Skip to main content

Transport for London and Cubic scoop another major ticketing award

Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) and Transport for London (TfL)’s contactless bankcard system have been awarded the Most Innovative Transport Project prize at the recent National Transport Awards, the seventh major award this year for Cubic and TfL’s contactless system. Launched in 2012, the contactless bankcard system was extended in 2014 to cover London’s entire transit network – including Tube, rail, bus and tram services. Since the introduction of the contactless payment scheme, more than 180 milli
October 9, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
378 Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) and 1466 Transport for London (TfL)’s contactless bankcard system have been awarded the Most Innovative Transport Project prize at the recent National Transport Awards, the seventh major award this year for Cubic and TfL’s contactless system.

Launched in 2012, the contactless bankcard system was extended in 2014 to cover London’s entire transit network – including Tube, rail, bus and tram services. Since the introduction of the contactless payment scheme, more than 180 million contactless journeys have been made across the network.

Cubic played a major role in the development of the payment system, spending three years researching and developing the Tri-Reader 3 to process contactless-enabled bankcards. It is also the first reader in the transport industry certified to read Oyster cards, Integrated Transport Smartcard Organisation (ITSO) cards and Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled devices.

“This latest win is the result from more than 30 years of research and strong partnership with TfL. The project introduced a ground-breaking technology that worked effectively from the outset and from a technical, operational and customer perspective,” said Matt Cole, president of Cubic Transportation Systems. “The technology provides a chance for a worldwide game changer to modernise the thinking about the need for tickets, and how to achieve interoperability between different public transport operators.”

The success of contactless bankcard payment is best represented by the fact that within one year of the launch, more than 20 percent of journeys are made using contactless bankcard payments every weekday. Furthermore, bankcards from 77 different countries have been used on the London system, bringing a new level of convenience for the millions of visitors who visit London each year.

Related Content

  • July 1, 2013
    Smart Ticketing Alliance promises smart ticketing interoperability
    Following the 2012 memorandum of understanding, a Smart Ticketing Alliance Charter has now been agreed by representatives of VDV KA (Germany), ITSO (UK), AFIMB (France), the Calypso Network Association and UITP (International Association of Public Transport). This is a step forward in making transport ticketing across parts of Europe simpler and easier for passengers, by creating a platform for cooperation throughout Europe and globally. It represents a coordinated approach for establishing smart ticketing
  • November 23, 2012
    Nottingham takes to e-ticketing
    England’s least car dependent city, Nottingham, is to further develop its public transport system with integrated ticketing solutions from Germany-headquartered ITS provider INIT, which is to supply systems for the town’s bus and tram network. With more than 40 million customer journeys per year, Nottingham’s independent bus operator Trent Barton was already successfully using INIT’s integrated ticketing solution comprising of Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETM), validators and Mango smartcards. Passengers
  • July 4, 2024
    Unicard smart ticketing set for Scotland
    Solution will digitise Strathclyde Partnership for Transport’s ZoneCard ticketing
  • March 22, 2012
    Smartcard scheme expanded in UK
    East Midlands Trains in the UK, part of the transport operator Stagecoach Group which operates trains and buses throughout the UK, is expanding its smartcard scheme that will allows rail users to purchase and store rail season tickets on a re-usable electronic smart card instead of using traditional paper tickets. The programme is operating under the UK government’s ITSO smartcard scheme for interoperable transport.