8/19/24: A new chapter for Seamless Bay Area - Ian Griffiths stepping down as co-Executive Director. Celebrate Ian and progress toward seamless transit
A new chapter for Seamless Bay Area: Ian Griffiths stepping down as co-Executive Director.
As our team gears up for new campaigns and a renewed push for better transit across the Bay Area, we must also pause to acknowledge a changing of the guard: Ian Griffiths, one of our co-Executive Directors, is changing his role after 5 years of hard work and amazing achievements. Ian is one of our co-founders, our first full-time team member, and has been a key player in all our major initiatives and successes since the very beginning. Ian will continue to participate in Seamless Bay Area as a Board Member and a volunteer. From the entire Seamless Bay Area team, it’s been a privilege and a pleasure to work with Ian these past few years.
Read Ian’s blog post capturing his journey co-founding Seamless Bay Area, the accomplishments we’ve made in the last 7 years, and the progress still needed to transform Bay Area transit.
Join us on Friday, August 23rd at Hi Dive Bar in San Francisco to celebrate Ian’s numerous contributions to Bay Area transit and to wish him the best in his next endeavor.
Adina Levin will take over as our new (and sole) Executive Director. We’re seeing more and more signs of progress - with transfers improving all around the region, and a regional transit plan focusing on improved, connected service - thanks to your support. We’re committed and excited to continue advancing our mission for seamless transit and need continued energy from everyone in the movement.
We hope you will all continue lending your support (and your generous donations) to help us sustain and grow our campaign for the world-class transit that the Bay Area needs and deserves.
Thanks for being a part of Seamless Bay Area!
This September, Seamless Bay Area and San Francisco Transit Riders are teaming up to host Transit Month. During Transit Month you can look forward to a month-long schedule of transit-themed events throughout the Bay Area and a Ride Contest to track your trips, win prizes, earn badges, compete against friends, and explore more of the region! See all the events here and sign up for the Ride Contest now!
Transit Month brings people from all parts of the Bay Area together to celebrate the buses, trains, and people that move our region forward.
There is still time to put on an event! Sign up at this Google Form to let us know if you or an organization you’re a part of wants to get involved in this year’s festivities.
Nominate your Transit Hero
Do you have an amazing bus driver, train operator, or station attendant who makes your rides better? Is there a person that speaks up effectively for transit and helps other riders? Or maybe you’ve seen improvements on your trips such as new transit lanes, boarding areas, better signage, or clear communication.
Nominate them as your Transit Hero of 2024! We will be honoring the people (and projects) that move Bay Area transit ahead at our 7th Annual Rider First Awards on October 18th (more details to come soon).
The deadline to nominate people or improvements is Sunday, September 24th @ 11:59pm.
If you only know the project (transit lanes, improved bus stop, etc), give us the details and we can help track down the people responsible for the positive change! Winners will be presented with awards at our Rider First Award Party on October 18th.
August 29th, 9am-6pm – Silicon Valley Bike Summit
Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition is hosting its 14th Annual Bike Summit in South San Francisco. Sessions cover topics ranging from seamless bus and bike integration, advocacy for a bike-friendly El Camino Real, the transformative potential of cargo bikes, fostering community engagement, and strategies to encourage mode-shift.
New from our Blog
Transfers improving around the region
Bay Area transit agencies are starting to coordinate schedules more systematically, and the results are starting to show. These include improvements at the core regional rail hub connecting BART and Caltrain, many improvements linking bus connections to BART/Caltrain regional rail, and North Bay connections linking local buses to SMART rail and Golden Gate express bus service.
AC Transit Board approved intra-agency free transfers
The AC Transit Board of Directors voted on June 12 to approve intra-agency free transfers, helping AC Transit riders and complementing the rollout of free and reduced price transfers across agencies around the region. Unfortunately, the rollout of intra-agency free transfers at AC Transit, and inter-agency free and reduced price transfers is now awaiting the delayed rollout of the next-generation Clipper fare payment system.
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Employee Matching Program
Lastly, did you know that your employer may match donations to Seamless Bay Area Alliance, our affiliated 501(c)3, and double its impact? Companies that match employee donations include Apple, Adobe, Bank of America, Cisco, Disney, Google, Netflix, Wells Fargo, and many others.
If you work at a company with an employee matching program and would be willing to help get a Seamless Bay Area donation page set up internally through your company, please respond to this email and we will be in contact soon!
Employee matching programs have been an important funding source that helps sustain our work fighting for an improved, integrated, rider-first transit system. Over the past year, we have made some huge progress in expanding integrated fares, securing funding to avoid transit service cuts, and laying the groundwork for a transformational regional measure.