Year 2000 Wire/Siemens Awards $22 Million Contract To Cubic Transportation Systems for Tren Urbano Fare Collection System

Business Wire, Jan 22, 1999

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 22, 1999--Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) has been awarded a $22 million contract by Siemens Transportation Partnership, prime contractor for Puerto Rico's first state-of-the-art rapid transit system, to provide a new automated fare collection (AFC) system, the company announced today.

The Tren Urbano rail system will be an advanced transportation system that is expected to reduce traffic congestion in the San Juan area and will serve the cities of Bayamon, Guaynabo and San Juan. It will include 10.7 miles (17.2 km) of track when construction and installation are completed in 2001. Revenue service for the new rail line is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2001. An estimated 115,000 passengers per day are expected to use the system by the year 2010.

Cubic will be responsible for the design, manufacture and installation of the AFC system that will be based on magnetic ticketing with media in the form of a plastic stored-value farecard designed for the frequent user or commuter, as well as a paper ticket for single journeys. The hardware to be built by CTS will be "smart card ready" should the transit authority exercise options to implement a contactless smart card system at a later date.

Cubic will install station-level hardware consisting of gates, ticket-vending machines and station computers. The company will also install the central computer system where detailed transaction data as well as operational statistics, such as peak travel times and station loading, will be stored and processed into management reports.

In addition to a two-station extension likely to be added to the present 16 stations, long-range plans include additional lines to expand rail services to the region, providing much-needed public transportation that until now has been supplied through toll roads, buses, taxis, and publicos (privately owned vans franchised by the government).

Altogether, CTS will deliver and install more than 300 pieces of equipment. Work on the AFC equipment will be split between Cubic's San Diego facility where the engineering and design work will be completed and Tullahoma, Tenn., where the company's manufacturing facilities are located. CTS expects to begin installation in San Juan in late 2000.

Cubic Transportation Systems is a subsidiary of San Diego-based Cubic Corporation whose stock is traded on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol (CUB).