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

  • Debating a cost-effective means of road user charging
    July 20, 2012
    Does GPS/GNSS-based technology provide a cost-effective means of charging or tolling on a national or international level, or are the issues pertaining to effective enforcement an obstacle. Here, leading equipment manufacturers debate the issue.
  • Moscow Metro ticketing: your face here
    January 18, 2022
    Metro users in Russian capital Moscow no longer need a card to pay for travel – they just need their face. So does the system actually work? And what about security concerns? ITS International sent Moscow Metro a series of questions – and here are the answers…
  • New thinking needed on the transportation front
    December 10, 2014
    Having spent his working life in transportation, Larry Yermack gives his views on today’s technology challenges. I remember it vividly; it was the late 80s, soon after I started as CFO of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority and I was standing mid-span on the deck of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge on a Friday afternoon.
  • TRL answer key questions on urban traffic control
    March 21, 2014
    PC-based urban traffic control (UTC) continues to grow. Gavin Jackman, Head of Traffic and Software at TRL, looks forward. 1. PC-based urban traffic control is now very well established throughout the world. What have been the most significant developments or new features that have become available over the last two years? That’s a really interesting question because, from a software perspective, a few things are noticeable. Firstly, there are more players on the market – TRL’s Transyt Online, Imtech’s Imf