The Hidden Heroes of Public Transit

By Ren Fitzgerald

As operators bring trains into the yard, cleaners make their final rounds, station agents turn off lights, and administrators shut their laptops for the day, there is another group of public transportation workers still going: Twitter-obsessed teenagers. The majority of these teens and young adults have never even held a job in public transportation – some of them don’t even have a high school diploma. However, they are some of the most important members of a vast team of transit workers.

Youth have staked their claim in transit advocacy and appreciation for as long as railroad tracks have been laid. Today, they use social media as a platform to have their opinions heard – and boy, are they heard. The most dedicated of these groups ride public transportation every single day, both as a necessity and for fun. Many outsmart transportation administrators with ease. Be careful not to mention the bus, because they will take the time to tell you every single line they have ridden, the number of seats on a particular coach that has been retired since the ‘70’s, and why battery electric busses aren’t the future, trolleybuses are (and they’d be right!). But more than riding or knowing about public transportation, young transit enthusiasts are leading the way to make it better.

Take, for example, Fern Hahn – a transit enthusiast and advocate from Oakland, now studying for an Urban Planning degree in Toronto. “I’ve found genuine community through this common interest” they said. Hahn is a founding member of the “Transit Twitter Besties”, a name that sounds silly, but is widely respected within Bay Area public transportation. Founded during the pandemic, the group came together as a result of social media – namely Twitter’s “spaces” tool, where they would spend hours discussing transit policy, politics, and niche histories. Last year, the group was invited to BART’s Oakland Headquarters to tour the facility and meet with staff and elected Board Members – the visit was so monumental in bridging the agency and rider divide that it gained a spot in the San Francisco Chronicle. Nearly every member of the besties dawned some sort of BART merch, from holiday sweaters to shirts to hats — more on that later. There is no doubt that they are some of transit’s biggest fans. “Touring BART HQ was a good experience. I'm not sure what came of the event materially, but it served to affirm that the agency cares about its youth riders and our thoughts, to some degree,” noted Hahn. “It was good to meet people in the agency, and though I don't think they expected to answer some of our more specific questions, I suppose that wasn't the point of the tour.” As it turns out, sometimes the fans know more than the actual professionals. The besties were also given the opportunity to give feedback about their beloved system and share their vision for its future. Many, including Hahn, have a passion for map making – and as such, are valuable assets when conveying new service patterns and routes to the public. “I brought attention to the need for line maps on BART platforms when my mockup was featured on SFGate,” said Hahn, referencing a map they designed of the current system intended to help riders navigate themselves,  “BART promptly rolled some out at their SFO station, though these had already been in development.” Many within the group are minorities, and are vocal about their experience interacting with staff as a person of color, or waiting for the train at night as a woman. They are the perfect group for feedback – representing the future of transit, and certainly knowledgeable about it, without being constrained by the status quo or a budget. The Transit Twitter Besties are the biggest dreams of public transportation. 

Similarly, a number of young transit advocates were invited on an exclusive tour of the Peninsula and South Bay’s commuter rail system, Caltrain, as the agency unveiled its new, all-electric trains, known as Electric Multiple Units (EMUs). Transit Twitter Besties member and high school senior Hayden Miller was part of the VIP group. “I think that it’s very cool that transit agencies like Caltrain and BART have engaged youth through tours of HQ or the [Caltrain] EMUs or Muni’s youth board,” said Miller, “I think that they can still do a lot more to give youth a real seat at the table to influence policy and services in addition to supporting our interests through these events.” Another member of the group, 19 year-old Natalie Makhijani, was relieved to see many improvements to Caltrain. “Caltrain has not always had a great relationship with transit advocates,” said Makhijani. “But this event was a great step in the right direction, both for those of us invited on a private tour to meet with Stadler Company engineers who designed the trains and Caltrain employees who will be operating them, as well as for the general public, who came out in large numbers to learn more about the trains. They’ve done a good job building enthusiasm, and I see a lot of necessary improvements being made.”

Participants were encouraged to post their experience on social media to promote the new trains, as well as meet with the elected officials also invited on the tour. They were also sent home with exclusive merch, like Caltrain-branded tote bags and posters, a testament to the value of their group and their connection to agency staff, as some items were only available to staff and elected officials. More than influencers, these young advocates are at the heart of the movement to bring more youth on public transit, and connect the new generation of riders with local, state, and federal decision makers.

However, the group of enthusiasts don’t need invitations to exclusive events to show their pride. Recently, the SF Chronicle published an article about the rise of public transportation merch, particularly in the Bay Area. For the past three years, BART has released their own rendition of an ugly holiday sweater. The original two featured reindeer and trains, while this year’s lights up the various lines of the system with the flip of a switch and plays a recording of an actual BART train’s horn when a hidden button is pressed. Other agencies have followed suit, from Muni sweatshirts, magnets, and stickers to County Connection BBQ aprons. SFFC, San Francisco’s soccer team, recently made an agreement with Muni to display their iconic “worm” logo on jerseys. Fan replicas sold out instantly, and saved the team from bankruptcy while promoting the transit agency. The pride that transit fans have taken in their systems extends beyond a fun hobby; they’ve made systems something to be proud of, something ubiquitous with and beneficial to the Bay.

The Besties also enjoy direct access to agencies and each other through social media, where for many of them, their interest in transit began and their friendships formed. “I first met many of the group’s members online during the pandemic,” said Makhijani. “I consider a few of them to be some of my closest friends.” The group largely attributes their closeness to their mutual love of public transit. Members of the group have gone on to become lifelong friends, romantic partners, and even roommates in another country, all thanks to the internet and a passion. That’s right – Hahn currently lives in Toronto with two of their friends from the group. And as you would imagine, their walls are adorned with maps of various regional rail systems. Each of their individual online accounts has gained attention – amassing tens of thousands of followers across accounts and platforms, at times gaining recognition in public.

“I do like to think that I’ve played a part in keeping an active conversation about transit and how to make it better” said Hahn. They may not be General Manager — yet — but they are an irreplaceable part of public transportation.