Cubic’s $4.8M contract modification to make MTA future ready

Payment information integrator for travel applications, Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS), claims to have bagged $4.8 million contract modification from the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA). Cubic has been taken on-board by MTA for upgrading its Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) system as well as prepping it for new features and functionality.

What will the upgrade do?

According to the company the upgraded system will allow MTA to accept new payment methods, such as mobile payments, as well as add new features, including a new customer web portal and an integration path with third-party transport services in the future.

Ian Newberg, Vice President, Business Development, Cubic Transportation Systems said, “The new system will allow the MTA to manage and control its own destiny, giving it freedom to implement a variety of innovative and integrated solutions now and in the future.”

“It is not only a chance to significantly enhance current service offering, but also an exciting opportunity to provide a richer transportation experience in the coming years.”

Cubic has been providing software maintenance and technical support for the AFC system, with the new contract modification, CTS will perform a software update, upgrading AFC from Cubic’s NextFare 4.0 revenue management system, to NextFare 7. The company claims that this form of an approach is a cost-effective solution for giving the MTA the freedom to innovate, without having to overhaul the entire AFC system.

How will the upgrade help?

The cloud-based platform will replace all the key functionality currently provided by the existing scheme and offer a number of advanced features, such as payment card industry (PCI) compliant payment application for processing credit and debit transactions; support of enhanced fare policy; and enhanced reporting and analytics, as well as allow the MTA to monitor the conditions of fare collection equipment, so that repairs can be made quickly and efficiently, without much impact on customer service.

Prepping for the future

Cubic states that future expansion benefit of the system is that the platform can be enhanced to enable the MTA to integrate third-party systems, such as bike-sharing and ride-sharing services, into the transport experience for the public, in alignment with its BaltimoreLink program.