Washington metro gets Cubic ticketing

Cubic Transportation Systems has been awarded a contract for more than US$8 million to convert existing paper magnetic fare card vending machines to sales and reload devices for SmarTrip, the contactless smart card for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). The project is part of the agency’s plan to eliminate paper ticketing from its fare system to all contactless media by spring 2016. Cubic will upgrade more than 500 machines with hardware kits including smart card readers and re
July 29, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

378 Cubic Transportation Systems has been awarded a contract for more than US$8 million to convert existing paper magnetic fare card vending machines to sales and reload devices for SmarTrip, the contactless smart card for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).  The project is part of the agency’s plan to eliminate paper ticketing from its fare system to all contactless media by spring 2016.

Cubic will upgrade more than 500 machines with hardware kits including smart card readers and related software on all Metrorail lines, including the Silver Line to Dulles Airport that opened two days ago.  Cubic also produced and installed the fare collection system to the new line under a separate contract.

Cubic has been involved with WMATA’s fare collection since the system opened.   The company delivered the original magnetics-based system in use since the early 1970s, and designed and delivered the SmarTrip system that opened to the public in 1999. 

“We’re pleased to be part of WMATA’s transition to a paperless system, as well as having been so involved throughout the agency’s entire fare collection history,” said Matt Newsome, senior vice president and general manager, Cubic Transportation Systems, Americas. “Cubic brought contactless technology to the region – in fact, it was the first contactless system for transit in the US.  WMATA set the standard that other agencies followed.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Cubic and MTA win ITS-New York Project of the Year
    June 17, 2014
    Cubic Transportation Systems and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) have been awarded the ITS-New York Project of the Year for MTA Bus Time, the customer information system for bus location and arrival times that was developed for the MTA. Bus Time was completed in March and covers more than 15,000 bus stops in New York City. Under a contract awarded in 2013, Cubic was selected to build and integrate the bus hardware system that includes the on-board computer and bus location device
    Read More
  • Collaboration on next generation intelligent travel research
    May 11, 2012
    Cubic Transportation Systems and the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) have entered into a collaborative partnership to research the next generation of intelligent travel technologies for cities. Cubic will contribute US$500,000 over five years to the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering to fund research done by faculty, students and Cubic Transportation Systems staff. The project aims to achieve a better understanding of the application and use of em
    Read More
  • Toronto to get electronic payment cards
    November 30, 2012
    Toronto public transport passengers will soon be able to use a single-fare Presto card to get around on the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) or seven other municipal transit systems in Ontario. Transit and government officials say the Presto fare system will be in place throughout the entire TTC system, subway stations, buses and new streetcars, by 2016. Bob Chiarelli, Ontario’s minister of transportation and infrastructure, said Toronto transit passengers have been requesting the electronic fare system fo
    Read More
  • Cubic completes expansion of NextBus System in Queensland
    May 13, 2015
    Following last year’s trial on the Sunbus bus network on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in Australia, Cubic Transportation Systems says its new NextBus real-time passenger information system has undergone a major expansion in the south east corner of the state. This follows the official launch of the new system on 7 May, enabling NextBus to officially go live on thousands of bus and ferry services across the TransLink public transport system in south east Queensland. Cubic replaced more than 2,500 driver
    Read More

Highlighted Content