Cubic links California smart card systems

New ticketing technology from Cubic Transportation Systems Inc. will allow passengers of California transit systems in Long Beach and Norwalk to pay their fares with the same smart card soon to be used to pay for Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) bus and subway rides. Under the two new contracts, totaling more than $4.8 million, Cubic will deliver and install on Long Beach and Norwalk buses smart card processing fareboxes that will be interoperable with the ones supplied to the MTA Universal Fare System agencies. With these two recently awarded contracts, Cubic has received $15.1 million in orders to link eight Los Angeles County municipal bus operators to the original $84 million comprehensive fare collection and revenue management system that the company is providing to the MTA under a contract awarded in 2002. By summer of 2004, Cubic technology will allow commuters to use a single smart card to pay for subway, light rail, bus and bus rapid transit throughout the county.