48 Hills editors and writers are highlighting their favorite people and things of 2025. Vote now for your own favorites in our 51st Best of the Bay Readers’ Poll! And join us October 22, 6pm-9pm, at El Rio for the 48 Hills Annual Community Gala to party with the winners and celebrate the independent spirit of the Bay Area.
From Petaluma to Piedmont, Berkeley to the Bayview, Public Transit activists have been installing bespoke benches along (popular) bus routes since 2023. Now, loosely organized as the San Francisco Bay Area Bench Collective, the benches continue to proliferate on the San Francisco side of the Bay, a solid statement about accessibility, humane public infrastructure, and creating positive change through direct action.
“Ultimately, we’d like the city to install seating at all Muni stops that don’t have it, so having a place to sit while you wait for the bus is universal,” the SFBABC shared with 48 Hills in a recent email, noting that Muni shelters have historically been built and operated by Clear Channel, who naturally prioritizes advertising opportunities rather than resident need.
Even before the first of the collective’s benches hit the streets, Inner Sunset resident Chris Duderstadt had been building and disseminating benches in and around his neighborhood for over 20 years, most recently as the Public Bench Project with Adam Greenfield. Using Duderstadt’s free bench-building template with some modifications, the SFBABC focuses its attentions on bus stops, where they have a captive public in people waiting for their transit.
We love the specificity of the action and the tangible results, and are especially grateful not to have to stand while waiting for the 22. That’s the kind of public infrastructure we can really get on board with.
