Cubic is the provider of the CTA's high-tech smart card fare collection system that links all rail and regional bus operations. The CTA launched a limited "trial" of 3,500 Cubic-supplied smart cards in 2000.

Last September, CTA awarded a contract for Cubic to supply an additional 300,000 cards, which will be phased in by the CTA over the next two years.

The central system acts as the "brains" of the CTA's fare collection operations, integrating and linking all rail and bus fare equipment to a central source for revenue and data management. Cubic will upgrade station-level computers throughout the CTA's 143 rail stations to ensure seamless data upload and download operations with the central system.

"These enhancements will ensure the CTA's fare collection system continues to be powered by a high-performance, high-reliability central system," said Walter C. Zable, president and chief executive officer, Cubic Transportation Systems