SAN DIEGO, Calif. – November 7, 2013 – Cubic Transportation Systems, a leading integrator of transportation technology and related services for intelligent travel solutions, announced today that its Opal smart card system which now being rolled out across Sydney’s public transportation systems won a third award for its Opal card reader. The smart card system is now on display at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.
The newest design award for the Transport category of the Sydney Design Awards follows previous wins including the Australian International Design Award and Powerhouse Museum Design Award in June.
Cubic’s managing director for Australasia, Tom Walker, said it was gratifying to see how far the Opal reader has come since Cubic was given the concept in 2011.
“We are extremely pleased with the results. Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) and 4Design have produced a stunning design that Sydneysiders can be proud of -- a sleek, modern unit that is absolutely unique,” said Walker.
Cubic took the design concept by Sydney-based 4DESIGN for customer TfNSW and produced a working model – a silver cigar-shaped card reader designed for easy use by commuters,
which can also stand up to Sydney’s harsh and corrosive maritime environment. The final product is a futuristic looking unit –a sleek, silver cylinder with recessed reader heads and an LED light ring on top to show where commuters can tap on and off their Opal cards.
The Opal readers were manufactured by Cubic at its Tullahoma, Tenn. factory in the U.S., spearheaded by Cubic’s production operations vice president, John Madeiros, who said manufacturing the reader posed new engineering challenges and hurdles.
“The project was completely different than any we had been involved with because we were working with new materials to produce a design that was unique and unlike anything we normally supply,” Madeiros said.
Powerhouse Museum Science and Industry Curator Angelique Hutchison said part of the attraction of featuring the Opal reader in the exhibit was that people can appreciate the simplicity while still knowing a lot of work went on behind the scenes.
“That’s the beauty of it; it’s quite an elegant looking design, and then there’s the technology behind it all that makes it work,” Hutchison said. “A good design is something that solves a real problem and makes a difference to the world – so something functional and easy to use. It’s something that will be ubiquitous, and that’s what makes it interesting for people – to find out more about the design behind something that you pass every time you get on a bus, ferry or train.”
The Opal card reader and design model will be on display in the Australian International Design Awards exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum until June 2014.
Exhibition: Australian International Design Awards 2013
Dates: Until June 2014
Address: 500 Harris St., Ultimo, Sydney
Website: www.powerhousemuseum.com
Admission: Free with general admission: $12 adult, $6 child and $30 family
About Cubic Corporation
Cubic® Transportation Systems, Inc., is part of Cubic Corporation. Cubic Corporation is the parent company of three major business segments: Defense Systems, Mission Support Services and Transportation Systems. Cubic Defense Systems is a leading provider of realistic combat training systems and secure communications systems. Mission Support Services is a leading provider of training, operations, maintenance, technical and other support services for U.S. and allied nations.
Cubic® Transportation Systems, Inc., is a leading integrator of payment and information solutions and related services for intelligent travel applications. Cubic delivers integrated systems for transportation and traffic management, delivering tools for travelers to choose the smartest and easiest way to travel and pay for their journeys, and enabling transportation authorities and agencies to manage demand across the entire transportation network – all in real-time. Cubic specializes in design, development, manufacture, supply, installation, integration, services and information. Services provided by Cubic include on-site management, central systems, operations support, patron support, business support and field services.
Every year, nearly 7 billion rides are taken worldwide using Cubic payment and information systems. Cubic has delivered over 400 projects in 40 major markets on five continents. Active projects include London; Brisbane (Southeast Queensland) region, Australia; New York/New Jersey region; Washington, D.C. /Baltimore/Virginia region; Los Angeles region; San Diego region; San Francisco region; Minneapolis/St. Paul; Chicago; Atlanta region; Miami (South Florida) region; Vancouver and Edmonton, Canada; Sydney (New South Wales), Australia; Germany; and Scandinavia.
For more information about Cubic, see the company's website at www.cubic.com.
The Powerhouse Museum is a public museum operated by the NSW Government and is home to a diverse collection covering history, science, technology, design, industry, decorative arts, music, transport and space exploration.
Contacts:
John MacGregor
Managing Director
MPR
PH: 61-2-9969-3600
Cell: 61-414-445-447
jmac@macpr.com.au
Timothy A. Hill
Director of Corporate Communications
Cubic Corporation
PH: 858-505-2430
Cell: 858-232-2927
timothy.hill@cubic.com