Cubic Corporation

Cubic Corporation

File:CubicTransportation.svg
Company type	Private
Industry	Public transport and defense
Founded	1949
Founder	Walter J. Zable
Headquarters	San Diego, California, U.S.
Key people	Stevan Slijepcevic (president, CEO)
Owner	Veritas Capital Elliott Management
Number of employees	6,200 (2020)
Divisions	Cubic Mission and Performance Solutions Cubic Transportation Systems
Website	{{URL|example.com|optional display text}}

Cubic Corporation is a U.S.-based global manufacturer specializing in defense and public transit equipment. The company operates through two primary business units: Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) and Cubic Mission and Performance Solutions (CMPS).

History

Established in 1949 by businessman Walter J. Zable in San Diego, California, Cubic initially focused on electronics with an emphasis on precision engineering. Its inaugural product was a calorimetric wattmeter designed to measure microwave power output. The corporation went public in 1959.

In 1969, Cubic broadened its portfolio by acquiring United States Elevator Corporation, a producer of freight and passenger elevators.

The company relocated its legal incorporation to Delaware in 1984, finalizing this transition by 1985.

By 2020, Cubic employed around 6,200 individuals globally. Stevan Slijepcevic took over as president and CEO in January 2022, steering the company’s strategic development.

In May 2021, following acquisition by private equity firms Veritas Capital and Elliott Management, Cubic shifted from being publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange to a privately owned entity.

In June 2023, Cubic contested the awarding of a tender by the Australian state of Victoria for upgrading the Myki transit system. The company argued that its proposal was $100 million less expensive than the selected bid and raised issues regarding the fairness of the procurement process. This event underscored competitive challenges within the public transportation sector.

On March 4, 2025, China imposed sanctions on Cubic along with other American defense contractors due to arms transactions with Taiwan, affecting its defense-related global operations.

Company divisions

Cubic’s business is divided into the following segments:

• Cubic Mission and Performance Solutions provides networked command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) solutions supporting defense, intelligence, security, and commercial operations. This division also offers realistic combat training systems along with secure communications, operational support, maintenance services, and technical assistance for U.S. forces and allied countries.

• Cubic Defence New Zealand Ltd, previously known as OSCMAR International Limited, specializes in producing military training and simulation technologies for armed forces worldwide. Headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, it functions as a subsidiary of Cubic.

• Cubic Transportation Systems focuses on designing, integrating, and managing outsourced IT services and business processes related to automated fare collection for public transit networks. This division supplies fare payment solutions including gates, ticket vending machines, smart card readers, as well as backend platforms for revenue management and data analytics. Additional offerings encompass customer support, software maintenance, and operational management. Founded on May 5, 1972, CTS is recognized as the largest operator of automated fare collection systems globally within public transportation markets.

Products and services

Cubic Transportation Systems provides an extensive array of products and services, including ticket vending machines, smartcard readers, fare collection barriers, and a comprehensive mobility platform. Its Umo platform integrates both public and private mobility networks to enhance transit system efficiency, offering features such as multi-modal trip planning, contactless payment options, live travel updates, and customer loyalty incentives through the Umo Mobility App. Additionally, Umo partners with advertising agencies to deliver media campaigns.

The company offers revenue management back-office solutions compatible with card-based, account-based (such as New York’s OMNY, Chicago’s Ventra, Brisbane’s GO Card, and London’s Oyster), and mobile payment systems—the latter being a pioneer in introducing transit cards within mobile wallets in the United States. Other services encompass transit customer support, agency management assistance, real-time passenger information systems, operational planning support, and traffic control solutions.

Cubic supports prominent clients including the UK's Highways Agency, Transport for London, Transport Scotland, and Transport for New South Wales through its Intelligent Congestion Management Program (ICMP), which improves monitoring and control of road networks. The company also delivers predictive analytics services, tolling systems with integrated payment processing and financial oversight, operational IT support, as well as asset management covering maintenance and cash handling.

To broaden its market reach, Cubic expanded through acquisitions such as GRIDSMART in 2019 for about $87 million. GRIDSMART specializes in video detection technology employing advanced image recognition and machine learning to enhance traffic flow at approximately 12,000 intersections. In 2018, Cubic acquired Trafficware for roughly $235.7 million in cash, further augmenting its traffic management capabilities.

Projects

Having completed more than 400 projects across 40 countries on five continents, Cubic Transportation Systems has been at the forefront of fare collection innovation since introducing mobile ticketing technology in 2006. Its diverse fare collection portfolio includes barcode-based systems, NFC technology, contact/contactless smartcards, and traditional automated fare collection. The Umo Mobility Platform—launched in January 2021—supports these solutions. Cubic holds an estimated 70% share of the global smart transit card market and processes over 24 billion transactions annually.

In 2017, Cubic secured a $723 million contract with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to upgrade its fare collection system under the AFC 2.0 initiative, now referred to as "Fare Transformation." Project expenses have increased to $935 million with completion delayed until 2024; however, as of February 2023, full deployment by that year appears unlikely.

On October 21, 2022, New Zealand’s Waka Kotahi engaged Cubic to create the National Ticketing Solution known as Motu Move, which will establish a unified fare card system across the country.

Fare Collection Projects

Date	Project	Location
1993	MetroCard	New York metropolitan area
1997	Skånetrafiken JoJo card (discontinued 2019)	Skåne County
1997	Chicago Transit Authority Transit Card (discontinued 2014)	Chicago
1999	WMATA SmarTrip	Washington metropolitan area
2002	ChicagoCard	Chicago
2003	Oyster card	London
2004	BART EZ Rider	San Francisco Bay Area
2005	Go-To card	Minneapolis
2006	Mobile Ticketing (RMV/KVV)	Frankfurt Rhine-Main
2006	Breeze Card (MARTA)	Atlanta metropolitan area
2007	PATCO Speedline Freedom Card	Philadelphia and South Jersey
2007	PATH SmartLink	New York metropolitan area
2008	go card	South East Queensland
2008	Transit Access Pass	Los Angeles County
2009		Modena
2009	Easy Card	Miami metropolitan area
2009	Compass Card (San Diego)	San Diego County
2010	CharmCard (MTA)	Maryland
2010		Scania
2010	Clipper card	San Francisco Bay Area
2011	"Open Payment" pilot including Google Wallet acceptance (PATCO)	"Philadelphia" and "South Jersey"

Date	Project	Location

|- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |} (Note: The table extends with projects from 2012 through anticipated deployments by 2024 including the Ventra Card (Chicago), Compass Card (Vancouver), Next Generation Ticketing System (Queensland), OMNY (New York), Umo Mobility Platform implementations in Boise, Milwaukee, BC Transit, along with upcoming initiatives such as Tapp (PATH) and the CharlieCard AFC 2.0 in Massachusetts.)

Other divisions

• DTECH Labs produces communication solutions tailored for military, governmental bodies, emergency responders, and civilian users.
• Based in Ashburn, Virginia, TeraLogics focuses on real-time Full Motion Video Processing services for the Department of Defense, intelligence communities, and commercial enterprises.
• GATR Technologies designs and manufactures portable, inflatable SATCOM and C4ISR terminals engineered to support tactical communications in challenging or isolated locations.
• Vocality delivers embedded technologies that enable integration between legacy infrastructures and contemporary wireless and cellular networks, catering to commercial, governmental, and military markets.
• PIXIA Corp. specializes in providing advanced imagery management systems.