Monday, May 10, 2010

Cubic Receives $370 Million Contract to Provide Greater Sydney's Electronic Ticketing System

May 10, 2010 06:00 ET


Company Builds On Success With London's Oyster System



SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, and SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire - May 10, 2010) - Cubic Corporation (NYSE: CUB) today announced it has signed a contract with the Public Transport Ticketing Corporation (PTTC) to provide greater Sydney's Electronic Ticketing System. The contract is valued at $370 million ($398 million Australian) for the design, development, implementation and fixed maintenance components.



Additional payments, called variable charges, will also be payable, based on the combination of the number of customers using smart cards, and the number and value of financial transactions per smart card. These variable charges support the usage of the system and could bring the entire contract value from $500 million ($538 million Australian) to more than $600 million ($646 million Australian) through to 2024.



"Cubic is proud to support the PTTC in providing a modern, convenient and reliable Electronic Ticketing System for greater Sydney," said Stephen Shewmaker, President of Cubic Transportation Systems. "PTTC wanted a proven system, and that is what Cubic and its Australian subcontractors will deliver. Our system will be based on time-tested technology, but will also have the capability to incorporate the latest payment innovations now under development."



Selected following an extensive assessment process, the Cubic-led Pearl Consortium team has formidable experience and success with complete ticketing solutions. Cubic Transportation Systems has successfully modernized automated fare collection systems involving multiple modes of transportation used by hundreds of millions of passengers in more than 40 major cities worldwide. Those cities include London, New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Brisbane.



Principal subcontractors include one of Australia's biggest engineering companies -- Downer EDI, the country's largest bank -- the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, a leading provider of pre-paid products to retailers -- epay Australia, and a world leader in on-board bus equipment -- Parkeon.



Downer EDI, together with Parkeon, designed, installed and deployed the smart card ticketing system in Perth, and recently won the contract to install electronic ticketing on the Australian Capital Territory's bus fleet. Commonwealth Bank of Australia currently provides transaction banking services and top up card capacity for the Perth and South East Queensland electronic ticketing systems, and will provide transaction banking for the new ACT electronic ticketing system to be introduced next year. Parkeon will provide the on-bus driver console for the new Sydney system, and epay Australia will be involved in distributing and topping up the new smart card.



"Our combined talent and experience will support the full scope of this critically important project," said Matthew Cole, Managing Director for Cubic Transportation Systems (Australia) PTY Limited. "We intend to draw heavily on the comprehensive knowledge that we possess as a result of Cubic's experience with the successful Oyster Card® system in London and the highly acclaimed go-card system in Brisbane."



Cubic's role in the development and operation of the London system began in 1998 and continues today. Cubic is working with Transport for London (TfL) to explore potential initiatives to integrate credit/debit card and mobile phone technology into ticketing systems, and simplify travel for visitors during the 2012 Olympics. The new system will be based on the iconic London Oyster Card system, the world's biggest public transport smart card system.



"There are strong similarities between London and Sydney when it comes to ticketing," Cole observed. "London's Oyster system evolved from an existing magnetic-stripe ticketing system, and smart cards were introduced to commuters without disruption or inconvenience. A similar strategy is planned for Sydney," he said.



Cubic's phased and incremental approach for deployment of the smart card will commence with ferries, rail and then buses. Upon completion of the design, build and install phases, Cubic will operate the system for 10 years.



Commuters will be able to load money onto their smart card via:
  • the Internet

  • customer contact centres

  • automatic deductions from a linked bank account or credit card by phone

  • retail outlets throughout greater Sydney using the epay Australia network; and

  • auto-load machines primarily at train, ferry and other public transport locations.

Commuters will present their smart card to a validator or reader and "tag-on" before boarding a train, government or private buses, or government ferries, and the price of the journey will be automatically deducted from their smart card account when they present their smart card again (and "tag-off") at the end of their journey.



Cubic-provided managed services will include:

  • Customer website development and operation

  • Interactive Voice Response (IVR) as part of a 24/7 Customer Contact Centre

  • A 24/7 Contact Centre for handling service calls

  • A Distribution Centre for ordering and mailing cards and processing replacements 

  • Reconciliation and reporting of transactions

  • Revenue management for the multiple public transport operators and agencies supporting the system

  • Retail outlet management services

  • Repairs, maintenance and spares inventory

"Cubic is especially pleased to win the contract for Sydney's Electronic Ticketing System," Shewmaker said. "This prime contract award validates our business strategy to grow the scope and scale of our services business, and expand our presence in Australia and the greater Australasian region."



Cubic Corporation is the parent company of three major business segments: Defense Systems, Mission Support Services and Transportation Systems. Cubic Defense Systems is a leading provider of realistic combat training systems and defense electronics. Mission Support Services is a leading provider of training, operations, maintenance, technical and other support services. Cubic Transportation Systems is the world's leading provider of automated fare collection systems and services for public transit authorities. For more information about Cubic, see the company's Web site at
www.cubic.com.

Oyster® is a registered trademark of Transport for London.

epay® is a registered trademark of epay Limited.



Contact:

Jan Stevens

858-505-2174 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              858-505-2174      end_of_the_skype_highlighting

jan.stevens@cubic.com

Disqus for ePayment News