The media like to call us “guerillas” and “rogues.” That may be true, but we’re also groups of friends and neighbors who volunteer time, energy, and woodworking skills to make strangers’ lives a little easier.
We’re actually called the San Francisco Bay Area Bench Collective.
We’ve been working for two years in the East Bay, installing almost 100 benches at bus stops. The materials for one bench cost around $70 (funded by contributions), and a group can build 10 benches in a weekend. Now we’re bringing benches to San Francisco, where passengers ride Muni 521,000 times every weekday, yet roughly 66% of bus stops — nearly 2,000 — lack seating. It doesn’t have to be this way…