BART Named #1 Large Transit System in North America

APTA, the leading North American transportation organization, will award BART for “Outstanding Achievement” in the large transit system category (providing 30 million annual passenger trips or more) at the association’s Annual Meeting on October 12 in Atlanta. The award is given to public transportation systems for demonstrated achievement in efficiency and effectiveness.

BART cited its improved customer satisfaction ratings resulting from new Cubic fare gates and ticket vending machines as well as other major upgrades in the agency’s renovation program that led to APTA’s final selection. The 10-year, $1.2 billion renovation program, which came in on-time and on-budget, also included upgrades to the agency’s rail cars, station enhancements and the addition of the San Francisco Airport extension.

“The renovation program completely overhauled all of BART’s original cars, fare gates, fare machines, escalators and elevators,” said James Fang, BART Board President. “As a result, reliability on a range of equipment shot up, such as ticket vending machine reliability, which went from a low of 76 percent before the renovations to 96 percent now. That in turn boosted BART’s customer satisfaction ratings to the point that now 90 percent of customers say they would recommend BART to a friend or out-of-town guest.”

“We want to extend our sincere congratulations to BART for this great achievement in public service,” said Richard Johnson, president and chief executive officer of Cubic Transportation Systems, Inc. “APTA’s decision reflects BART’s unwavering commitment to customer focus and operational reliability. We’re proud to have played a part in their success.”

The Cubic-designed fare collection system comprises approximately 1,000 devices in 43 stations including electronic gates, ticket vending machines, add-fare machines, and software, including a new parking application that makes it possible for travelers to pay for parking with the same fare card used for rail fares.

Every year, nearly 10 billion rides are taken worldwide using Cubic fare collection systems. Cubic has delivered over 400 projects in 40 major markets on five continents. Active projects include London, New York / New Jersey region, Washington, D.C. / Baltimore / Virginia region, Los Angeles region, San Diego region, San Francisco, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, South Florida, Vancouver and Edmonton, Canada, Brisbane, Australia, Singapore, Bangkok, Thailand, and Scandinavia.

The corporation’s other major segment, Cubic Defense Applications, provides realistic combat training systems for military forces as well as simulation, force modernization, educational services, operations & maintenance and manufacturing services. The group also supplies products and systems for C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance) applications, search and rescue avionics and radio communications for military and civil markets. For more information about Cubic, see the company's web site at www.cubic.com.