Matt Cole
President
Cubic Transportation Systems
- One Word to Describe Himself: Determined
- Alma Mater: Oxford Institute of International Finance, Oxford Brookes University (MBA)
- Favorite Book: Tough to pick a specific one, generally auto-biographies of interesting public figures. If pushed for one, it would probably be the biography of Hank Paulson
- Favorite TV Show: "The West Wing"
- Favorite Movie: “A Few Good Men"
- Favorite Hobbies: Swimming and watching sports, primarily English soccer and NFL
- Fun Fact: He has 3 sons, each born in different countries: the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States of America
- Favorite Transit System (other than one they work at): When he lived in Sydney, he would ride the Manly ferry across the harbor as part of his daily commute. While he loves riding transit systems of the world, the Manly ferry is hard to beat
Prior to his role as president of Cubic Transportation Systems, Matt Cole held various financial positions with several companies, including British Airways, Schlumberger, First Choice and Endemol. He has held several positions at Cubic and has been directly involved in a variety of projects, including the main negotiator of the Future Ticketing Agreement with Transport for London; transitioning the Ventra launch in Chicago, Illinois, to a successful partner relationship and account-based system; overseeing the award and mobilization of the Opal Card contract in Sydney, Australia; and he led the acquisitions of NextBus and Serco’s Transportation Solutions.
While previously on a financial career path, taking the lead with the TfL agreement was a pivot point in his career. TfL desired a complex commercial restricting of the Oyster Card project and he was tasked with taking lead. Through that, he was able to engage directly with the customer and experience the reward of solving problems and making progress for them.
As president, he leads a global team of more than 2,600 employees that are focused on making an impact on the mobility revolution. He has also been the chief architect of NextCity, Cubic’s prinicipal strategy, which launched in 2011.
There are huge opportunities and challenges with major high-tech trends and disruptions impacting our cities and NextCity is the roadmap for the coordinated framework in a way that will benefit people in cities and those companies that do business in them. It is centered around three core principles: integrated customer experience, integrated payment, and integrated operations and analytics.
“Find a role where you are energized and enthusiastic because those traits will inspire others around you to do their best.”
Fun Fact: He spends a large amount of time engaging with Cubic’s worldwide customer base and employees, which keeps him on the road more than 50% of his time.
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