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First stop New York as Cubic and TfL tech goes global

18 July 2016

by Steve Hoare

Transport for London (TfL) has signed a £15 million deal with Cubic Transportation Systems that will allow the latter to sell London’s contactless payment technology to cities around the world.

Cubic and TfL teamed up to create London’s contactless payment system in 2012. Cubic developed the front and middle office, while TfL built the back end. Cubic has also created and delivered a similar system to Chicago, which is called Ventra.

“This licence agreement enables us to take the TfL component and to create the best of breed combination of Chicago and London and have a single go-forward product, based on the two and only market deployments,” Matthew Cole, President of Cubic, told Cities Today.

The company has already submitted a proposal to provide the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority with a similar system. Cole pointed out that the New York MTA and TfL are peers as two of the biggest transport agencies in the world.

“We wanted to include the TfL IP in our proposal but also wanted TfL to be a partner in the project,” continued Cole. “We are proud they teamed exclusively and we think that a partnership of TfL (a rare peer to MTA and a leader in the public deployment of technology) together with Cubic (the leader in the market, particularly for contactless payment) creates a unique and compelling proposition for New York.”

Cubic Transportation Systems president Matt Cole
Cubic Transportation Systems president Matt Cole

The TfL back office consists of the software code, detailed design documentation and business design documentation. In addition, the deal allows Cubic to access TfL’s consultancy support for the next five years. The contract anticipates senior management from each side meeting every six months to monitor the market and map out new business opportunities.

London’s Oyster card scheme was launched in 2003. In 2012, contactless systems were first accepted on buses and then the system was rolled out to the rest of London’s transport network during 2014.

Cole said that since the contactless system was implemented, payment cards from 81 different countries have been used.

“Most countries are looking at this sort of solution to solve the problem of visitors not having an Oyster card or equivalent,” said Cole.

Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, made a manifesto commitment to sell TfL’s expertise around the globe and this is the first evidence that he will keep that election promise.

“I made a firm commitment to sell Transport for London’s expertise around the globe,” said Khan. “We will use the income from those deals for further investment in new infrastructure and to freeze TfL fares.”

 

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