September 14: BART is hosting a paper ticket fashion show to say goodbye to the old tickets and celebrate Transit Month
BART is hitting the runway this upcoming Transit Month to give a final send-off to our retired paper tickets that were a portal to our system for more than a 1 billion trips in the decades since BART’s inception.
We gave fashion design students from four local schools more than 150,000 paper tickets with one condition: transform them into high fashion.
The students from Academy of Art University, Oakland School for the Arts, City College of San Francisco, and San Francisco State University will strut their stuff and share their unique designs for a full-blown fashion show, “Project Doneway: A Farewell to BART Paper Tickets,” in the parking lot at Rockridge Station on Saturday, September 14, from 1pm to 3pm.
The show will feature more than 30 unique garments created by nearly 80 designers. Models range in age from 4 years old to 75! The garments will be judged by local fashion luminaries Charleston Pierce, Randy Wells, and Mary Campbell. Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place (in the high school, and college categories) and Best Use of Paper Tickets. Middle school students from Oakland School of Arts will display mini outfit designs, which the public will vote on before the show.
There will also be a special guest appearance from Sean Porter, who inspired the event with a dress made out of BART’s blue paper tickets.
There will be American Sign Language interepreters at the event, and we invite the deaf community to come out and enjoy!
“We gave our legacy cars a proper send off when they were retired and our paper tickets deserve the same treatment,” said Chief Communications Officer Alicia Trost, who came up with the idea as another way to engage youth and young adults in the Bay Area and to activate BART stations through art. “Our paper ticket designs have long shown up in artistic Bay Area cultural references. This event was inspired by a dress made out of BART’s iconic blue paper tickets by Sean Porter nearly ten years ago, and I wanted to offer students who rely on BART to get around the opportunity to showcase their talents.”
Oakland School for the Arts Fashion Design Students at work
Project Doneway coincides with Transit Month, an annual celebration of the countless buses, trains, ferries, bicycles and people that make up the Bay Area’s vibrant transportation ecosystem. Throughout the month of September, members of the public can enjoy contests, prizes, panels, clinics, concerts, bar crawls, hikes and more across the region. Learn more about the special month hosted by San Francisco Transit Riders and Seamless Bay Area and the dozens of events happening throughout September on the Transit Month webpage.
During Transit Month, the public is encouraged to explore the region by taking local transportation. The month is hallmarked by a Ride Contest. Every ride you take on Bay Area public transit is an entry into the Transit Month raffle. Track your rides to earn badges, win prizes, compete against friends by signing up and logging rides at ridecontest.com
Some of the BART-related events this year include:
- Wednesday, September 4, 5pm, at Balboa Station: Sound Tracks free concert. Featuring Congolese drummer Kiazi Malonga, performing with full percussion band.
- Sunday September 15, 10:45am, at Downtown Berkeley Station: Hiking by Transit: Berkeley to Orinda via Siesta Valley. This hike will head up through Claremont Canyon, taking in majestic views of the Bay, before crossing over Skyline Boulevard into Siesta Valley and descending into Orinda. BART back or stay for Ice Cream at local favorite Loard's.
- Saturday, September 21, 2pm, at Pleasant Hill Station. BART and Bike to the Walnut Creek Walnut Festival: The Festival offers live music, a carnival, a showcase of local and regional artists, builders, food, craft beer garden, and more.
- Saturday, September 28, 11am, starting at Pittsburg/Bay Point Station and ending at Antioch Station: Bike East Bay Group Ride on the Delta de Anza Trail. Explore the paved, multi-use hiking, biking and equestrian trail that connects Concord, Bay Point, Pittsburg, Antioch and Oakley.
- Saturday, September 28, 12pm, at Downtown Berkeley Station Plaza: Downtown Berkeley Transit Month Rally. Come rally support for and learn about public transportation in Berkeley and the Bay Area.
- Sunday, September 29, 1pm, at Lake Merritt Station: The Craft of Transit: Craft Ride from Lake Merritt to San Jose Flea Market. Bring your favorite craft project to work on and make friends as we ride to the San Jose Flea Market. Gather at the Lake Merritt BART concourse at 1 p.m. then head down as a group to board the 1:27 pm rain to Berryessa / North San Jose BART Station. RSVP here.
