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Cubic Transportation Systems
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SAN DIEGO—August 23, 2022 - Umo is coming to Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario, Canada, improving convenience and access to public transit by embracing contactless fare technology. Umo will facilitate fare payments with smart cards and mobile devices, including multi-ride tickets and passes that are securely validated using QR code technology. Although this technology is usually too expensive and complex for smaller transit operators to implement, Umo’s scalable platform approach makes it easy and affordable to optimize transportation for everyone.
“The City of Sault Ste. Marie is pleased to provide our community with a contactless fare payment option for Transit Services,” said Mayor Christian Provenzano. “Contactless fare payments are an important aspect of improving the customer experience and making transit more appealing to and convenient for riders.”
Umo will bring to Sault Ste. Marie its SaaS platform and new onboard bus mobile validators, along with new Canadian-made TAG fareboxes. As agencies embrace contactless payment methods, this enables them to move toward more simple mechanical cash fareboxes, easing costs upfront and lowering ongoing maintenance costs. With Umo and TAG working together, we can improve the customer experience while reducing operation costs for agencies and providing valuable data to inform service planning and delivery.
Umo will be deployed on 39 vehicles in Sault Ste. Marie, including 26 conventional buses, two community buses, and 11 paratransit buses. Once set up, Umo will give passengers the ability to purchase fares on their mobile device through passenger web portals as well as physical locations. With equitable access for everyone at top of mind, cash payment will remain available through TAG fareboxes, and other accepted forms of onboard transit payments include smart cards, paper tokens, and mobile phones.
Sault Ste. Marie’s partnership with Umo was made possible thanks to funding from the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) and contributions from the Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario and the Corporation of the City of Sault Ste. Marie.
“I am thrilled to see that Sault Ste. Marie Transit Services has chosen Umo as its new transit fare collection system,” said Ross Romano, Member of Provincial Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie. “By implementing this system, we will significantly enhance the customer experience for transit riders in Sault Ste. Marie and become one of the first cities in Northern Ontario to go contactless.”
“I am proud of the collaboration among the three levels of government under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program to ensure funding for this project,” said Terry Sheehan, Member of Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie. “The integration of contactless fare payments and integrated journey planning is an enhancement to the public transit system that will contribute to our overall recovery efforts in Sault Ste. Marie and Ontario.”
Umo coming to Sault Ste. Marie marks another community that joins us on the journey to provide accessible and equitable solutions to transit riders, along with BC Transit in British Columbia, another Canadian agency that joined the Umoverse in January.
“With this new partnership, we’re bringing the ease and convenience of contactless payments to the people of Sault Ste. Marie in the Province of Ontario,” said Matt Newsome, SVP & GM, Americas, Cubic. “Payment flexibility and accessibility are essential to public transit, and this opportunity truly helps us deliver that to the riders of Sault Ste. Marie.”