Skip to main content

TfL and Cubic agree to licence London’s contactless ticketing system for use worldwide

Transport for London (TfL) has announced its contactless ticketing system is set to be used by other major cities across the globe as part of a deal worth up to US$20 million (£15 million, which will be used to help deliver a fares freeze that the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has announced across TfL services for the next four years. TfL signed a deal with Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS), allowing them to adapt the capital’s contactless ticketing system worldwide. It is the first of a number of plann
July 14, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
1466 Transport for London (TfL) has announced its contactless ticketing system is set to be used by other major cities across the globe as part of a deal worth up to US$20 million (£15 million, which will be used to help deliver a fares freeze that the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has announced across TfL services for the next four years.
 
TfL signed a deal with Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS), allowing them to adapt the capital’s contactless ticketing system worldwide. It is the first of a number of planned agreements to sell TfL’s expertise both at home and abroad – a key manifesto commitment for the Mayor.
 
The licence will grant CTS access to London’s contactless system, allowing it to be specifically tailored for other world cities’ transport systems.
 
TfL and CTS have a long-running partnership, having worked together to introduce the Oyster card system in 2003 as well as working together with the UK card industry to make TfL the first public transport provider in the world to accept contactless payment cards. The contactless payment system was first launched on London's buses in December 2012 and expanded to cover Tube and rail services in London in September 2014.
 
Since then, more than 500 million journeys have been made by more than 12 million unique credit and debit cards from 90 different countries, as well as using contactless-enabled mobile devices. Around one in 10 contactless transactions in the UK are made on TfL's network, making it one of the largest contactless merchants worldwide.
 
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I made a firm commitment to sell Transport for London’s expertise around the globe.  We will use the income from those deals for further investment in new infrastructure and to freeze TfL fares”.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Mayor secures record investment in cycling in London
    December 9, 2016
    London Mayor Sadiq Khan has committed to spending US$194 million (£154 million) per year on cycling over the next five years, representing an average US$21 (£17) per head per annum, a level of spending on a par with Denmark and the Netherlands. The investment, part of the Transport for London (TfL) draft Business Plan, goes beyond his manifesto commitment to increase the proportion of TfL’s budget spent on cycling. It will also include substantial benefits for pedestrians with new pedestrian crossings an
  • London’s first Low Emission Bus Zone to tackle toxic air
    March 15, 2017
    London’s first Low Emission Bus Zone has been launched in Putney High Street, one of the most polluted areas of the capital. The clean bus zone, which runs a total of 145 buses on seven scheduled routes, will now be serviced by cleaner buses in a move to cut harmful nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. The route is the first of 12 new Low Emission Bus Zones to be introduced at air quality hotspots. The zones represent the most extensive network of clean buses of any major world city. The routes are one‎ p
  • Cubic completes Sydney Opal Card rollout early
    December 12, 2014
    Cubic Transportation Systems has completed the roll out of Sydney’s Opal contactless smartcard ticketing system across all transport modes and connecting multiple operators and commenced operation and maintenance of the Opal system under the ten-year services agreement that is part of the original contract. The contract to build the new electronic ticketing system (ETS) – later branded as the Opal Card – was awarded to the Cubic-led Pearl consortium in 2010.
  • London’s strategy to tackle air quality problems
    October 21, 2014
    Colin Sowman talks to Matthew Pencharz, the man charged with charting London’s path between catering for traveller needs, conserving ancient buildings and conforming to modern air quality standards.