Cubic Transportation Systems

This fall, MUNI is starting to deploy its inspectors to provide customer assistance and, ultimately, conduct fare inspections, including citation issuance.

MUNI Steps Up Customer Service, Fare Collection

San Francisco Municipal Railway (MUNI) is phasing in fare inspection. While fare collection has not stopped during COVID-19, inspectors are returning to service this fall and becoming part of a larger ambassador program to provide customer assistance. This includes reminding riders that masks are required and to maintain physical distance. They will ultimately conduct fare inspection later this year, including citation issuance. MUNI is also implementing an upgraded Customer Information System from Cubic Transportation Systems that will use digital signage and an updated mobile app to provide real-time information, including estimates on vehicle occupancy.

NYMTA to “Supplier’s 11”: You’re “In Jeopardy”

New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chairman and CEO Patrick J. Foye sent warning letters to MTA’s 11 largest suppliers on Sept. 17. “The COVID-19 pandemic has exacted a horrific toll in human, social and economic terms across the nation,” he noted in the letters. “I am writing to alert you that because of this financial devastation, many current and all future contracts are in jeopardy without an injection of $12 billion in emergency federal aid.”

LA Metro’s Touchless TAP App

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) on Sept. 4 extended functionality of its regional Transit Access Pass (TAP) automatic fare collection (AFC) card to the iPhone and Apple Watch, describing it as “a new and safer way to pay transit fare that allows Metro and 25 TAP transit agencies in L.A. County to offer easy, contactless bus and rail fare payment to riders.”

WMATA: “Apple Tap and Ride”

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) have enabled the agency’s SmarTrip AFC (automated fare collection) system on the iPhone and Apple Watch, “giving transit riders a contactless way to pay for their journeys on trains and buses in Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia. In addition, Cubic and WMATA have launched a SmarTrip app, “the first mobile app for the region.”

Cubic Reveals Public Transit Loyalty Program

Cubic Corporation’s Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) business division launched Cubic Interactive, a loyalty rewards platform that enables transit agencies and authorities to incentivize travel on public transportation.

New York MTA launches OMNY pilot

More than 25 years after it began transitioning its fare payment system from traditional metal tokens to the MetroCard, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has launched OMNY, its new contactless smartcard system, with a pilot program on the New York City Transit (NYCT) Lexington Avenue (4-5-6) subway and buses on Staten Island. The public pilot kicked off May 31 at the Bowling Green station in Lower Manhattan.

LACMTA TAPs Cubic for mobile app

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) has awarded Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) a contract with for an integrated mobile app in support of the TAP regional contactless fare system. TAP links 24 transit agencies across the Los Angeles region, and the mobile app “will provide travelers with a range of convenience tools to enhance their daily commute,” CTS said.

MBTA says “Sorry, Charlie”

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is sending its CharlieCard fare collection system to the bottom of Boston Harbor and replacing it with state-of-the-art technology from Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS). Cubic’s base $575 million DBOM contract includes ten years of operations and maintenance, and two five-year extension options. It’s described as “the nation’s first public-private partnership (P3)fare payment project for transit.”