One word to describe yourself: Optimistic
Alma Mater: Bachelor's- Smith College and Masters- UC Berkeley
Fast fact about yourself: As a 6th grader, I was a semi-finalist in the Massachusetts State Geography Bee. I once successfully pitched an episode to This American Life. I used to be a competitive figure skater, I rode my bike across the U.S. in the summer of 2007 and I have founded or co-founded three advocacy or community organizations during the past decade.
What’s your best experience on transit and what made it memorable? When I was a little girl growing up in Springfield, Mass., my mom would take me on the bus. We didn’t take it daily – my parents each had a car – but we took the bus often enough for shopping trips or to go to appointments downtown that the bus felt to me like the special way to get around the city. Walking to the bus stop, I would carefully count each dime in my pocket that I needed to put in the farebox to get on the bus. Even though I took these trips with my mom, I felt independent on the bus in a way I didn’t get from many other aspects of my life. Sometimes I think I owe my entire career to my mom and the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority!
Sara Barz, product manager for transit at Apple, started in transit in 2016 with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC).
Her interest in transit payments and the opportunity that mobile devices began during her Fulbright fellowship in Paris, France, in 2012-2013. While studying bike share systems, Barz quickly discovered that she could add her Vélib subscription to her Passe Navigo, which made it so much easier to get a bike while traveling around Paris.
While working for Clipper at the MTC in 2017, Barz introduced the innovation to attach a Ford GoBike membership to a Clipper card, which allowed Ford GoBike (now Lyft Bay Wheels) to launch without an additional plastic fob or keycard.
Since joining Apple in 2019, Barz has helped bring transit cards to Apple Wallet and Apple Maps in North America and Europe.
Barz is an advocate for safer streets in San Francisco, Calif., in her free time. She is a volunteer leader with KidSafe SF and Friends of Slow Hearst and she serves as the District 7 representative on the San Francisco County Transportation Authority Community Advisory Committee.
In 2017, Sara co-founded Seamless Bay Area with Mass Transit 40 under 40 awardee Ian Griffiths. During her graduate studies in city and regional planning at UC Berkeley in 2015, Sara co-authored Seamless Transit: How to make Bay Area public transit function like one rational, easy-to-use system with Mass Transit 40 under 40 awardee Ratna Amin.
Is there a specific experience that led you to where you are today?
My interest in the user experience of transit began during my Fulbright fellowship in France in 2012-2013. While in Paris to study the evolution of bike share systems, I quickly discovered a hack that improved my personal experience of getting around the city: I could attach my monthly Vélib subscription to my Navigo card, which made it equally easy to either take a Vélib bike or tap on the Métro. When I returned to the Bay Area, I found myself asking, “Why can’t I do that with my Clipper card?”
Fast forward to 2017, while working for Clipper at the MTC, I introduced the innovation of attaching a Ford GoBike membership to a Clipper card, which allowed Ford GoBike (now Lyft Bay Wheels) to launch without an additional plastic fob or keycard. Even better, this feature became widely used among monthly and annual members!
At Apple, I have been fortunate to work on products that continue in this spirit. Your iPhone is your transit ticket and so much more.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
Since completing my Masters Degree in City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley in 2015, I’ve been fortunate enough to work in roles that allow me to help people get around cities by transit, bike share, car share and other sustainable modes. From the city of Oakland, Calif., to the MTC, to my current role at Apple, I get to improve people’s lives by making it easier to get around without a car!
What I love about working at Apple is that the user experience is at the center of everything we do. I feel lucky to help bring that spirit to the transit payment industry.
What’s the most challenging part of your job?
For the past eight years, I’ve had the privilege of working at the intersection of transportation and consumer technology but this new field represents existential changes with respect to how we communicate and access public services. During the past two decades, so much has changed. From the introduction of the iPhone, to contactless payments, to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting remote work revolution. Making investments and operational changes in response to these societal changes and the evolving demands of consumers can be really hard for some agencies to navigate.
What is an accomplishment you would like to work towards in your career?
I love cities and I want to help make them better for families and easier to get around by transit, biking and walking. From a climate perspective, the next five years represent a critical time to shift more people towards transit and sustainable modes. As a mom, a safe streets advocate and a transportation professional, I want to do what I can in the next five years to improve our city streets and transit systems to make our cities more walkable, bikeable and transitable.
Best advice/tip/best practice to share from your area of expertise?
Ask more questions. Often you may have a point of view on a topic but you may lack a critical piece of information. A mental trick that I deploy often is when I hear a colleague say something at odds with my own point of view, I ask them to explain their point of view before I share if I disagree or explain my own perspective. I try to reframe my disagreement as a question because more often than not I have formed my opinion based on incomplete information.
Furthermore, asking those questions, especially in a one-on-one setting, helps build trust. People like to be sought out for their opinions and expertise. Genuinely trying to understand a different point of view helps build stronger, more resilient relationships.
