Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) has been named Ticketing Enabler of the Year in the 11th annual Transport Ticketing Awards program which recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global smart ticketing and mobility industry.
The award was announced at the Transport Ticketing Global Summit held on March 7-8 in Olympia, London.
Transport Ticketing Global is the world’s largest event for the smart ticketing and mobility community. This year’s awards saw 10 companies shortlisted in the Ticketing Enabler of the Year category, with Cubic selected as the winner among several well-known, highly esteemed companies.
The Ticketing Enabler of the Year category recognizes an enabling solution that supports ticketing innovations across the industry. The award celebrates standards, open-source technology, system-on-chip (SoC), integration platforms, fintech and payments solutions, and other technologies that enable a more connected and open approach to fare collection.
CTS’ platform enables customers to acquire new digital transit cards and purchase tickets without visiting a ticket kiosk or vending machine, offering enhanced flexibility and efficiency that reduces barriers to travel. Unlike traditional barcode and SMS mobile ticketing solutions, digital contactless card solutions offer tap-and-go functionality.
Among CTS’ accomplishments in this space, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in New York City announced last year the joint development and deployment of a fare-capping program to increase ridership and reduce the cost and challenges surrounding everyday travel.
In October 2022, MTA announced the expansion of its OMNY contactless fare payment system to more than one million New York City reduced-fare customers, becoming the first major transit system to offer reduced fares on personal payment devices. Reduced fare payment options include closed-loop and open-loop methods like contactless credit/debit cards and smartphones/watches. Older adults and people with disabilities who qualify for reduced fare can now choose how to pay their fare on public transit.
“The Transport Ticketing award recognizes the great strides that Cubic is making in the smart ticketing and transportation industry,” said Christian Henry, senior vice president and general manager at Cubic Transportation Systems. “As a leading integrator of payment and information solutions and related services for intelligent transportation, we are dedicated to reinventing the transportation industry and increasing ridership. This award acknowledges that, in collaboration with our partners at the MTA in New York City, we are providing innovative tools for travelers to efficiently and cost-effectively travel and pay for their journeys.”
Among other benefits, Cubic’s platforms reduce fare media dispensing, streamline fare calculation and phase out antiquated equipment that is expensive to maintain, allowing the MTA to use savings to bolster transit operations for millions of riders.
Following development alongside the MTA, OMNY’s contactless payment options, fare capping, and deployment of a self-service digital assistant helped boost ridership recovery following the pandemic. Since the pandemic began, December 2022 marked the first calendar year that New York City subway ridership surpassed one billion riders. Ridership has grown by 240 million with more than 425 million OMNY taps on the city’s subways in 2022.
