September 28, 2024
Recently, TRANSOC students once again showcased their wholehearted dedication to public transit by participating in the inaugural "Transit Agency Mayhem" event. The unique challenge, organized by TRANSOC co-presidents Ameen DaCosta, MS/MCP '25 ,and Jacob Champlin, MS/MCP '24, put students' transit knowledge and navigation skills to the test as they raced across the Bay Area, trying to get to San Francisco by 5 p.m. by using as many different transit agencies as possible (Muni, BART, Amtrak, VTA, etc.). To promote creativity in route planning, DaCosta and Champlin carefully assigned points to unique routes and agencies: each unique transit agency earned participants 7 points; each unique line earned 2 points; every trip per line (with a maximum of 2 trips per unique line) earned 1 point; and points were only counted if participants were on a route for at least 5 minutes, to dissuade bus hopping.
Ambitious participants from ITS and beyond gathered at the Downtown Berkeley BART station at 2 p.m. on Saturday, September 28, sacrificing their weekend leisure time for a hot, sticky, but thrilling public transit adventure. Participants made sure to stop by a lively transit rally in Downtown Berkeley before beginning, showcasing their support for public transportation in Berkeley and the Bay Area as part of Transit Month.
The strategically crafted route of the winning team (Ameen and Jackson) was as follows, scoring 76 points:
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AC Transit Line 18: Downtown Berkeley to Ashby Avenue
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BART Orange Line: Ashby to 12th St Oakland
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AC Transit: 72R 12th St to Jack London Square
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SF Bay Ferry: Oakland to San Francisco
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Golden Gate Transit Line 101: Transbay Terminal to Powell BART
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BART Blue Line: Powell to Balboa Park
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BART Yellow: Balboa Park to Colma
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SamTrans ECR Line: Colma BART to Daly City BART
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BART Yellow Line: Daly City to 24th Mission
- MUNI Line 14R: Mission St/24th St to Mission St/16th St
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MUNI Line 22: 16th St/Mission St to 16th St/Wisconsin St
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MUNI Line 55: 16th St/Wisconsin St to 22nd St/Iowa St
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Caltrain: 22nd St to 4th and King (technically after the total time ended, but theoretically another 10 points)
Logging their runs on the Transit Month ride contest site throughout, these future transportation professionals' creativity, enthusiasm for transportation systems, and ability to strategize and adapt in real-time shone through. The event concluded with a gathering at Spark Social in San Francisco, where participants shared their experiences, celebrated their accomplishments, and determined the winner over food and drinks.
See the event description here: https://lu.ma/ja4lz7md