Transit agencies are transforming their stops, stations, and facilities into welcoming, community-centered hubs with art and events. Riders love the updates.
By Arianna Smith
Managing Editor
Transit California
Art and community events at bus stops and light rail stations aren’t new concepts in the transit world, but in the five years since the pandemic shutdown and during the long road to ridership recovery, state transit agencies have been deploying a contemporary version of these “station activation” strategies to encourage riders to try – or return to – public transit.
Across California, transit agencies are experimenting with investments at their stations that include permanent art installations and concessions, as well as fun, community-building events and pop-up services. Such efforts are transforming transit agencies’ properties into enjoyable, beneficial neighborhood hubs. Here’s how some Association members are succeeding.
Make the station the destination
With both one-time and periodic events, transit agencies are turning their stops and stations into destinations in their own right.
For example, in 2024, Sacramento Regional Transit (SacRT) held the wildly popular Autumn Lantern Festival and Night Market at a major light rail station. At least 6,000 people attended the daylong free cultural event for food, performances, and a variety of family friendly activities. SacRT partnered with the Conference of Asian American Professionals and many other community organizations to help make the event a success.
“SacRT’s Station Activation and Property Redevelopment Program is one of our agency’s top initiatives as it reflects how we’ve become more entrepreneurial and taken on a community leadership role that compliments transit but extends beyond traditional transit agency roles,” said SacRT General Manager/CEO Henry Li.
The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) has similarly enjoyed a longtime partnership with a local organization, the San Diego Dance Theater, to host annual performances at transit stations. Now in its 27th year, the Trolley Dances are “good for publicity and for brand identity,” according to Mark Olson, Director of Marketing and Communications at MTS.
Alicia Trost, Chief Communications Officer of Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), explained that her agency’s post-shutdown events have been designed to reintroduce transit properties to potential riders positively: “BART needed to showcase to the public and news media that our stations were clean and safe, and that people have indeed returned to transit. Instead of spending our funds on the same tired public information campaigns, we redirected those resources to curate a series of creative and meaningful events that essentially encouraged attendees to stop and take a photo to post on social media. We were intentionally unique with our ideas for a moment of unexpected surprise and relatability.”
BART put these ideas into action with a 50th Anniversary celebration in September 2022. The agency threw a “birthday party” at Lake Merritt Station and Plaza that thousands attended. Participants climbed all over a section of real (unelectrified) BART track, took selfies on the miniature “BARTmobile,” witnessed the opening of a time capsule from 1992, and took home BART-branded swag. At other stations, BART gave riders a variety of other transit-station interactive event opportunities, from offering free vintage video games to hosting live music shows throughout the fall.
That series of events did more than just welcome back transit riders to BART - it also taught agency staff important lessons about how to best connect with the communities they serve. In the months and years after the celebration, BART also hosted events that ranged from pure fun - a paper ticket fashion show featuring upcycled garments, a poetry reading, a BART “ugly sweater” party – to the more serious, such as the Not One More Girl events to educate riders about how to stay safe and get help in case of street harassment.
Ultimately, however, transit stops and stations are still primarily places that people use to get someplace else. Some Association members are using this fact to their advantage by timing some welcoming station events to coincide with large events being held in dense urban centers. When the Golden 1 Center opened in downtown Sacramento and began hosting sporting events and concerts that previously had been held in a suburban arena that had been accessible only by car, SacRT held several “Station Activation” events at key suburban stations to encourage commuters who might otherwise drive into the city core to use transit instead.
A sense of place with an eye toward aesthetics
Public art can provide benefits that go beyond station aesthetics: they help attract and retain riders.
MTS’s “Color the Corridor” program, the most recent murals of which were unveiled in La Mesa in summer 2024, provide an illustrative example.
“These murals are a way to represent our community and improve our rider’s comfort while waiting for their next ride,” said Patricia Dillard, MTS Board Member and City of La Mesa Vice Mayor. “Creating more inviting spaces along our system is a small way in which MTS is delivering better transit to everyone today.”
The murals were a response to feedback from riders beseeching MTS to provide more inviting spaces, a sense of security, and a connection to the community. An additional benefit of the murals is the reduction in costly-to-remove graffiti. The next round of Color the Corridor murals is scheduled to be unveiled in 2026.
Additionally, stops and stations are locations that can “reflect community, be placemaking, be recognizable,” said Kathleen Podrasky, Community Outreach Supervisor at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA).
VTA has worked hard to reach these goals throughout their service area with public art. A good example is the agency’s seven-mile-long Alum Rock Santa Clara BRT line, which includes 18 stations where, according to Podrasky, “every station along the way carries a theme, yet is totally unique in design to its location in the community.” Panel-selected artists created artwork that was inspired by local community outreach and interviews that “reflected history unique to each platform based on its location” and were also integrated into the function of the platforms as tile paving, windscreens, and ceiling panels.
Stations as places for essential services
Stops and stations already provide an essential service to those using buses and trains. That’s why these places are a natural fit for providing space for several other much-needed community services.
SacRT has been particularly successful hosting monthly farmers markets at several stations, particularly those that serve communities with large low-income household populations and few retail grocery stores. The agency has also hosted additional attractive essential services at these markets or as separate events, such as job fairs and free bike repair.
MTS, which serves a region with a large homeless population, has partnered with the federal Veteran’s Administration Healthcare System to offer outreach to vets experiencing homelessness. These vets can get help with wraparound services at selected transit stop locations, which can be far more convenient than at fixed locations that may be difficult to access without a vehicle.
Station activation and beautification benefits riders and agencies alike
When Association members can make stops and stations into lively, positive spaces, their riders report being happier with service, which can build upon longstanding efforts for ridership recovery. Riders report that they want “activated” stations because they hope to feel safer than in conventional stations; such stations become places to enjoy and attend for their own sake, rather than as places that riders are simply trying to get into and out of as quickly as possible. Beautiful, community-oriented stations can bring young people and families to transit and can be an investment in existing and potential future riders whose interest in bus and train trips extends beyond a traditional weekday commute. They are an important part of the effort to expand transit and reduce car trips in California.