Cubic Wins $84M Contract from L.A. County MTA to Deliver California's Largest Smart Card-Based Public Transit Ticketing System.

Business Editors

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 1, 2002

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has approved an $84 million contract with Cubic Transportation Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of San Diego-based Cubic Corp. (AMEX:CUB), to deliver California's largest "smart" ticketing system for transit.

Under the contract, Cubic will use smart card technology to link all public transit in Los Angeles to one "smart" ticket. The new smart card-based system, known also as a Universal Fare System, will allow commuters who live in one part of the city and work in another to use a single card for their bus, light rail and subway rides.

Cubic also will offer regional service providers the ability to expand the new smart card-based system to include adjoining transit operators, paratransit services and possibly the Metrolink commuter rail system.

"This is, without doubt, one of the most ambitious and important projects every undertaken by the MTA from the standpoint of making public transit far more attractive to the residents of LA County," said MTA Board Chairman John Fasana. "The day when passengers experience public transit the way it was envisioned, effortless and quickly, is just around the corner."

Under the contract, Cubic is providing its Nextfare(TM) Solution Suite technology, an open architecture platform that includes the Cubic Tri-Reader(R) and Nextfare terminal architecture, and the Nextfare Business Management System. This technology will give operators linked to the system a choice of smart card types, including Cubic's GO CARD(R), which the MTA has selected for Los Angeles.

Cubic will design, build, install and integrate the entire fare collection system, which will consist of new rail ticket vending machines and validators, fareboxes (supplied by GFI Genfare of Elk Grove, Ill.), a central data collection system, and related technology to record and process rides, store value, debit credit cards, accept cash and provide other "smart" services to the customer, which could include the ability to download prepaid transit benefits offered by participating employers.

The new system will allow transit users to automatically purchase and reload value onto smart cards at special merchant-operated terminals that will be distributed across the county and at ticket vending machines at MTA rail stations. The new ticketing system is scheduled for completion in 2004.

"We are proud and delighted that the L.A. MTA chose Cubic to help provide high-tech, smart ticketing for its public transit customers," said Walter C. Zable, president and CEO, Cubic Transportation Systems. "We look forward to providing commuters across L.A. County the same speedy, hassle-free transit access that public transit customers enjoy in Washington, D.C. and Chicago."

Cubic is the supplier of the only full-scale, smart card-based fare collection systems for U.S. public transit, including Chicago's SmartCard system, the nation's first multi-modal, multi-agency smart card-based system; and Washington, D.C.'s SmarTrip(R), which will soon link all bus services across the region, including Washington, D.C., Baltimore, northern Virginia and all commuter rail, light rail and subway operations throughout Maryland. Cubic is also under contract to deliver the nation's first light rail-bus rapid transit smart card system to Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Cubic Transportation Systems is the world's largest supplier and system integrator of integrated electronic ticketing systems and has smart card contracts for public transit systems in North America, Europe and Asia. Recently, the company added a security group to expand its smart card technology into non-transit uses including parking, security and access control.

Every year, nearly 10 billion people use Cubic systems in more than 40 major markets in cities on five continents, including London, Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, Chicago, New York, Guangzhou and Shanghai, China, Atlanta, San Francisco, Singapore and Miami. As part of the TranSys consortium, Cubic also is supplying the entire automated fare collection system including smart cards for the London PRESTIGE project.

The Cubic Defense Group provides instrumented air and ground combat training systems, battle command training simulations, and simulation support for U.S. and allied military forces. The Group also produces high technology avionics, data links and communications products for government and commercial customers and provides a wide range of technical and logistics services. For more information about Cubic, see the company's Web site at www.cubic.com.