City Huddles to Reach Goal of Zero Graffiti

In some circles graffiti is considered art; for those at tomorrow's Graffiti Huddle it is not. Over the last several years, the city has brought victims of graffiti vandalism, neighborhood action groups, artists, business owners and city officials together in order to learn and gather innovative ideas on how to "fight the blight."

As Muni replaces its entire bus fleet, it's working hard to keep them and all the other vehicles graffiti-free.

This year’s free event from noon to 5 p.m., tomorrow at the Hilton Hotel will include special presentations and discussions on education, abatement and law enforcement. The event will also cover recent overhauls in local legislation to deter graffiti vandalism and public policy initiatives to help equip neighborhoods to stay graffiti-free. 

We, of course, have our own seemingly perpetual grind against taggers and other vandals who mistake a crowded Muni bus for their personal canvas. Muni takes a multi-million dollar hit each year in efforts to keep buses, stations and other facilities clean and feeling safe for customers and employees. 

Muni works to remove graffiti promptly. These efforts include expanded hours for cleaners at each bus and rail division and two mobile teams to clean graffiti that occurs while vehicles are in service. Vehicles are cleaned on a rotating schedule, except when there’s major cleaning to be done, like graffiti removal. If graffiti covers a large area of the vehicle, the paint and body shops work on it on the weekends, when more vehicles can be out of service. If it’s a simple clean-up job, the mobile graffiti units respond on the street to keep service rolling and reduce delays. Cleaning up graffiti from floors, roofs and the bellows is time consuming. Bellows are the accordions on trains and 60-foot buses that let them bend. This tedious, labor-intensive work requires a hands-on approach and hours of work.

Graffiti affects everyone in our beautiful city. Whether you're a business owner that has to pay each time to clean it up, or a commuter looking at it on your bus while riding into work, graffiti degrades our city's appearance and can make residents and visitors feel less safe. We have been proud to work closely with San Francisco Public Works that oversees most of the city's official cleaning up as well as our partners at Clear Channel who work quickly to clean up Muni's transit shelters.

A promising sign for the future is the joint program between Public Works and the SF Arts Commission called Where Art Lives that helps SF kids understand the difference between art and vandalism. Check out their video to learn more about the distinction between the vibrant murals done in coordination with a community and the daily vandalism that the city and its residents struggle to combat. 

Graffiti Huddle event registration and details can be found at zerograffitisf.com.