SAN DIEGO, CA -- 07/06/09 --
Cubic Transportation Systems, Inc., a
subsidiary of San Diego-based Cubic Corporation (NYSE: CUB), announced that
it has signed an agreement to acquire the Concord, Calif., operations
center and licenses on select software from the U.S. subsidiary of
Australia-based Vix ERG Pty Ltd. Cubic will use these assets to expand
services to transit agencies in San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Ventura and
Las Vegas. The newly acquired operation will add approximately $20 million
in annual revenues, and broadens a Cubic services base that already
includes numerous transit properties on three continents.
The agreement initially will cover servicing the TransLink contract in the
San Francisco Bay Area; and eventually will include the other transit
agencies currently using Vix ERG MASS systems.
As part of this purchase, Cubic has acquired a fully functioning
comprehensive service operation in Concord, Calif., designed specifically
to support public transport authorities with complete solutions for smart
card distribution and call center operations. Approximately 125 ERG
employees have joined Cubic from ERG's U.S. operations and engineering
operations in Perth, Australia.
Cubic, a worldwide supplier and integrator of public transit fare
collection systems, provides complete end-to-end support services for
transit authorities. The industry trend is for transit authorities to
increasingly outsource maintenance, card services, customer support and
management of their complex fare collection systems so they can focus on
their core business of providing high-quality transportation to their
patrons.
"We are pleased to have Cubic on board helping to finalize the
implementation of the TransLink card and provide long-term support services
for the Bay Area," said Steve Heminger, executive director of the
Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) in San Francisco, which
oversees the TransLink program. MTC is the transportation planning,
financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay
Area.
"The TransLink card is now poised to take off in widespread use throughout
the region. It's something we have been working on for a long time," Heminger
said.
MTC recently announced the TransLink card had achieved "revenue ready"
status for the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system. BART is expected to
begin accepting the card this summer. This adds BART to Golden Gate
Transit, Caltrain and the San Francisco Municipal Railway in having
achieved revenue ready status.
Cubic has had a presence in the Bay Area for many years, with long-term
contracts at BART and San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni). At BART,
Cubic delivered the latest fare collection system, which includes smart
card capability. At Muni, Cubic is delivering a new back office system and
upgrading the ticketing system on the agency's buses.
"This transaction creates a very broad services group for Cubic's
customers in the U.S. with a single point of responsibility," said Steve
Shewmaker, president of Cubic Transportation Systems.
"As the complexity of fare collection technology grows, so does the
challenge in maintaining the extremely high availability rates demanded of
the transit infrastructure, as well as efficiently managing data and
providing responsive support to patrons, agencies and commercial partners,"
Shewmaker said. "Cubic's experienced staff provides the level of support
our customers require, and this acquisition will allow us to further
broaden our capabilities and customer services."
Cubic provides fare collection systems and services in London, Germany,
Sweden, Italy, Australia, Atlanta, New York-New Jersey, Philadelphia and
Los Angeles, among others. Services range from central ticketing system
and network operations, regional clearing and settlement, card management,
card distribution, retail agent management, cardholder support, and asset
management. Additionally, Cubic has supplied comprehensive smart card AFC
systems to Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, Chicago, San Diego,
Minneapolis, Vancouver, Miami and numerous commuter railways in the United
Kingdom.
Cubic Transportation Systems, one of Cubic's two major business segments,
designs, manufactures, installs, maintains and operates automatic fare
collection systems for public mass transit authorities. The corporation's
other major segment, Cubic Defense Applications, is a world leader in
realistic combat training systems, mission support services and defense
electronics. For more information about Cubic, see the company's website at
www.cubic.com
Jay Thomas
858-505-2989
jay.thomas@cubic.com
