Cubic Technology Adds More go card Sales Outlets for Brisbane Commuters
Cubic Transportation Systems was the first to deploy new technology in the Australian state of Queensland to make it easier for commuters to buy and top up go cards used for public transport. As a result, up to 50 more 7-Eleven stores are now being added to the existing go card retail distribution network, a move that will deliver more convenient smart card ticketing services for commuters.
“This technology innovation was developed with Cubic’s NextWave mobile R&D program by a team of specialists in Brisbane, Perth and San Diego,” said Tom Walker, Cubic Australasian managing director. “The Brisbane retail solution is part of a broader platform designed by Cubic’s globally distributed engineering teams that will allow for further growth into a variety of mobile applications and commercial extensions of smart card programs.”
Cubic’s technology, branded NextLink, provides an internet gateway through which connected contactless readers can leverage cloud services to read and write smart cards without exposing the security and application logic, ensuring complete security for the transit operator, the mobile operator, the payment source and the transit rider/payment account holder. NextLink won the 2012 Sesame award at the Cartes exhibition in Paris for Best Trusted Internet Authentication application.
Cubic’s development had its origins in a challenge by Queensland’s Transport Minister Scott Emerson to the public transport operator TransLink to find a way to expand the go card distribution system utilizing simpler and cheaper technology. Cubic is the integrator and supplier of the go card system that went live in 2008 and for which Cubic provides the ongoing operations and maintenance under a 10-year services contract.
The technological innovations for the project were coordinated from Cubic headquarters in San Diego where the company’s vice president for strategic initiatives, David deKozan said, “Our new system allows retailers to link their own in-store point-of-sale equipment with the Cubic central processing system.”
“This eliminates the need for retailers to add Cubic hardware on the countertop. The ability for retailers to use their own computers for go card ticketing operations significantly increases their ability to participate in the distribution network, while reducing the cost to Government of expanding that network. Future extensions could see consumers able to top up their cards directly by tapping to the back of Near Field Communications-enabled smartphones or parking meters able to act as points of acceptance and/or load terminals.
“Technology continues to advance rapidly around the world, particularly in the payments and mobile arenas, and this is Cubic’s first commercial deployment of its award-winning enablement platform,” said deKozan.
