Cubic Corporation

History

Cubic Corporation was founded in 1949 by Walter J. Zable as an electronics company in San Diego, California, and began operations in 1951. Zable devised the company name as he wanted the name to reflect both engineering and precision. Its first product was a calorimetric wattmeter, a device used for measuring microwave output. It became a publicly-traded company in 1959.

In 1969, the company acquired United States Elevator Corporation, a maker of freight and passenger elevators.

In early September 1984, Cubic moved its corporate domicile into Delaware General Corporation Law. The move was completed on June 11, 1985.

Cubic employs 6,200 people globally. Stevan Slijepcevic was named president and chief executive officer of Cubic Corporation in January 2022.

In May 2021, Cubic announced the completion of its sale to the private equity firms Veritas Capital and Elliott Management, turning the publicly traded New York Stock Exchange company into a privately held company.

In June 2023 Cubic wrote a letter to the Australian Victorian state premier, requesting a review of the tender process which awarded the state upgrade of its Myki system to its competitor Conduent. In its letter Cubic claimed its submitted bid was $100,000,000 less than the winning a bid, and that procurement officers from the state government had not visited its operational sites. Cubic preferences to install its own ticket readers was reported as a reason to consider its bid more expensive.

On 4 March 2025, the People's Republic of China announced sanctions on 10 U.S. military-industrial companies, including Cubic, for participating in arms sales to Taiwan.

Company divisions

Cubic's operating segments include:

• Cubic Mission and Performance Solutions provides networked command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) capabilities for defense, intelligence, security and commercial missions, as well as realistic combat training systems, secure communications, operations, maintenance, technical and other support services for the U.S. and allied nations.
• Cubic Defence New Zealand Ltd (previously OSCMAR International Limited) is a manufacturer of training and simulations systems for military forces worldwide. It is based in Auckland, New Zealand, and owned by Cubic Corporation.
• Cubic Transportation Systems designs, integrates, and provides outsourced business process and information technology services for automated fare collection systems for public transit operations. Additionally, this segment provides the fare payment infrastructure, including gates, ticket machines and smart card readers, and the back end or central system for processing and reporting revenue and other data. Services include customer support, software support, and operations services. CTS is the world's largest operator of public transport fare collection services. Founded May 5, 1972.

Products and services

Cubic Transportation Systems provides the following products and services:

• Ticket machines
• Smartcard readers
• Fare-collection gates
• Full-service mobility platform
  • Umo is a multi-modal platform that connects public and private mobility systems to optimize public transportation operations.
  • Umo keeps riders moving efficiently by offering multi-modal journey planning, contactless payments, real-time travel information, and loyalty rewards through the Umo Mobility App.
  • Umo also partners with media agencies on advertising and promotion.
• Revenue management back office and associated services
  • Card-based
  • Account-based: New York's OMNY, Chicago's Ventra system (used by CTA, Pace and Metra), Brisbane's GO card system, and London Oyster Cards are some of Cubic's account-based products.
  • Mobile: Cubic has deployed mobile applications in multiple locations in the United States and was the first to launch transit cards within the mobile wallet.
• Transit customer support
• Management services to transit agencies
• Real-time passenger information
• Operational planning assistance
• Traffic management
  • Customers in the UK include the Highways Agency, Transport for London, and Transport Scotland. Cubic also works for Transport for New South Wales in Australia through the Intelligent Congestion Management Program (ICMP), which focuses on enhanced monitoring and management of the area's road network.
• Predictive analytics
• Tolling
  • Cubic created an integrated payment processing, customer service, and financial management platform for the tolling industry.
• Operational IT services
• Asset management services
  • Services include field maintenance, device support, depot repair and part supply, spares and obsolescence, and cash collection.
• GRIDSMART
  • In 2019, CTS acquired GRIDSMART for approximately $87 million in cash.
  • GRIDSMART specializes in video detection at the intersection using advanced image processing, computer vision modeling and machine learning along with a single camera – providing data for optimizing the flow of people, bicycles, and traffic through intersections.
  • GRIDSMART has approximately 12,000 operating intersections.
• Trafficware
  • In 2018, CTS acquired Advanced Traffic Solutions Inc. ("Trafficware") for approximately $235.7 million in cash.

Projects

Cubic Transportation Systems has delivered over 400 projects in 40 markets on five continents. Cubic first implemented mobile ticketing technology in 2006 and produces multiple mobile fare collection options, including mobile ticketing through barcoding, NFC tools, contact and contactless smartcard payments, and traditional automated fare collection systems. The Umo Mobility Platform was launched in January 2021. Cubic Transportation Systems manages around 70% of the global market for smart transit cards. Cubic processes more than 24 billion transactions a year.

In 2017, Cubic was chosen to implement the AFC 2.0 project by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to update the MBTA's fare collection systems. This project was budgeted for $723 million, with a planned completion date of May 2021. As of May 2021, the cost of the project (now called "Fare Transformation") had risen to $935 million, with an updated completion date of 2024. In February 2023, the MBTA announced that it considered the project "unlikely to meet the current 2024 timeline for full implementation".

On October 21, 2022, it was announced that NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi had signed a contract with Cubic for the development of their National Ticketing Solution named Motu Move. The National Ticketing Solution will allow the use of a single fare card on public transport across the whole of New Zealand.

In January, 2026, Bay Area transit officials criticized contractor Cubic Transportation Systems for a severely flawed December 2024 rollout of Clipper 2.0, describing it as a "hot mess" and "colossal screw-up" due to persistent glitches like account access failures, payment errors, system timeouts, and overwhelmed customer service, prompting demands for urgent fixes.

Other units

• DTECH Labs provides communications products for military, government, first responders, and civilian customers.
• TeraLogics is a provider of real-time Full Motion Video Processing Exploitation and Dissemination for the Department of Defense, the intelligence community, and commercial customers based in Ashburn, Virginia.
• GATR Technologies manufactures portable, inflatable SATCOM and C4ISR terminals for tactical communications in harsh and forward or remote deployed environments.
• Vocality provides embedded technology that unifies communication platforms enabling its business, government, and military customers to communicate securely using legacy systems with the latest wireless and cellular networks.
• PIXIA Corp. is an imagery management company.

References

References

1. "About".
2. "Cubic Streamlines Business Segments to Drive Superior Customer Value and Enhance Operational Effectiveness".
3. "Cubic History".
4. "Cubic Timeline".
5. (August 27, 2020). "Cubic History: Founding, Timeline, and Milestones".
6. "Bradley H. Feldmann: Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg L.P..
7. "Cubic Announces Completion of Acquisition by Veritas Capital and Evergreen Coast Capital". Yahoo! News.
8. (2021-03-31). "Cubic accepts sweetened buyout offer from Veritas Capital, Elliott". Reuters.
9. (June 6, 2023). "'Serious concerns': Losing myki bidder raises questions about tender process". The Age.
10. (2025-03-04). "不可靠实体清单工作机制关于将特科姆公司等10家美国企业列入不可靠实体清单的公告".
11. (2005). "Homeland Security: Creating Opportunity Out of Disaster". US Black Engineer and Information Technology.
12. "Cubic Mission Solutions".
13. "Cubic Mission Solutions Expands".
14. "Cubic Transportation Systems – Solutions".
15. "Cubic: Recent MaaS Company Failures among Signs Pointing to Need for 'MaaS 2.0' | NFC Times – Near Field Communication and all contactless technology".
16. Wright, Ann. (March 3, 2011). "Cubic Transportation Systems offers to take on myki". news.com.au.
17. (November 15, 2011). "NVV picks Cubic Transportation for mobile ticketing service". Telecompaper.
18. (May 23, 2006). "Cubic Transportation Systems wins Oyster ticket machine tender". Association of Train Operating Companies.
19. "Cubic Corporation > Transportation > Solutions".
20. "The Netflix of travel? Cubic launches new transit tech subscription Umo".
21. "Cubic announces global launch of Umo, a suite of mobility products available on a subscription model".
22. (February 5, 2014). "CTA gives Ventra contractor green light".
23. "Cubic Corporation > Transportation > Solutions > Traffic Management".
24. "Cubic Corporation > Transportation > Solutions > Tolling".
25. "Cubic Corporation > Transportation > Services > Asset Management".
26. "Knoxville traffic management tech company Gridsmart acquired for $87M".
27. (January 14, 2022). "Rising Stars: Hogan Lovells Makes One M&A Partner, Four Counsel".
28. (October 26, 2018). "M&A wrap: Bruce Stein, David Rubenstein, Michael Jordan, Axiomatic, Jordan Co., GTCR".
29. (July 14, 2016). "Cubic targets tap-to-pay technology for transit fares".
30. "Cubic: Recent MaaS Company Failures Among Signs Pointing to Need for MaaS 2.0".
31. (January 26, 2021). "Cubic announces global launch of Umo platform to simplify urban mobility".
32. Reid, Carlton. (January 9, 2020). "Oyster Card Supplier Cubic Signs Integration Deal With Transit App Maker Moovit".
33. "Cubic Transportation Systems, NextWave Brochure".
34. "MBTA: AFC 2.0 to Support Faster Trips on Buses and Green Line Trains".
35. (May 13, 2021). "5 Investigates: MBTA's new fare collection contract years late, millions over budget". WCVB.
36. "Fare Transformation Fares Overview".
37. (February 27, 2023). "MBTA expects new fare collection system to be delayed beyond 2024 deadline".
38. (October 21, 2022). "Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency Selects Cubic Transportation Systems to Provide a National Ticketing Solution For its Public Transport".
39. Dahlstrom-Eckman, Azul. (2026-01-27). "‘A Hot Mess’: Transit Riders, Officials Skewer Contractor Over Flawed Clipper 2.0 Rollout {{!}} KQED".
40. (1 May 2019). "Solving the Bay Area's Fare Policy Problem: How streamlined, integrated fares can help the region realize the promise of transit". SPUR (San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association).
41. (November 18, 2016). "Cubic Wins NYC MTA MetroCard Contract Through 2022".
42. "Cubic wins contract from MTA to replace MetroCard with new fare payment system".
43. (November 5, 2021). "Boise Transit Adopts Digital Fare Payment Technology".
44. "City Go, Umo Mobility Partner to Launch City Go Wallet".
45. (June 5, 2021). "Cubic Announces Two More Small Transit Agencies Launching Umo, as Company Seeks to Broaden Market Reach".
46. "Milwaukee modernises fare collection system".
47. (February 18, 2022). "Milwaukee County Transit Updates Fare Collection, Trip Tech".
48. "New MCTS Mobile App Launches Friday".
49. (January 27, 2022). "BC Transit announces details of its coming electronic fare collection system".
50. (January 26, 2022). "BC Transit to launch tap fare system with Victoria pilot in 2022".
51. "BC Transit, Cubic's Umo Roll Out Contactless Payment Capabilities".
52. Brachfeld, Ben. (2024-03-20). "PATH Launches TAPP: New Contactless Payment System for Commuters".
53. "CTS prepares Paths for contactless travel".
54. (16 December 2014). "Cubic Corporation (NYSE:CUB) acquired DTECH LABS, Inc.".
55. (21 December 2015). "Cubic Announces Purchase of GATR, TeraLogics".
56. (December 2, 2016). "Cubic Acquires Vocality".
57. (January 6, 2020). "Cubic Completes Acquisition Of Imagery Management Company PIXIA".