Auckland Launches Open-Loop Service as Planned, as It Awaits Implementation of National Rollout in New Zealand
New Zealand’s Auckland Transport will launch open-loop payments Sunday, bringing credit and debit card acceptance to buses, trains and ferries serving the country’s largest city–at least two years before Auckland would have gotten the technology under an ongoing implementation of a national ticketing solution.
The new open-loop service in Auckland will accept four payments brands and three different mobile wallets, but will only apply to single
Report: Conduent and State Transport Officials in Melbourne at ‘Loggerheads’ Over Contract, but State Denies Problems
Transport officials in the Australian state of Victoria continue to deny there are any problems with the implementation of a new ticketing system by U.S.-based supplier Conduent Transportation, despite new local reports of discord between the vendor and government over the project budget and timelines.
The Victoria Department of Transport and Planning in Melbourne, in a statement pushed back
Washington, D.C., Transit Agency Chooses Littlepay over Incumbent Cubic for Open-Loop Upgrade
The Washington (D.C.) Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, or WMATA, has selected small payments service provider Littlepay to roll out its “open-payment overlay project, Mobility Payments has learned.
It’s a surprising choice for the low-cost but much-watched contract, given that the winning vendor was short-listed with the much-larger incumbent, Cubic Transportation Systems. WMATA is looking for a
Tip Sheet: Will Conduent Put Its Transit Fare-Collection Business on Sale Again?
Conduent, a major fare-system vendor, may again be shopping for a buyer for its fare-collection business, sources told Mobility Payments, though the company has not announced it is planning to sell the unit, and a spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S.-based vendor famously did an about-face in 2022, with the company putting its transportation segment out for a possible IPO or sale, only to take the segment off the market after four months.
U.S. Transit Agency Releases Cost Analysis for ‘Emergency Procurement,’ Raising More Questions
Texas transit agency Capital Metro stated in an “independent cost estimate” that the emergency fare-system replacement it is buying from Cubic Transportation Systems would cost it less than a similar system the agency could procure on the market. It does not, however, say how it arrived at the estimate for the higher-priced fare system.
An eight-page cost analysis and independent cost estimate (download below), obtained by Mobility Payments, stated that Cubic could replace CapMetro’s existing fare system for a total $5.78 million for
U.S. Agency Pulls Back from Going Cashless, Citing Some Rider Complaints
A transit agency in Knoxville, Tenn., yesterday introduced account-based ticketing, fare capping and new reloadable contactless cards, all geared–at least in part–to enable the agency to eliminate cash acceptance on board its buses.
It would have made Knoxville Area Transit, or KAT, one of the few agencies in the U.S. to rid its vehicles of cash. But KAT, which had proposed only last month to end cash acceptance starting Dec. 2, quickly reversed course after receiving pushback from some riders.
Netherlands Plans to Expand Open Loop to More Discount Products–as Growth in Adoption Continues to Slow
Public transport operators in the Netherlands plan to expand the discount products that customers receive when they tap their debit cards–with the goal of offering the same discounts as riders now get with the country’s much-used national closed-loop card.
This expansion has long been planned but is occurring as Dutch transport agencies see a continued slowing of growth of open-loop adoption nationwide. (See chart and table below.)
U.S. Agency Releases First Details about Reasons for ‘Emergency Procurement’ to Replace Fare System; is It Enough?
Texas transit agency Capital Metro said 1.25 million fare transactions went unprocessed during a 30-day period last spring by its incumbent vendor, Siemens Mobility, according to the agency in a newly released document that seeks to justify the “emergency purchase” of a new fare system directly from Cubic Transportation Systems.
The document (download below), obtained by Mobility Payments, is the first explanation made public on the reasons for the fast-track procurement last summer.
Tip Sheet: Montreal Authority Reissues RFP after Disappointing Results; Promises to be More Flexible This Time
Montreal-area transport authority, Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain, or ARTM, has reissued its call to tenders, as promised, for a new account-based ticketing system, after having cancelled the previous tender request in August because of disappointing results.
Also: Netherlands to Roll Out White-Label EMV Card for Closed Loop; Denmark Issues Another Tender Request for Validators; Miami Delays RFP to Complete Fare-System Overhaul
Australia: Cubic Notches Contract in Tasmania by ‘Leveraging’ Its Larger Queensland Project in ‘Platform-as-a-Service’ Play
Seeking “big city” features for its fare system, the small Australian state of Tasmania has decided to plug into the back office of a much larger fare system that is under development by Cubic Transportation Systems in the state of Queensland.
The unusual move means Tasmania will get a long-delayed upgrade to a fare system that will serve