Navigating San Francisco public transit is tough. Schedules and routes change, and between light rail, buses, cable cars, streetcars and BART, it can be confusing to figure out how to get where you need to go.
One person that it is not confusing for is Da’Von Griffin. If you need to get somewhere on Bay Area transit, Griffin can tell you the best route, all the stops and how long your wait will be — all off the top of his head.
This past weekend at Outside Lands, the 19-year-old stationed himself at the 30th Avenue and Fulton Street bus stop every day, microphone in hand, speaker hooked onto the left side of his backpack, directing transit riders to their next destination.
“I’ve always loved making announcements,” Griffin said. “It helps you find your waypoints and where to go. I always wanted to be the type of person to guide people, show them where to go.” (A waypoint, for those of you who aren’t navigators, is a set of coordinates, like longitude and latitude, that marks a point on a map.)
Born in Berkeley and raised in Oakland, Griffin knew from a young age that public transit was important, he said. He grew up riding BART and, after moving to San Francisco with his mom and sister in 2020, he began researching its public transit as well.
The Covid-19 pandemic was changing the city’s transit as he studied it, “There were no trains at the time,” he recalled, and “buses had letters instead of numbers.”
When the Muni Metro light rail restarted, Griffin began taking the historic F Line for the first time. “From there,” he said, “I started studying, recognizing, and memorizing all the stops and routes.”
As a 16-year-old, he began riding BART trains with a microphone and JBL speaker, announcing to his fellow riders when the last stop was approaching, guiding them to the next station, and taking spontaneous transit questions.
“I got a little nervous at the start,” Griffin recalled. “But the more compliments on my voice, the more I kind of got confident about making the announcements.”
Feedback was positive, and BART didn’t seem to mind. Griffin began spending three to four hours a day most weekends as a self-appointed announcer.
“People are really happy to have someone there to help. They’re usually really surprised that someone’s actually making announcements, like an actual human and not some AI thing.”
In 2023, Griffin landed a paid internship with Muni, and became part of the system’s Youth Transportation Advisory Board. After the internship ended, and he graduated from high school, Griffin began looking for a full-time job.
Next year, he plans to begin computer science classes at the College of San Mateo, with the hope of improving LED prediction screen technology for more accurate arrival times at transit stops. Long-term, his personal goal is to become a bus operator, once he gets his driver’s license.
In the meantime, Griffin continues to volunteer as an announcer. He makes announcements for almost eight hours a day, four to five days a week, and has purchased a new and better microphone and speaker.
“Our staff really appreciates having Da’Von around, and we know our riders do, too,” Michael Roccaforte, an SFMTA spokesperson, said.
“Outside Lands is one of the busiest times for the agency, and he recognizes the importance of getting people where they need to be. Seeing young people appreciate public transportation this much is really a special thing and something the agency truly appreciates.”
“I hope that I eventually become the voice of Bay Area transit in general,” Griffin said. “And you can hear my voice across all buses, all trains, all stations, and entrances, providing the most accurate, most detailed information and announcements.”
For now, Griffin can be frequently seen around 30th Avenue, the Geary and Masonic stop, 4th and King streets, and the Embarcadero station with his speaker propped at the top of bus stops or attached to the water bottle pocket of his backpack. With a deep and calm voice, he’ll announce when your ride will be arriving or departing.
“The commuters out here in San Francisco keep me going,” Griffin said. “No one has stopped me so far, and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.”
This is really wonderful! Thank you, Da’Von!
What a great story! We were on (I think) the 38-Geary, heading toward the Ocean from Downtown, when we noticed a nice young man in an orange vest making announcements for every stop. Now, thanks to Mission Local, we finally know the ‘rest of the story.’