The Chicago Transit Authority has selected Cubic Transportation Systems to provide its Open Standards Fare System to suburban bus operator Pace. This is a big deal for Cubic — it increases the company's original contract by approximately $50 million to $508.9 million — and for contactless and NFC payments in transportation, too.

With the Cubic OSFS, CTA and Pace customers can now pay their transit fares with any contactless method at CTA rail station turnstiles and CTA and Pace buses, including contactless cards as well as NFC-enabled mobile devices.

"This is the latest example of the regional transit providers working together to better coordinate services to benefit our customers," said CTA president Forrest Claypool. "This will enhance our riders' experience by making fare payment consistent across buses and metros in Chicago and the suburbs, and enable our customers to use the latest in open contactless card and mobile payment technologies."

Cubic Transportation Systems is an integrator of payment and information technology and services for intelligent travel solutions. The company provides integrated solutions for transport operators to manage operations and services.

Cubic said that every year, nearly 10 billion rides worldwide are taking using its payment and information systems. The company has provided services in 40 markets around the globe including London, New York, Washington, D.C. and Sydney.

"We at Pace are excited to be a part of this groundbreaking way to pay that will set the standard for transit agencies going forward," said T.J. Ross, Pace's executive director. "It will simplify fare payment for our customers and simplify fare collection operations for us."

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