Brussels Transit Operator Sees Need for Global Interoperability of Fare Payments
Brussels transit operator STIB is rolling out contactless EMV Payments on its three modes of transport, metro, bus and trams this spring.
Transport for London’s Lucrative Sponsorship Deal with Google Shows Value of ‘Point of Sale’ Real Estate at Fare Gates
(This premium article was originally published March 4, 2020 in Mobility Payments’ sister publication NFC Times.) Transport for London’s recent deal with Google to put the Google Pay Logo on more than 5,600 contactless gate readers across the large London Underground network is not the first time that the London transit authority has rented out...
Transport Officials in Sydney See Growing Demand for Contactless Fare Payments but Have No Plans to Retire Closed-Loop Opal
(This premium article was originally published in January 2020. © Mobility Payments and Forthwrite Media.) Transport officials in Australia have released figures on use of contactless payments in Sydney and New South Wales, showing that customers tap their contactless credit and debit cards and NFC devices for an average of 1.5 million transactions per week,...
Tip Sheet: Layoffs at Cubic–Vendor Says It Amounts to Only 2% of Workforce but Won’t Release Figures; Insiders Say Cuts Taking Toll on Engineers, Others
U.S.-based Cubic Transportation Systems has yet to release a total for the number of employees it plans to lay off, but Mobility Payments is hearing it could be 15% or more across certain job categories, such as engineers, architects and project managers outside of India. Cubic emphatically denies this estimate.
When asked to quantify the job cuts and how they compare to Cubic’s global workforce, a spokesman for the vendor would only confirm to Mobility Payments that “2% of employees are being laid off.”
In Harsh Response to Cubic’s Lawsuit, Transport for London Contends It Could have Rejected Vendor on Several Grounds
Transport for London contends that it would have rejected Cubic Transportation Systems’ tender for the agency’s revenue-collection contract even if the vendor had not been automatically knocked out of the competition by failing the first technical question, TfL states in its first response to Cubic’s lawsuit.
The transport agency’s highly critical response or defense, filed just days ago in the High Court of Justice in London, largely reveals for the first time why TfL chose Indra Systems over Cubic.
Tip Sheet: Layoffs Expected at Cubic; Fare Vendor Discloses ‘New Operating Model,’ Though Releases Few Details
There is growing talk of layoffs at Cubic Transportation Systems, although it’s unclear how many employees will lose their jobs.
When asked, a Cubic spokesman did not immediately address the job cuts, but instead told Mobility Payments that the large fare-system supplier is “implementing a new operating model.”
Vancouver Transit Authority Issues RFP for Major Fare-System Upgrade; Believed to Have Rejected Sole-Source Proposal
Vancouver transit authority TransLink has issued a request for proposal to upgrade its fare-payments system, a project that could be worth an estimated CA$507 million (US$360 million) in capital expenses alone.
The estimate comes from TransLink's 2025 Investment Plan, approved in April. The plan (download below), spreads design, implementation and installation costs largely over five years, though 2031. No figure is available yet for operations and maintenance.
"These are preliminary estimates; the final budget will be determined once we have identified a vendor," a TransLink spokesman told Mobility Payments.
Maitland Out at Cubic; CTS President Montgomery-Torrellas to Take Over ‘Growth’ Position Himself
David Maitland, who headed business development for Cubic Transportation Systems, is out after fewer than 18 months with the struggling fare-system supplier, Mobility Payments has learned. The vendor does not plan to hire a replacement.
Cubic in internal communication (see below) is officially calling Maitland’s departure a “retirement.” But most observers believe he was essentially forced out. They believe Maitland left because
Update on Swedish Procurements, including Recent Validator Competition Attracting Nine Bidders
Sweden’s price-focused, modular market for ticketing procurements is seeing more activity, with at least two decisions in, though pending appeal, and others headed for tender. That is believed to include a tender request expected for early next year for the largest city, Stockholm, Mobility Payments has learned.
In the competitive Swedish market, transport agencies are mainly shopping for new validators, which will need to be able to support open-loop payments, at least eventually.
Canada’s BC Transit Plans to Launch Open-Loop Payments, as Cubic Seeks to Keep Pace in SaaS-Ticketing Market
Canadian transit authority BC Transit has announced that in “coming months” it will prepare to launch open-loop payments, as its vendor, Cubic Transportation Systems, upgrades and tests its software-as-a-service fare platform Umo to make the technology available.
Cubic has enabled open loop for years for large transit agencies via its enterprise business, featuring its Urban Mobility Back Office. But it has struggled to add open-loop capability to its SaaS-based Umo platform–as it seeks to keep pace with rival Masabi in the SaaS-ticketing market
Seoul to Support Open-Loop Payments by Next Year on Buses, 2027 on Metro
Seoul Metropolitan Government has reportedly said it will enable open-loop payments on city buses next year and on the subway lines it runs by 2027, with the goal for buses and trains throughout the metro area from a variety of other operators to accept credit and debit cards and open-loop credentials in mobile wallets by 2030.
It would mean that South Korea, which has been one of the last major holdouts
Cubic’s Recently Installed Head of Europe Departs Abruptly; Maitland Under Pressure
William Wilson, who took over Cubic Transportation Systems’ EMEA region only six months ago, has left the company abruptly, Mobility Payments has learned. It’s not clear whether he quit or was fired.
Wilson, former CEO of Siemens Mobility’s UK subsidiary, for which he oversaw over 5,000 employees and more than £1 billion in turnover, had joined Cubic in May. CTS President Peter Montgomery-Torrellas announced his departure internally Oct. 10. (Download Montgomery-Torrellas message to Cubic employees below.)
Cubic Contends It was Low Bidder and should have Won London Contract; Claims Unfair Treatment, Possible Conflict of Interest as Details of Lawsuit Emerge
Cubic Transportation Systems contends that it submitted a lower bid than rival Indra Systems for Transport for London’s revenue-collection contract and says it should have won the contract but alleges it was treated unfairly in the competition for the lucrative deal.
Cubic made the claims in its lawsuit against TfL seeking to overturn the agency’s decision in July to award the contract to Indra. Among the problems that Cubic’s lawyers spotlighted in their particulars of claim filing for the suit was the fact that two former TfL employees work for consulting firm Rebel Group, which advised Indra on its bid–raising the potential for a conflict of interest. (Download the particulars of claim, which lays out Cubic’s legal case, below.)