“If there’s anything we’ve learned about life on Muni, it’s that the interesting stuff happens along the journey, not at the destination. From the nuances of operating a bus on city streets to the small details of our rides and fellow riders, Keith Ferris and Lia Smith have captured the urban humanity within each Muni experience that knits us together.”  —Eugenia Chien and Tara Ramroop, Muni Diaries co-founders.

Join artist Keith Ferris and writer Lia Smith, who collaborated to produce Muni is My Ride, just published by Ithuriel’s Spear Press. Also on hand will be Muni operators David Banbury, Mike Gonzalez and Primo Rivera to share some of their stories.

Keith and Lia — in his sketches and her profiles based on interviews with Muni personnel and riders alike — show a familiar feature of the urban scene in the kind of subtle detail that expands our perception of a complex social mechanism that we take for granted or grumble about without often thinking of its pleasures, wonders and crucial utility.

“The personal narratives of Muni operators provide important insights into the complexity of transit labor politics—often overlooked in sustainable transportation debates. We learn that many operators support transit first policies, and that many operators desire to live in the city that they serve, but cannot, due to the high cost of housing. Before the next budget cycle and transit plan is crafted, this book should be required reading at City Hall.
—Jason Henderson, Professor of Geography and Environment at San Francisco State University and author of Street Fight: The Politics of Mobility in San Francisco