Cubic tests smart card system for WMATA contract

Cubic Transportation Systems Inc. announced it has successfully completed factory tests of its smart card automatic fare collection system for buses operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). This initial testing is part of a contract received from WMATA in Jan. 2001, to extend its smart card automatic fare collection system, SmarTrip, to all WMATA buses. The new regional program will link payment for WMATA buses serving Washington, D.C., and parts of Maryland and Virginia with the Metro's existing SmarTrip system. The equipment that was tested included fareboxes--manufactured by Cubic's partner in this enterprise, General Farebox Inc.(GFI)--which have been integrated with Cubic's Nextfare terminal architecture computer hardware and software to support any future fare collection equipment design upgrades. Cubic and GFI are teaming up again to provide a similar solution for buses in Los Angeles County as part of an $84 million contract Cubic received from Los Angeles County MTA in the spring to develop a multimodal smart card ticketing system for that region.