Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS), a business unit of Cubic Corp., announced a contract extension of up to five years from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) for operations and maintenance services supporting the regional Clipper® card fare payment system in the San Francisco Bay Area. The extended contract period is from Nov. 2019 to Nov. 2024, and is valued at approximately $25 million per year.
MTC is the transportation planning, financing, and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. Cubic has been providing services to MTC under a current 10-year services agreement that began when Cubic, in partnership with MTC, launched the Clipper card system to the Bay Area in 2009.
MTC plans to upgrade the Clipper system with new fare technologies, such as mobile payment. According to a recent MTC survey, 93% of customers reported that they are satisfied or very satisfied with the Clipper system and would like the agency to integrate new features to support MTC’s goal of delivering a cost-effective and customer-focused system that supports a modern and seamless travel experience. Cubic’s contract extension will support Clipper through the transition to the next-generation system.
“Maintaining the Clipper system to keep transit riders moving efficiently is our top priority, even as we work on future improvements. Each month, riders use nearly one million Clipper cards and we collect nearly $50 million in fares, so reliability is crucial,” said Carol Kuester, director, MTC Electronic Payments.
Under the contract, Cubic will continue to support MTC and its regional partners for the Clipper system. Cubic operates the customer call center, Clipper card fulfillment and distribution, technical help desk, retail merchant network, and the transit benefits system for employer/employee management of transit subsidies.
Clipper is used by 22 regional transit operators and accounts for more than half of all Bay Area transit trips — approximately 800,000 trips each weekday.
METRO’s People Movement highlights the latest leadership changes, promotions, and personnel news across the public transit, motorcoach, and people mobility sectors.
BART began offering select parking lots to non-BART riders to generate new revenue to help address its FY27 $376M operating budget deficit brought on by remote work.
Drawing on decades of industry experience, Evans-Benson offered insights into the differences between the two, along with tips for better customer engagement and more.
The renewals include continued operations at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida; the PRTC in Virginia; and RTC Washoe in Nevada.
The governor’s proposed auto insurance reforms could save the agency $48 million annually by limiting payouts in crashes where buses are not primarily at fault.
What truly drives the cost of a paratransit fleet? Beyond the purchase price, seven operational factors quietly determine maintenance frequency, downtime, and long-term service reliability. This whitepaper explores how these factors shape lifecycle cost and what agencies should evaluate when selecting paratransit vehicles.
In this conversation, TBC’s Executive Director Ed Redfern, President Corey Aldridge, and Washington Representative Joel Rubin outline the coalition’s key policy priorities, the challenges facing transit agencies, and how industry stakeholders can work together to strengthen the voice of bus transit at the federal level.
Amanda Wanke, who has worked at DART for 10 years, including the past 2½ years as CEO, will join Metro Transit as deputy chief operating officer, operations administration.
