One common barrier to taking transit in Central Texas is the misconception that “people like me don’t ride.” To counteract this perception, Capital Metro, the Austin area’s transit agency, recently teamed up with some of the city’s most talented photographers and filmmakers to bring the stories and transit experiences of some of its riders to life. Over the past year, the 15 artists interviewed and captured on film riders on board buses and trains, and at stops and stations. Some of the artists were driven by the distinctive characters they encountered, others by conversations that led to compelling stories.
Out of the work produced and the stories collected, Capital Metro developed The Austin Collective social media project to showcase the idea that all kinds of people take transit, and for a variety of reasons. The stories are a peek into the intimate, daily lives of Austinites — shop owners, baristas, entrepreneurs, cooks, students, construction workers, farmers, musicians and mothers. While the project is a direct, authentic reflection of the city’s riders, it’s also a reflection of Austin’s diversity and uniqueness.
If you think this project sounds or looks familiar, it may be because you’re thinking of The Humans of New York or even the Workers Progress Administration (WPA) and Farm Security Administration (FSA) projects. The Austin Collective was designed with those previous projects in mind, but with a local transit focus.
In addition to The Austin Collective’s exposure on social media, more than 50 photographs and short films created for the project were featured in an exhibition on view for two weekends in November as part of a citywide event, the East Austin Studio Tours. Two Try Transit Adventures and an Artist Talk were scheduled during the first weekend of the exhibition. “We are fortunate to live and work in Austin, a city filled with talented artists. We were excited to work with them to feature our riders, something we’ve never done in this way before,” said Dan Dawson, Capital Metro’s vice president of marketing and communications. “More than 1,100 people came out in just four days to see this great exhibit, learn about the people in our city and show their support of transit.”
