The public is invited to the Transit Camp, a unique event on February 23-24 in Palo Alto that will be devoted to the positive possibilities of public transit in the Bay Area. Based on the "bar camps" (http://www.barcamp.org/) started by open source activist Tim O'Reilly, Transit Camp is patterned after successful Transit Camps held in Toronto and Vancouver. It invites citizens, transit experts, elected officials and others to focus on improving how current transit systems work and collaborating on the future of Bay Area transit. Because Web professionals will be participating, too, the event will be well documented with blog posts, wiki content, photos and video for everyone who is unable to attend.
This event is free (lunch is included) and is accessible by public transit. (It's just a few blocks from the Palo Alto Caltrain station.) To learn more and view the invitation, go to http://www.eventbrite.com/event/96263928/invitefriends. Sponsorships are available at $300 maximum; sponsors can also register on the same page.
One of the rules of Transit Camp is no complaining! The first day (Saturday) will be unstructured, but will offer an opportunity during the morning for officials to talk about what has been done and the issues they face. During the afternoon, people will discuss some technologies that might help improve the average citizen's experience. (For one example, visit TrainCheck , which invites you to send a text message to get a reply within one minute of upcoming BART train departure times.) On Sunday, participants will brainstorm on collaborative solutions.
For more information, visit the Bay Area Transit Camp site at:
http://barcamp.org/TransitCampBayArea
Join the Transit Camp Google group that is organizing the event and learn more about the inspiration for this event.

– Written by Terry Nagel