Irish Fare System Announcement Moved to Monday; Spain’s Indra Believed to Have Submitted Low Bid
Ireland’s National Transport Authority has pushed back the long-anticipated announcement of its large fare-system contract once again, but this time only until Monday.
The announcement, presumed to be the winner of the long-delayed contract for a nationwide account-based ticketing system featuring open-loop payments, was earlier set to happen this week.
Small Dutch Start-Up that Bought MaaS Global Assets Says It Can Avoid ‘Pitfalls’ That Defeated Whim App
The small Dutch start-up that bought pioneering mobility-as-a-service start-up MaaS Global from a bankruptcy administrator told Mobility Payments it has learned from the “pitfalls encountered” by the Whim app provider.
But recent Rotterdam-based start-up umob, which last week announced it had acquired the assets of
Tip Sheet: LA Metro Considers Open-Loop Payments, Sole-Source Contract for Cubic
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is believed to be looking at introducing open-loop payments and is considering rehiring Cubic with a sole-source contract to implement the new payments service, along with other account-based ticketing, Mobility Payments has learned.
Some of the discussions are believed to be preliminary, but a sole-source deal is a real possibility for
Cubic Wins Appeal in Denmark, as Officials Cancel One of the Contracts for National Mobile-Ticketing System
Denmark’s Complaints Board for Public Procurement took the rare step of annulling a contract approved by a public agency, after Cubic Transportation Systems alleged unfair treatment and a lack of transparency by the country’s national ticketing-system provider.
Believed to be a long shot by some, Cubic’s appeal convinced the complaints board on three of its claims, in which the U.S.-based vendor contended that evaluators had erred in grading competing
Bid Award Challenged in Sweden’s No. 2 City by Ridango; but Displaced Incumbent Vix Declines to Appeal
A contract award to Czech Republic-based vendor Mikroelektronika for a new fare system in Sweden’s second-largest city, Gothenburg, is on hold as officials handle an appeal from the vendor that came in second in the bidding, Estonia-based Ridango, Mobility Payments has learned.
Meanwhile, Vix Technology, the nearly 20-year incumbent for the transport authority, Västtrafik, has
Tip Sheet: Cubic Lays Off More Employees; Contends It Needs to ‘Become Leaner’ and More Competitive
Cubic Transportation Systems is laying off more employees in an effort, it says, to “become leaner and more responsive” to the market, Mobility Payments has learned.
The U.S.-based vendor, the largest fare-system supplier globally, already laid off more than 200 employees last summer. The latest round of layoffs is expected to be smaller than this previous one.
Tip Sheet: Italy’s National Rail Operator Launches Open-Loop Pilot with Fare Capping
taly’s national rail operator, Trenitalia, has launched an open-loop pilot with broad fare-capping options in the Veneto region of Northern Italy, on a rail line between the cities of Verona and Venice.
The pilot, which launched last week, is believed to be the first Trenitalia line to support open-loop
Denmark Hits First Milestone for National Mobile-Ticketing Service–with Many More Milestones to Go
Denmark’s national transport ticketing system provider announced Tuesday it had hit the first milestone in its project to replace its closed-loop travel card with a GPS-based mobile-ticketing app.
The announcement of the initial launch for up to 20,000 users comes days after the transport-agency owned fare company, Rejsekort & Rejseplan, disclosed that its CEO
Tip Sheet: Why is EMV-Enabled Closed-Loop OMNY Card Failing to Take Off?
As Mobility Payments reported late last month, New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has been issuing a reloadable closed-loop OMNY card since October 2021, which uses white-label EMV technology. But the card still makes up only 3% of OMNY transactions, according to an MTA spokesman.
That is a low rate of usage, especially given that the card is meant to serve riders who cannot or will not use credit and debit cards or open-loop cards in NFC wallets. This represents a lot of riders.
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.