Contactless Fare Payment Comes to Smaller Towns With Cubic’s Project in Sault Ste. Marie

Systemwide contactless-fare technology, which has been available mainly for mass-transit systems in major cities, is starting to find its way into smaller towns. Cubic Corp. on Tuesday  said it will install its Umo mobility platform in buses serving the Canadian town of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, population 72,000.

The system, which incorporates smart card and mobile-pass technology validated by QR code readers, will enable multi-ride tickets and passes for riders, enabling passengers to pay their fares from a mobile phone, on a Web portal, or at local stores. Information on when the project will be completed, and on what it will cost, was not immediately available, though San Diego-based Cubic says the project will embrace a total of 39 vehicles, including 26 “conventional” buses, 11 paratransit vehicles, and two community buses.

The Sault Ste. Marie project follows Cubic’s agreement in January to bring its Umo system to British Columbia for BC Transit.

The company, which has installed its contactless transit-payment technology in a number of major cities in recent years, said smaller towns such as Sault Ste. Marie are now active prospects following years in which the technology was limited by cost to bigger systems. Cubic’s clients have included transit systems in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Los Angeles, all of which have rolled out a mobile app designed by the company. At the same time, card networks like Visa Inc. have helped support contactless payment projects in hundreds of cities.

Contactless payments in all venues received a boost with the onset of the pandemic, which led stores and restaurants to install the technology to reassure customers. Visa reported in February that almost 20% of all U.S in-person card transactions on its network were contactless, a number that rose as high as 45% in New York City.

But the technology offers other benefits, providers say. In mass transit, Cubic said contactless technology allows transit companies to adopt simpler mechanical fareboxes, which are less costly to buy and maintain.