Today’s Solutions: March 19, 2025

“Please offer me a seat. Not all disabilities are visible,” reads a new sticker that’s available to buy online, intended for disabled people who struggle to find seating on public transit.

The idea is the brainchild of Catherine Callahan, who volunteers with Bay Area Rapid Transit, the transit system that serves San Francisco and the Bay Area, and product designer Chris Arvin.

Since birth, Callahan has lived with spina bifida, a condition where the spine doesn’t fully form. While she doesn’t always use a wheelchair, she does every time she takes public transport, because she’s not confident she would get a seat. “If I didn’t get a seat right away on public transit, I wouldn’t be able to stand,” she says. “I’d be on my butt, immediately.”

As part of a BART task force that helps raise accessibility concerns and generate solutions, she leads a “travel training” program, where disabled and elderly passengers train others with similar conditions, on best accessibility practices, so that public transit doesn’t become a barrier for them.

The sticker idea was inspired by a similar initiative in London, where disabled riders often wear buttons or carry cards that read “Please offer me a seat. Not all disabilities and conditions are visible.”

She eventually connected with Arvin, a product designer, and transit enthusiast. After working on a design together, the duo launched the sticker on July 17, via Twitter.

The stickers are priced at $0.35 per piece and can be affixed to a BART transit card, or $0.95 for one with a lanyard. There is also a free PDF version that’s printable from home, to ensure that everyone who needs a sticker can get one.

As Callahan explains, the stickers are not only a tool to help disabled people but are also designed to gradually grow cultural awareness among the larger community. “Once they know about [the problem],” she says, “they’ll hopefully be more on the lookout for someone who might need their seat.”

Solutions News Source Print this article
More of Today's Solutions

New Zealand embarks on historic island rewilding effort

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM New Zealand is taking on one of its most ambitious conservation efforts yet: rewilding three ecologically significant islands ...

Read More

Start small, grow smart: gardening tips experts wish they knew sooner

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Gardening is one of those skills that often gets passed down through generations. Maybe you remember planting seeds ...

Read More

Collective grief is hard. Here’s how to deal with it

Grief and loss are emotions that we all experience on an individual level, and certain events may even induce shared grief among communities. Since ...

Read More

The strange sounds of Mars have been recorded for the first time

If you’ve ever wondered what Mars sounds like, then NASA’s Perseverance rover has answers for you! The robot landed on the Red Planet in ...

Read More