Boston Agency MBTA Hires Vendor to Extend Life of Existing Fare System, as It Waits for Cubic to Complete Project
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, or MBTA, in Boston recently approved another contract with Scheidt & Bachmann, as it seeks to extend the life of its existing fare-collection system until a delayed new fare system from Cubic Transportation Systems arrives.
The MBTA board unanimously approved a $51 million contract with Scheidt & Bachmann, longtime vendor of the agency’s closed-loop CharlieCard program.
Top Cubic Executives Complain of ‘Serious Concerns’ about Tender Process in Selection of Rival Conduent in Australia: Reports
U.S.-based Cubic Corp. sent a letter of complaint to the premier of the Australian state of Victoria in Melbourne, contending that a flawed procurement process led to the selection of rival vendor Conduent for a 15-year, AU$1.7 billion (US$1.1 billion), contract for a new fare system, according to published reports today.
U.S. Agency Bypassed Low-Cost Suppliers in Awarding Fare-Collection System Contract
The Utah Transit Authority received responses from eight vendors to its request for proposal for a new fare system, with five of the vendors submitting lower cost bids than the vendor the authority ended up choosing for the contract, documents obtained by Mobility Payments show.
Is Sweden’s No. 2 City Rolling Out Open-Loop Payments Twice?
Earlier this month, Gothenburg transit authority Västtrafik launched open-loop payments, the fourth city in Sweden to do so, according to Vix Technology, the vendor that implemented the service on 4,500 upgraded validators on buses, trams and ferries in the city.
California’s ‘Mobility Marketplace’ Completes First Full Year with Few Agencies Ordering Open-Loop Technology So Far
In its first full year of operation, a state-backed program in California targeted at small to mid-sized transit agencies– encouraging them to buy open-loop payments technology–has attracted orders from just six agencies and one small group.
Australia’s Second-Largest State Names Winner of Contract for New Ticketing System
Australia’s second largest state has hired U.S.-based Conduent to a 15-year, AU$1.7 billion (US$1.1 billion), contract to build and operate an account-based ticketing system that will include open-loop payments, the Victoria state minister for public transport announced Monday in Melbourne.
Open-Loop-Leaning Panel Sees Role for Closed-Loop Payments in Transit
Despite the growth of open-loop payments, closed loop will continue to play a necessary role for transit agencies, especially to accommodate the unbanked and underbanked and customers that don’t want to use their credit or debit cards to pay fares, panelists at a recent Visa-sponsored webinar said.
Special Report: How Much Has Open-Loop Payments Reduced Transport for London’s Cost of Fare Collection?
Backers of open-loop payments routinely promise that transit agencies can save substantially on their fare-collection costs by rolling out open-loop payments. But the amount agencies can cut from their ticketing budgets has proved difficult to pin down.
Uber Expands Transit Ticketing, but First Agencies to Sell Tickets through App See Low Adoption
Despite continued interest from transit agencies in selling tickets and passes through the Uber app, the first agencies to make the move are not seeing strong adoption.
Michigan Transit Agency Launches Open-Loop Payments
The transit agency serving the city of Grand Rapids, Mich., became the latest in a small but growing list of agencies to launch open-loop payments in the U.S.