Cubic Corporation has announced that its Cubic Transportation Systems business division received a major transportation industry award in Australia for the contactless payments trial underway on the Manly Ferry service in Sydney. The “Industry Award” was presented to Cubic at the ITS Australia National Awards at The Pavilion, Arts Centre Melbourne on November 23.
Contactless technology allows commuters to use bank-issued credit and debit cards, mobile phones and other electronic devices to pay for travel.
“Cubic is honored to accept the award for which congratulations also go to Transport for New South Wales and to New South Wales Transport and Infrastructure Minister Andrew Constance, who arranged for this new technology to be trialed in Australia for the first time,” said Tom Walker, senior vice president and managing director for the Asia-Pacific region, CTS. “We are delighted to have been involved in the trial along with specialists from TfNSW, the Commonwealth Bank, Transport for London and Mastercard.”
“This contactless technology trial is a significant first not only for Australia, but also for the southern hemisphere. It has the potential to revolutionize public transportation in New South Wales,” said Walker. “When Cubic installed the new Opal smart card ticketing system in Sydney, TfNSW stipulated that it must be ‘future-proofed’ to be able to accept new and emerging technologies like contactless once they were successfully adopted overseas.”
The policy is enabling London-style contactless technology to be seamlessly integrated with existing Opal smart card technology. In October and November, Cubic was awarded contracts that will use elements of TfL’s technology for deploying next-generation fare payment systems in New York and Boston respectively.
“Other Australian cities will be watching the Sydney program with great interest as the value of contactless in improving the transportation experience for passengers is now widely recognized,” added Walker.
The Manly trial was launched in July this year by Andrew Constance, the New South Wales Minister for Transport and Infrastructure. Manly was selected for the trial as 40 percent of passengers arriving by ferry are visitors to Sydney and contactless technology provides a convenient way to pay for travel without an Opal card.
Contactless, or “pay as you go” technology, was pioneered by Cubic and TfL. First trialed on London buses in 2012, it was then rolled out across the city’s public transportation system in 2014. More than one billion trips have been taken in London using contactless technology.