SAN DIEGO, Jan. 8, 2004–Cubic Corporation (AMEX:CUB) today announced that a Fulton County, Georgia, judge has paved the way for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) to proceed with a $72.5 million contract awarded to Cubic subsidiary, Cubic Transportation Systems, for a new smart card-based fare collection system throughout the Atlanta region.

The judge denied a request by Thales e-Transactions for a permanent injunction against MARTA that would have required the transit authority to rebid the contract. Thales claimed MARTA did not follow proper procedures in the contract award; however, the judge, in his ruling wrote, “The proposals were fairly evaluated, and Cubic had both the superior technical score and the lower cost.” MARTA will proceed with the contract award to Cubic. Originally MARTA wanted to install the new system in 2005. The four-month legal challenge is expected to delay the desired completion date.

“The ruling is the best gift possible for Cubic this holiday season,” said Richard Johnson, president and CEO of Cubic Transportation Systems. “Finally, we can begin to work in earnest to build the smart card ticketing system that MARTA so desperately needs. This new ticketing system will save MARTA millions of dollars and give MARTA’s customers a reliable, convenient, easy-to-use smart card ticketing system that should increase ridership throughout the area as well,” Johnson added.

In October, MARTA awarded Cubic a $72.5 million contract which, with options, could be worth as much as $104 million, to replace MARTA’s existing magnetic ticketing and token-based system with the company’s state-of-the-art open architecture smart card ticketing technology. The new system will allow commuters to use one card to pay for rail, bus, L-van (paratransit) fares and park-and-ride fees. The new system will be the first in the U.S. to deploy a low-cost, limited-use smart card.

This regional interoperability is made possible by Cubic’s open architecture back-office system, called the Nextfare™ Central System, and its patented Tri-Reader® technology. Nextfare is a configurable suite of software modules designed to provide the core central computing, transaction processing, operational management, financial clearing and settlement, reporting functionality and the scalability to support additional services as needed over time. The Tri-Reader, an integral module in all Cubic fare collection equipment, can read any type of contactless smart card that meets ISO standards, providing Atlanta with flexibility, interoperability and a range of ticket media choices.

Cubic is delivering software, computer networks, communications, high-speed smart card encoding machines, sales terminals for customer agents, parking equipment, bus fareboxes, faregates, and multi-language ticket vending machines that issue smart cards. Cubic is also providing innovative customer service features including credit-debit payment, Internet-based ticketing, Autoload (the ability to automatically load value onto the card), and electronic transit benefits delivery. Other applications are planned for the future.

Cubic Transportation Systems is the world’s leading system provider for regional multi-operator intermodal ticketing systems. Every year, nearly 10 billion rides are taken worldwide using Cubic fare collection systems in more than 40 major markets on five continents, including London; New York; Washington, D.C.; Baltimore; Sydney; counties in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark; Rotterdam; Chicago; Atlanta; San Francisco; Los Angeles; San Diego; Miami; Hong Kong; Guangzhou; Shanghai; and Singapore.

The corporation’s other major segment, Cubic Defense Applications, provides instrumented air and ground combat training systems, battle command training, simulations and simulation support for U.S. and allied military forces. The group also produces high technology avionics, data links and communications products for government and commercial customers, and a wide range of technical and logistics services. For more information about Cubic, see the company’s web site at http://www.cubic.com.

Contact

Cubic Corporation
Jae Lande, 858-505-2642
jae.lande@cubic.com