In this digital era, modernizing public transportation plays a pivotal role in connecting people to their destinations. The industry faces historic challenges and opportunities around ridership, consumer expectations and funding structures. In this exclusive Q&A, Peter Montgomery-Torrellas, president of Cubic Transportation Systems, explores innovations and hurdles facing transportation systems, and a vision for the future.
What brought you to the transportation industry and what excites you about it?
I come from a long line of people who want to really give back to the community and make sure that the work we do has a positive public impact; it’s in my DNA. Twenty years ago, I got an invitation to work on a train project in New York with the MTA, piloting improved technology at certain train stations. During that project, I completely fell in love with this work.
Do you have any reflections on your first year as the president of CTS?
Cubic is a company where the sun never sets, and so the beginning of my journey here has been going out and talking to our employees and customers, from Sydney to Singapore, from Hyderabad to California and New York. The purpose of these trips wasn’t to just introduce myself but to really listen to the needs of our customers on the four continents we serve.
What I found is that the company was really at an inflection point. Cubic was founded 50 years ago on innovation and customer centricity, and we now find ourselves at a critical time when our customers and employees are looking for us to set the course again for the industry.
What’s the current state of global transportation?
Funding is playing a major role in shaping public transit right now. Overall, investing in infrastructure remains a priority for many of our customers around the world. It’s necessary we have the resources we need to continue providing public transit in an equitable and inclusive way.
What do you see as next for sustainability?
From air quality to energy efficiency, it’s really hard to beat public transportation in general when it comes to sustainability. This is especially true in places where you have urban density because, no matter how many autonomous vehicles or ride-sharing solutions you have, there’s only one way to move millions of people in a tight environment: public transportation.
We’re already seeing some really innovative work with our customers who are using the technology we develop to enable policies that work on improving ridership and, in turn, allow them to drive climate action.
What is your vision for Cubic as a transportation leader as we enter a new year?
As we go into 2025 and ridership continues to increase on all of these public assets, we’re really focused on making sure that we’re supporting our transit operators. We also see an opportunity to continue to upgrade that experience as we have been for cities, whether it be improving inclusivity, supporting our customers as they seek new and innovative ways to collect revenue, and just helping to continue to provide these crucial services. Frankly, as the market leader, we’re incredibly excited about that future.
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