Cubic Awarded Contract in Southern Sweden

The new multi-modal system will connect bus and rail services in Skane, the largest county in southern Sweden. Cubic Nordic, a division of Cubic Transportation Systems, Ltd., will handle all aspects of the contract. This contract is the latest element in Cubics presence and commitment to the Scandinavian transit industry. Cubic acquired the Danish company ScanPoint in 1994 and renamed it Cubic Nordic. ScanPoint had long been a major supplier of automatic fare collection systems in Scandinavia. Cubic has strengthened Cubic Nordic, and is committed to supporting the Scandinavian industry. In fact, this contract replaces Skanetrafikens existing ScanPoint-supplied, magnetics-based fare collection system for the transport operators 56 rail stations and 950 buses. The new system will provide South Swedens rail and bus commuters with greater convenience by speeding up boarding times and allowing them the option of using the Internet to automatically reload value onto their smart cards. It also will reduce the risk of fraud and keep distractions to a minimum for the bus drivers and train conductors, freeing them to focus on fast, safe, on-time service to the travelers. The new system will consist of operating software, communications, driver control units and validators for buses; and ticket vending machines, station validators and handheld devices for rail. Cubic will also supply and install its Nextfare(TM) Central System for Skanetrafikens back office computing system. The contract also includes an option for customer services and maintenance. Cubics open architecture system design allows the other transport operators in southern Sweden to join the Resekortet smart card-based system now or in the future. The five other counties in Southern Sweden: Blekingetrafiken, Lanstrafiken Kronoberg, Hallandstrafiken, Jonkoping Lanstrafik and Kalmar Lantrafik, have indicated their intent to sign on to be part of a regional system. As an added bonus, the new ticketing system will also be compatible with Denmarks national TravelCard system. The use of common design and engineering standards in developing smart card-based ticketing systems is a growing phenomenon, as it provides a common platform for fare collection among multiple transport operators for large geographic regions, such as Scandinavia. The Resekortet system for Skane is scheduled to be in operation by the end of 2006.