RFP for Sydney’s Big Opal Next Generation Project Expected in Coming Months
Update: A long-awaited request for proposal for the major Opal Next Generation project from Sydney authority Transport for New South Wales is now expected "around the middle of 2024," an agency spokeswoman told Mobility Payments. That will be two years after officials first announced the project.
The spokeswoman said the agency still expects to keep the project within the original budget estimate of just under AU$568 million (US$374.6 million). End update.
Florence Launches Open-Loop Payments for Single Rides with Help from Visa
The bus and tram operator in Florence and the surrounding Tuscany region in Italy launched open-loop payments for single rides last week, with help from Visa.
Transport operator Autolinee Toscane, owned by France-based RATP Group, introduced the technology, with more than 6,000 new validators
Growth of Open-Loop Payments Plateaus in Netherlands, but Dutch Operators Plan to Broaden Reach of Technology
Dutch transport officials are reporting that growth of open-loop payments as part of the nationwide OVpay service has leveled off during the first three months of this year after climbing in 2023.
Growth may begin to accelerate again later this year, however, when OVpay project backers seek to enable more riders to use their debit cards to receive senior and other concessions and also monthly and
Three Big Agencies Say Devices Starting to Dominate Cards for Open-Loop Payments
Figures from three of the largest transit agencies accepting open-loop payments show that NFC wallets are becoming the most common way customers tap their credit and debit cards to pay, Mobility Payments has learned.
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Agency, Transport for New South Wales in Sydney and Transport for London are seeing
Tip Sheet: Groundbreaking Open-Loop Procurement in Venice May Finally Launch in Spring
An official with Venice transit agency AVM said the agency plans to launch its delayed open-loop service in the tourist mecca on May 1, which would be one year later than originally planned, Mobility Payments has learned.
The project is noteworthy because the procurement is designed to be completely capex-free, with
Worldline COO: Open Loop as ‘Revolution’ is Oversold; Urges Truly Revolutionary Thinking on Payments, Fare Models
James Bain, COO of global mobility transactional services for Worldline, a major European processor and acquirer–in a striking acknowledgement–said that payments companies have overpromised and oversold the benefits of open-loop technology to transit agencies.
Bain, in a speech at the Transport Ticketing Global conference in London last week, titled, “Do we honestly believe the ‘open payments’ revolution is here?”
Tip Sheet: Transport for London Criticizes Payments Industry for Rising Fees and Higher Fraud Losses
Complaining of rising transaction fees and higher fraud, Transport or London today suggested that actions by banks and payments schemes threatened to kill the “golden goose” of contactless fare payments for the agency.
Andrew Anderson, the agency’s head of customer payments, used his annual presentation at the
U.S. Agency Approves Sole-Source Contract for Cubic, Asserting It Would Save 30% by Avoiding Competitive Procurement
Officials in the U.S. state of Minnesota, as expected, gave final approval this week to a $37.7 million sole-source contract for incumbent supplier Cubic Transportation Systems to upgrade the Minneapolis-St. Paul fare system to offer open-loop payments, account-based ticketing and fare capping.
But while staffers with the agency–Metro Transit–said it would save an estimated 30% on costs by hiring
‘It was Theirs to Lose’: A Look at Cubic’s Surprising Loss of Key U.S. Fare Project after Tight Competition with INIT
Large fare-system supplier Cubic Transportation Systems was ahead on points over second-ranked vendor INIT after the first round of competition last summer for a contract to provide the Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority with a completely new fare system, records obtained by Mobility Payments show.
MARTA short-listed the two vendors, then Cubic and INIT did their oral presentations in front of
New Zealand’s Nationwide Open-Loop Project Running Late; Can Organizers Get It Back on Track?
New Zealand’s much-anticipated nationwide open-loop fare system is believed to be running beyond schedule, with officials unlikely to hit project deadlines, including any substantive initial launch this year, Mobility Payments has learned.
The project, known as the National Ticketing Solution, or NTS, is beset by challenges. Most notably,