A group of transit activists have dropped eight benches of their own making into the Mission, where residents are (mostly) grateful. A rogue group of activists won’t stand for the lack of benches at many SF Muni stops, so they went and installed a bunch of their own unauthorized benches this past weekend. But we’ll see how this sits with SF Public Works. A group of activists install guerrilla benches at San Francisco MUNI bus stops, offering comfort where the city fell short. SF Bay Area Bench Collective installs first eight guerrilla transit benches at bus stops in the Mission The policy was spurred by community members installing benches at bus stops throughout the East Bay. Will the city of Richmond show how to stop bad actors in city bureaucracies from destroying transit and Vision Zero installations? The latest fatality on a Charlottesville road was the last straw for Kevin Cox, but his efforts to make the area safer might land him twelve months of jailtime. What if cities saw actions like his not as crimes—but as calls for change? Residents want to build and install benches at underserved bus stops in Richmond—at no cost to the city. During its May 27 meeting, the Richmond City Council voted to begin […] What began as a quiet act of care—building benches where none existed—just got the City of Richmond’s official blessing. Nonprofit that helps the public build and install Bay Area bus stop benches worked with Richmond city officials to create a permit process. When Mingwei Samuel not biking around the Bay Area, he has been helping organize a volunteer mini public works department of sorts, building and installing bus benches around the East Bay. A photo of a man with a cane sitting on the ground at a bus stop led to a groundswell of compassion, with 77 benches installed in the city. A viral post inspired a very tangible real-world trend Volunteers in the East Bay are building DIY bus benches to fill transit gaps, urging cities to take action for better public seating and accessibility. Since 2012, Chris Duderstadt has built about 210 public benches, mostly in Inner Sunset and across the city. The city’s transportation director paused the plans but insists the shelters must be removed. After a guerrilla campaign by transit activists to put benches at bus stops, the city added 3 permanent benches. More are planned for 2025. Darrell Owens and Mingwei Samuel are two twenty-somethings born and raised in the Bay. And they’ll do just about anything to keep public transit alive. Over the last three months, two transit activists have become known as the Bench Guys by placing benches at bus stops that don't offer a place to sit. Councilmember Terry Taplin, who has promised to bring more city-funded benches to Berkeley, says he’s hopes they'll be rolled out by summer. Vigilante urbanism: A pair of activists have taken up the job of building seating at Berkeley’s bus stops. Will the city step up to meet the need – and fulfill its responsibilities to its residents? A pair of Berkeley residents say they got tired of waiting for others to solve one of their community’s challenges. The issue? No place for the elderly to sit while they wait for buses. So, they decided to fix the issue themselves and the city took notice. Berkeley has replaced one DIY bench with a city-approved one. A pair of activists have added at least four more wood benches in the East Bay. A UC Berkeley grad took matters into his own hands placing a bench at a Berkeley bus stop after a tweet went viral of a man sitting on the curb due to a lack of seating available. “It’s the sort of thing where someone just needs to step up,” said Mingwei Samuel, who built downtown Berkeley's newest bench. 
