Cubic Awarded $11.58 Million Contract from Washington Area Metropolitan Transit Authority
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has awarded an $11.58 million contract modification to Cubic Transportation Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of San Diego-based Cubic Corporation, to implement software and technology upgrades that will unite Washington Metropolitan Area rail, park-and-ride and regional bus systems through common smart card media and a centralized transaction processing and reporting back-office system.
The system enhancements include new state-of-the-art contactless card readers at all Metro subway and parking facilities, which will expand the already successful SmarTrip regional smart card system. The upgrades will increase efficiencies and open new commercial opportunities that could save the agency millions of dollars in annual operating costs.
Led by the vision of The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), the SmarTrip program began with the nations first multi-modal trial of contactless smart cards in the mid-1990s. The success of the trial led to full system deployment within Washington Metro rail operations in 1999. Contracts with Cubic between 2001 and 2004 expanded the system to Metrobus and nine regional agencies. Among the regional participants are the Maryland Transportation Authority, the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, Montgomery County Ride-On, and Alexandria Dash. Today, nearly 2 million SmarTrip cards have been sold with 1.1 million of those cards in use daily across Metro Rail and Bus operations. The remaining participants are scheduled to come on line over the coming months.
Under the contract add-on Cubic will migrate WMATAs legacy mainframe computer system to one processing platform -- the NextfareTM Central System, the hub of Cubics turnkey fare collection system. Nextfare, an enterprise management system for transit fare programs, is a configurable suite of software modules and applications that provide the core fare collectionwhich will be implemented for WMATAs system as well as financial accounting including revenue clearing, settlement and reporting. When this project is finished, it will complete the system that links each of the participating regional operators. This will enable SmarTrip cardholders to seamlessly connect between agencies without having to purchase separate tickets. Nextfare also facilitates a variety of user conveniences such as the purchase of fare products on the Web, the ability for the card to electronically receive federally subsidized transit benefits, and the ability of the user to re-load SmarTrip cards at specially equipped merchant locations. In addition to Washington, Nextfare is currently operating in Baltimore, Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Diego and Minneapolis.
Cubic will also upgrade WMATAs fare collection infrastructure with its patented Tri-Reader, which can process contactless smart cards meeting ISO 14443. This will allow WMATA to select from a wider choice of card suppliers and open doors for WMATA to structure collaborative relationships with smart card issuers from both the public and private sectors.
Led by the vision of The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), the SmarTrip program began with the nations first multi-modal trial of contactless smart cards in the mid-1990s. The success of the trial led to full system deployment within Washington Metro rail operations in 1999. Contracts with Cubic between 2001 and 2004 expanded the system to Metrobus and nine regional agencies. Among the regional participants are the Maryland Transportation Authority, the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, Montgomery County Ride-On, and Alexandria Dash. Today, nearly 2 million SmarTrip cards have been sold with 1.1 million of those cards in use daily across Metro Rail and Bus operations. The remaining participants are scheduled to come on line over the coming months.
Under the contract add-on Cubic will migrate WMATAs legacy mainframe computer system to one processing platform -- the NextfareTM Central System, the hub of Cubics turnkey fare collection system. Nextfare, an enterprise management system for transit fare programs, is a configurable suite of software modules and applications that provide the core fare collectionwhich will be implemented for WMATAs system as well as financial accounting including revenue clearing, settlement and reporting. When this project is finished, it will complete the system that links each of the participating regional operators. This will enable SmarTrip cardholders to seamlessly connect between agencies without having to purchase separate tickets. Nextfare also facilitates a variety of user conveniences such as the purchase of fare products on the Web, the ability for the card to electronically receive federally subsidized transit benefits, and the ability of the user to re-load SmarTrip cards at specially equipped merchant locations. In addition to Washington, Nextfare is currently operating in Baltimore, Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Diego and Minneapolis.
Cubic will also upgrade WMATAs fare collection infrastructure with its patented Tri-Reader, which can process contactless smart cards meeting ISO 14443. This will allow WMATA to select from a wider choice of card suppliers and open doors for WMATA to structure collaborative relationships with smart card issuers from both the public and private sectors.
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