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.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Cellular communications drive the way forward for tolling
    January 18, 2012
    For more than 20 years prior to joining the ITS industry, Mike Payne of Idris, part of Federal Signal Technologies, worked for Vodafone - the world's biggest mobile operator. Here, he considers how the road tolling sector can grow and learn from the cellular industry. The global cellphone has been one of the most successful collaborative technology projects in the last 30 years. Mobile phone technology developed throughout the 20th century with the first public service in the early 70s. This was followed by
  • Funding boost for London’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure
    August 4, 2017
    Transport for London (TfL), London Councils and the Greater London Authority (GLA) have announced funding of almost US$6 million (£4.5 million) to London boroughs to install electric vehicle charging infrastructure on London’s streets. A total of 25 boroughs, each receiving up to US$394,000 (£300,000), will install up to 1,500 standard-speed on-street charging points in residential areas, as part of Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s long-term vision for zero-carbon transport in the Capital another step closer.
  • Verona buses get on board with Conduent contactless technology
    June 19, 2023
    Company continues its roll-outs in Italy with Azienda Trasporti Verona contract
  • Single system simplicity for smarter city transport
    February 23, 2017
    All encompassing, city-wide transport monitoring and control systems are beginning to make their way onto the market, as Colin Sowman hears. The futuristic vision of cities where everything is connected and operated with maximum efficiency by a gigantic computer remains a distant prospect but related sectors and services are beginning to coalesce: transport monitoring and control for instance.