ridership, at least).

The transit cohort, still mostly together, crosses under the bridge for buses that feeds into the Salesforce Transit Center.

A view up the hill of Hayes Street, the point where many transit agencies could go no further. But not Sonoma County Transit, SMART, SamTrans, and Marin Transit!

Approaching the end of the race with Petaluma Transit and BART Fan Club member!

Arrival at the Victory Picnic in Golden Gate Park, where about half the racers made it - not bad!

The post-picnic transit trip home on the N-Judah, for connections to BART and Caltrain.



Ian Griffiths