U.S. Agency SEPTA was to Vote Today on Cubic Contract Award before Canceling Agenda Item–was Rival Vendor Conduent Involved?
After months of delay, the board vote on a much-anticipated award of a contract for the Key 2.0 fare system by Philadelphia transit agency SEPTA was scheduled for today. The agency staff has recommended that Cubic Transportation Systems be hired for the $211 million project.
Then SEPTA abruptly pulled the agenda item late last week, with an agency spokesman telling Mobility Payments only that,
Special Report: Masabi and Cubic Seek to Sign Up Transit Agencies in North America with Group Contracts; In-Depth Look at NEORide Deal
The largest group fare contract of its kind in the U.S. will become at least a little bit bigger in 2025, when the NEORide council of governments says it will add five to six more transit agencies to the 15 agencies now live with its EZfare ticketing service across four states, Mobility Payments has learned.
NEORide’s ticketing vendor, UK-based Masabi, and its chief rival for software-as-a-service ticketing projects in North America, Cubic Transportation Systems and its Umo platform, are promoting the idea of regional fare projects.
To be sure, regional and nationwide fare-system procurements have been a growing trend for years globally, including those in Ireland, New Zealand and the Netherlands. These are mainly system integrator-led projects, however. In car-dominant North America, the early regional projects are using SaaS platforms and are targeting smaller transit agencies.
Making Payments for EV Charging Easy and Safe: Experts Weigh in on How to Overcome the Challenges
Electric vehicle charging networks are growing substantially in such countries as the UK, but there are challenges to deal with, including how to ensure ease of payments while avoiding fraud.
There has been no shortage of ways to pay for the electricity needed to power the growing number of EVs on the road today. Historically, public charging networks have relied on multiple methods of taking payments. In addition to a large variety of mobile apps, customers have also used RFID fobs, contactless cards, QR codes and open-loop payments.
Free Rides for All? Reflections on the Impact of Zero-Fare Policies
When we talk about public transit, we’re not just talking about buses and trains—we’re talking about people, communities, and the essential lifelines that connect them. So when the idea of zero-fare transit comes up, it is something I take to heart. It’s a compelling idea: making transit more accessible, equitable, and environmentally friendly. Zero-fare policies, while well-intentioned, can lead to more problems than they solve.
Zero-fare transit seems like a surefire way to boost ridership and support those who need it most. As with many things, reality is complex. What looks good on paper doesn’t always deliver in practice.
Cubic Expected to Win Major Fare-System Contract in Philadelphia
Cubic Transportation Systems is expected to win the major fare-system project from the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, or SEPTA, an up to $211 million deal to implement and operate the agency’s planned Key 2.0 system.
Update: SEPTA abruptly pulled a proposed resolution from the board agenda for the Dec. 19 meeting this week to approve Cubic, with a spokesman telling Mobility Payments only that "discussions about the proposal will continue between board members and SEPTA staff." He did offer more details for the change. An earlier agenda (see page 17), as of last Thursday, Dec. 12, had the proposed resolution scheduled to go foward for a vote Dec. 19 with a recommendation to hire Cubic. There's no evidence yet that the SEPTA staff has withdrawn that recommendation.
Small Transit Agency Buying Through Cal-ITP Sees Open-Loop Transaction Value Climb
Open-loop transaction value doubled for a small California bus agency last month, although credit and debit card payments still represented a small share of total fare revenue, Mobility Payments has learned.
The gains for Humboldt Transit Authority, in far Northern California, present perhaps a typical snapshot of one of the small municipal transit agencies that is buying its equipment through the state-backed Cal-ITP open-loop procurement program. The program is serving a few larger agencies, as well, and recorded its biggest quarter to date in terms of orders of nearly $1 million during the third quarter, as Mobility Payments reported.
In-Depth: Agencies See Opportunities–as well as Challenges–in Rolling Out Account-Based Ticketing
Account-based ticketing offers big potential for transit agencies, but also poses challenges, a panel of representatives from agencies in Europe, the Middle East and North America that have rolled out the technology or are in the process of doing so said during a recent panel discussion.
Those challenges can include the need to maintain both the new and old ticketing systems for a “considerable” length of time; the lack of off-the-shelf software
Littlepay Beat Out Cubic for Unexpected Contract Win with Major U.S. Agency; Now the Small Australia-Based Vendor Must Deliver
Transit agencies in the U.S. and beyond will be watching to see whether a recent gambit by major agency Washington (D.C.) Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to hire small Australia-based payments service provider Littlepay over its large incumbent supplier, Cubic Transportation Systems, pays off.
WMATA made the unexpected move, as Mobility Payments reported earlier this month, to award an important contract to Littlepay to carry out the agency’s “Open-Payment Overlay” project. The overlay–one of the few projects of its kind globally–seeks to add open-loop acceptance on top of the agency’s existing network of closed-loop terminals quickly and cheaply.
It means that WMATA will have to continue to maintain a completely separate legacy closed-loop system, likely for years to come, using older card-based ticketing technology.
Tip Sheet: Fare Officials from Major Transit Agencies, Including New York and London, Believed to be Discussing How to Deal with Payments Industry
Fare payments representatives with major transit agencies in Europe, North America and Australia have been quietly meeting to discuss merchant fees and fraud around open-loop payments, Mobility Payments has learned.
Also: Australian Government Launches Contactless Trial–Believed to be Token Gesture; Cal-ITP Program has Record Quarter, Thanks to Orders from Sacramento Agency.
Calls Unheeded? Transport for London Says Certain Merchant Fees Rising Despite Complaints
Nearly nine months after open-loop payments pioneer Transport for London sent an unmistakable signal to banks and payments schemes that it was unhappy about rising transaction fees, not much appears to have changed.
Back in early March, Andrew Anderson, the agency’s head of customer payments, complained about increasing transaction fees and higher fraud losses, which he said threatened to kill the “golden goose” of contactless fare payments for the agency.