ERG Transit Systems Signs Teaming Agreement With Northrop Grumman IT For U.S. Mass Transit Projects
04 October, 2002
category: Contactless, Transit
Smart Card Technology Leaders Teaming on Bid to Integrate Fare Collection
Across Mass Transit in Washington D.C. Metro Area<br /><br />WASHINGTON, Oct.
4 /PRNewswire/ -- ERG Transit Systems, Inc., (ERG) a global leader in
smart card-based transit fare collection and management systems, today
announced it has signed a teaming agreement with Northrop Grumman
Information Technology (IT), a recognized leader in government-related
smart card initiatives, to pursue transit opportunities throughout the
United States.<br /><br />As part of the agreement, the two companies are
currently bidding together on the contract for the Washington Metropolitan
Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Regional Customer Service Center. The WMATA
project calls for the establishment and operation of a smart card customer
service center and the clearing and settling of smart card transactions
across all transit agencies in the Northern Virginia, Maryland and
Washington DC areas. The WMATA project will start a new era of integrated
transit in the greater Washington D.C. area, allowing passengers to use a
single smart card to pay fares across every major transit system in the
region.<br /><br />The combined resources of Northrop Grumman IT and ERG
represent a unique set of capabilities for delivering total smart card
solutions to U.S. mass transit systems. Northrop Grumman IT is a leading
smart card consultant and integrator to the federal government. Its parent
company, Northrop Grumman, is one of the largest private sector employers
in Maryland and Virginia.<br /><br />ERG has already implemented the most
sophisticated and scalable fare collection systems in the world. The
company's solutions have the proven capacity to integrate numerous transit
agencies and transportation systems with a single smart card fare
collection and settlement system. ERG built Hong Kong's well-known
"Octopus" system. Octopus is the largest smart card payment system for
mass transit in the world, with some 8.6 million smart cards issued to
date and over 7.2 million transactions processed each day. ERG is also
engaged in the largest smart card contract in the United States to design,
build, operate and maintain the TransLink fare payment system in the San
Francisco Bay Area. ERG has been awarded contracts for other major smart
card fare collection systems in Las Vegas, Toronto, Singapore, Rome,
Manchester, Gothenburg, Berlin and several cities in France. ERG is also
the preferred contractor for projects in Seattle and Sydney.<br /><br />"I
believe smart card systems will play a major role in the future of
American mass transit," said Denis Brown, vice president, Civil Security
and Public Safety, Government Solutions, Northrop Grumman IT. "We have
found that ERG provides an impressive capacity for interoperability and
scalability across multiple transit systems and millions of passengers.
ERG's open architecture was also very important to us because it will
integrate new applications, such as identification and security, as these
applications are deployed."<br /><br />The development of open
architecture-based smart card fare collection systems is the first step
toward integrating transit with other smart card systems, such as those
used in security and identification.<br /><br />"This teaming agreement for
the transit market represents a tremendous opportunity for ERG and a major
benefit for transit operators throughout the United States," said Mr.
Peter Fogarty, Chief Executive of the ERG Group. "Northrop Grumman IT
brings an excellent reputation for integrity, strength and know-how in
working on major complex government projects. Its deep understanding of
smart card technology and how it can be used to improve security, as well
as passenger convenience, will be important to our customers as we move
ahead. "<br /><br />ERG Group<br /><br />ERG Group is a world leader in the
development and supply of integrated fare management and software systems
for the transit industry and technologically advanced smart card systems
and services. In 2001/2002, ERG's revenue totalled A$301 million. The
Group has established market leadership with its integrated
multi-application smart card MASS management technology and the Proton
technology. ERG is an Australian-based company listed on the Australian
Stock Exchange. Its major shareholders include Banksys SA (a joint venture
of all the Belgian banks), Interpay (a joint venture of all the Dutch
banks), American Express and Visa International.<br /><br />CONTACT: Matthew
Farrell of Neale-May & Partners, +1-212-213-5400, ext. 217, or
[email protected], for ERG Transit Systems, Inc.