In June 2008, Miami-Dade Transit (MDT) awarded Cubic the contract to replace its 25-year-old fare collection system. Within 15 months, the smart card-based system named EASY Card was launched to the public and has been so successful that two more agencies in the region have joined – Hialeah Transit (buses) and South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (commuter rail) – adding even more convenience through Cubic’s “one card fits all” interoperability.
EASY Card is based on Cubic’s open platform Nextfare Central System, the company’s complete back-end administrative revenue management system. Nextfare gives customers the tools to better manage the data that allows them to adjust their services to meet their customers’ needs and manage their operating costs. For example, the system tracks all the essential aspects of the transit operation, including ridership, financial performance, media distribution and fare breakdown.
The regional partners will share a common back-end for settlement and distribution of fares, while maintaining complete separation of data. This ability to leverage a shared central system enables transit systems to better manage their costs.
MDT attributes the program’s success to the partnership approach between agency and supplier.
“This project has been a partnership from the beginning, and we give credit to both our project team and Cubic for driving this to a successful launch,” said Harpal Kapoor, director of Miami-Dade Transit. “Our customers are thrilled with the convenience which the EASY Card offers.”
MDT’s extensive customer education in the months preceding the opening, along with the system’s phased implementation, were also key drivers behind the successful launch and adoption of new technology. MDT buses were equipped with EASY Card fareboxes months before the MetroRail faregates were installed, and more than 100,000 specially coded EASY Cards were issued early to non-paying customers such as senior citizens who helped test-drive the system.
The system makes it just as easy for tourists who use public transit while in Miami. The reusable EASY Ticket is a paper-based smart card that offers the same convenience of the EASY Card.
Miami At-a-Glance:
- 14th largest transit agency in the U.S.
- EASY Card contactless smart system launched in Fall 2009
- Fast-tracked schedule of 15 months from contract award to system opening
- Connects 900 buses, a 22.6 mile Metrorail system, and 4.4 mile downtown Metromover system
- First multi-agency regional system compliant with APTA national standard (CFMS)
- A Cubic customer since 1982