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.
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
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.)
Review of New Zealand National Fare Project Predicts More ‘Significant Delays’ and Likely Cost Overruns; Government in ‘Commercial’ Talks with Cubic, Others
An independent review of New Zealand’s national fare-system project concluded there is a “very high likelihood of further significant delays” to the project and expressed doubts that vendors and other parties would be able to deliver the full project “within the committed contract value.”
When asked whether national transport officials are pursuing any claims against Cubic Transportation Systems for delays in the National Ticketing Solution project, a spokesman for the New Zealand Transport Agency told Mobility Payments today that officials were
One Year On: Denmark’s Bold Mobile-First Strategy has Reached Nearly 50% Adoption; Getting the Rest Could be More Difficult
Rejsekort & Rejseplan, Denmark’s national ticketing agency owned by the country’s public transport operators, launched its Rejsekort as an app one year ago this month.
The launch of the pay-as-you-go, GPS-enabled app is noteworthy. It's believed to be the first and still the only time a country has embarked on a mobile-first strategy for public transport payments and attempted to replace a much-used closed-loop fare card with a mobile app.
Records of journeys over the past year (see table and charts below), show project backers are making substantial progress.
Updated: Cubic Short-Listed for Must-Win Sydney Contract; Hitachi Rail, Others, Believed Out
Transport for New South Wales in Sydney has short-listed incumbent supplier Cubic Transportation Systems for its new back-office contract along with a second vendor, while Hitachi Rail and a few other suppliers are believed to have missed the cut, Mobility Payments has learned.
The fact that Cubic likely lost its valuable revenue-collection contract with Transport for London (Cubic filed suit last month to appeal TfL’s decision to award the contract to rival vendor Indra Systems), makes it even more critical for Cubic to win in Sydney.
Major San Francisco Transit Operator BART to Launch Open-Loop Payments Tomorrow following Delays
San Francisco public transit officials promise the long-awaited launch of open-loop payments–confined for now to one transit operator, metro-rail provider BART–will happen tomorrow after substantial delays. The project is part of a $400 million-plus next-generation Clipper project that will soon enter its seventh year.
An announcement today by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission planning agency, MTC, promised that nearly two dozen other Bay Area transit agencies that take the closed-loop Clipper card will also accept credit and debit cards soon. MTC added that “once the next generation of Clipper is rolled out Bay Area-wide, ‘Tap and Ride’ will include all discounted fares and transfers between transit services.”
Cubic Execs Seek to Calm Worries among Agencies and Employees as Its Poor Showing in London and Lawsuit against TfL Sink in
Less than a week after the stunning disclosure by Cubic that it had filed a lawsuit against Transport for London seeking to challenge the loss of the agency’s coveted revenue-collection contract, executives are trying to allay concerns among other transport agencies and employees.
In a previously scheduled “town hall” meeting