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| Subject: Virginia and Maryland to Washington, D.C.'s | |
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Author: Smartrip---CubicSept. 28, 2001 and ERG--Washington |
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Date Posted: 01:04:51 01/24/03 Fri http://www.itsa.org/ITSNEWS.NSF/4e0650bef6193b3e852562350056a3a7/a94cdcd89f79bae485256ad500697919?OpenDocument News Cubic Wins $15 Million In Contracts To Complete Nation's First "Smart'' Interstate Ticketing System This page was last updated on Friday, September 28, 2001 SAN DIEGO, Sept. 28, 2001 - Cubic Transportation Systems, a subsidiary of San Diego-based Cubic Corp., has won approximately $15 million in contracts for a landmark project to link all bus operations in Virginia and Maryland to Washington, D.C.'s Metrorail and parking facility smart card-based payment system. The new contracts are the result of a unanimous decision by Virginia and Maryland bus operators to join the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA) and Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), already under contract with Cubic, to link all regional public transit fare collection to WMATA's popular SmarTrip® card system. The SmarTrip system uses Cubic's GO CARD® technology -- an embedded computer chip and antenna that communicate via radio frequency with readers on faregates, ticket vending machines and parking exit processors, allowing commuters to pay for Metro train rides and Park-and-Ride facilities by simply placing their smart card near a card reader. Cubic recently helped WMATA implement another SmarTrip application, SmartBenefits, which allows participating federal and private sector employees to receive transit benefits directly on their SmarTrip cards. Designed and implemented by Cubic nearly three years ago, SmarTrip is the first contactless smart card introduced by a major mass transit system in the United States. Last spring, Cubic won contracts for $20.7 million from WMATA and $21.9 million from MTA for equipment to make those agencies' buses SmarTrip-compatible. With the most recent contracts, which stem from a WMATA contract provision allowing 13 northern Virginia and Maryland suburban regional bus operators to share that agency's pricing benefits, Cubic will receive a total of $58.6 million to complete the unique interstate/intermodal regional ``smart'' payment system installations by mid-2003. Working with Cubic, WMATA, MTA, Montgomery County Ride-On and Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) have created The Regional Bus Fare Collection System, a collaboration with the goal of delivering seamless regional ticketing with one smart card good on all major transit systems in the greater Baltimore-Washington, D.C. region. The new Cubic contracts are with bus companies in Maryland (Annapolis Transit, Corridor Transit Corp., Frederick Transit, Hartford County Transit, Howard County Transportation System, Montgomery County Ride-On, Ocean City Transit and Prince Georges County Transit) and Virginia (Arlington Crystal City Trolley (ART), Alexandria Transit Company (DASH), PRTC Omni-Ride, Fairfax County Connector and City of Fairfax CUE Bus). ``In order to ensure the future success of mass transit and meet Maryland's goal of doubling transit ridership by the year 2020, it is imperative that we implement an integrated fare collection system that works conveniently for citizens throughout the state and throughout the region,'' said Virginia L. White, Acting Administrator, Maryland Transit Administration (MTA). ``When this new Smart Card Technology is in place, traveling between Maryland, D.C. and even Northern Virginia becomes simplified with just the wave of a card.'' Under the new contracts, the regional buses will get new fareboxes or check-in/check-out validators, equipped with Cubic's high-tech smart card readers for riders to pay their fares. Like the more than 200,000 smart card users in Washington, riders simply have to touch their cards to the high-tech card readers to board the bus. ``Cubic's smart card solution creates a transportation system without borders, where riders no longer have to carry different fare cards to transfer between the bus or train or from one carrier to another,'' said Walter C. Zable, president and chief executive officer, Cubic Transportation Systems. ``Our technology allows transit agencies with varying fare structures to participate in integrated regional ticketing.'' Cubic will integrate new bus fareboxes and validators with the Tri-Reader®, Cubic's core technology for supporting system compatibility among all the participating agencies. Tri-Reader is one of Cubic's Nextfare(TM) Solution Suite advanced smart card tools, developed to plug into new and existing mass transit systems. The technology provides migration to an open architecture, ensuring transit agencies flexibility in selecting smart cards from a variety of suppliers. About Cubic Every year, some 10 billion passengers on five continents in more than 40 major markets pay for their mass transit rides using Cubic's payment systems. Cubic's installations include London, Washington D.C., Hong Kong, Chicago, New York, Gungzhou, Shanghai, Atlanta, San Francisco, Singapore, Miami and others. Cubic Transportation Systems is the world's largest supplier of total revenue services, including integrated ticketing and automated fare collection systems for mass transit that utilize a magnetic ticketing base system to support the future addition of smart card systems as transit agencies expand their objectives. Cubic Transportation Systems is one of Cubic Corp.'s two major segments. The Cubic Defense Group provides battle command training, instrumented training systems, avionics, data links, product logistical support and radio communication systems. For more information about Cubic, see the company's Web site at www.cubic.com. SmarTrip® is a registered trademark of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. GO CARD® is a registered trademark of Cubic Transportation Systems Inc. Tri-Reader® is a registered trademark of Cubic Transportation Systems. ERG LIMITED 2003-01-20 ASX-SIGNAL-G HOMEX - Perth +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Project heralds era of integrated regional fare collection; passengers will be able to use single smart card to pay fares across all transit systems in the region ERG Group, a global leader in smart card based transit fare collection and management systems, along with Northrop Grumman Information Technology(IT), has been selected by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) to install and operate a new Regional Customer Service Centre for its smart card based fare collection system, known as SmarTrip(R). The WMATA decision means a contract for the project can be awarded to ERG following final negotiations and the expected approval of the Maryland Transit Administration. The WMATA project will begin a new era of integrated transit in the Washington DC area, Maryland and Northern Virginia allowing passengers to use a single smart card to pay fares across 17 transit systems. The SmarTrip system is expected to grow to a card base of more than one million over a five-year period. The project involves the establishment and operation of a smart card customer service centre, card management and the clearing and settling of smart card transactions across 17 transit agencies in Northern Virginia, Maryland and the Washington DC area. The new system will interface with existing installed hardware such as gates and readers. WMATA has managed the tender and evaluation process on behalf of the participating transit agencies. ERG will be responsible for the management of smart cards and operation of the data processing system incorporating clearing, settlement and financial management. ERG will use its existing central computer processing system installed in the San Francisco Bay Area to perform these functions. This established facility has been designed to process smart card transactions from multiple North American cities. The project calls for ERG to operate the system for a period of five years, with two subsequent one-year options. The initial five-year contract, worth approximately US$20 million, comprises the supply, installation and operation of the system. Northrop Grumman IT will be responsible for the distribution of smart cards and operation of the customer service centre in the Washington DC area as a subcontractor and partner to ERG. Work is expected to commence on the project during the first quarter of 2003. "We are pleased that Washington DC is about to join a growing number of North American cities that have selected ERG's technology to help run their fare collection systems," said Michael Nash, General Manager of ERG's Operations in the Americas. "San Francisco, Toronto, Las Vegas, and Ventura County in Southern California have allchosen ERG's solution because of its capacity for interoperability and scalability across multiple transit systems and millions of passengers and because its open architecture makes it easier to integrate new applications as they become desirable. This new project will give ERG a prominent East Coast presence ahead of some of the major tenders we expect in the coming twelve months. "The WMATA approval is the first fruit from our relationship with Northrop Grumman IT. We hope to see that expand to further transit contracts as well as adding non-transit applications. ERG's capacity for interoperability and openness of its system is extremely important for the expanded use of this card base." [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
| Subject | Author | Date |
| Re: The ultimate goal is a transit card that can be used nationally. | 18/11/02 | 02:19:11 01/24/03 Fri |
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| Re: SmarTrip system in Washington biometrics | Chicago’s pilotprivate employers, airports and public | 03:10:02 01/24/03 Fri |