Effective Civic Tech Practices for Public Transit
In December 2025, Bay Area transit took a major step forward with the launch of Clipper 2.0 so now people can pay with credit/debit cards and get free transfers between transit systems.
But the launch of this major improvement has been hampered by continuing issues that face both riders and transit agencies.
Join this event to learn about the bumpy rollout of the Clipper 2.0 upgrade of the Bay Area's public transit fare payment system, how it is an example of endemic challenges in public sector technology project management and procurement, and about educational and advocacy opportunities to improve how future civic tech projects are implemented.
This event will be both in-person at the Internet Archive in San Francisco, livestreamed via Zoom, and is part of a broad Transit Month program of events and activities throughout September. A recording will be sent out to all people who RSVP and will be posted on Seamless Bay Area Youtube channel.
We are approaching the panel with a framing of optimism about the ability of public sector organizations to learn and improve, and that challenges are not primarily caused by individuals but the systems and structures, and the need for government competence to have the future we want.
Panelists:
Rebecca Heywood, Founder and Principal of Civic Works Studio, formerly with US Digital Response
Laurel Paget-Seekins, Senior Policy Advocate for Transportation Justice at Public Advocates, formerly Assistant General Manager for Policy at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Curtis Pierce, Four Nines Technology, with 30 years of experience including on fare collection, online payments, and electronic commerce enterprise system selection, implementation oversight, and project management
Lilly Shoup, Managing Director of Rebel Payments, Mobility, and Insights supporting the California Integrated Travel Project (Cal-ITP) improving trip planning and payments for California’s transit and shared mobility providers.
Moderator: Adina Levin, ED and Co-Founder of Seamless Bay Area, a nonprofit focusing on achieving a seamlessly integrated, world-class, equitable and accessible public transit system in the Bay Area. Formerly led product management and strategy for enterprise software focusing on content, collaboration and search.
Run of Show
6:30pm: Doors open
6:30-6:45pm: Mingling and food before the panel starts
6:45-7:45pm: Panel
7:45-8:00pm: Audience Q&A
This event is part of Transit Month, a month-long celebration of public transit with a jam-packed calendar of events, contest, and more throughout September. To see the full list of events, check out ca.transitmonth.org.
About Seamless Bay Area: Seamless Bay Area is an public transit advocacy and organizing non-profit working towards a unified, world-class transit network in the Bay Area. Learn more at seamlessbayarea.org or follow us on Instagram at @seamlessbayarea.