Transport is the backbone for urban growth and Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) is capitalising on the ever-increasing demand for more intelligent travel systems.
It is applying its expertise and resources to come up with effective technology solutions to advance global cities, working under the banner of its parent company Cubic Corporation.
Matthew Cole sits at the helm of CTS as president. After first joining the group in 2003, he has held various positions within the company, starting out as the lead project accountant for the implementation of the Oyster card project in London. It was a groundbreaking project that was already in motion; however, it was reaching a difficult point in its rollout strategy. Matthew explains that the financials, in particular, needed a serious overhaul and so coming from an accounting background, the first part of his role was to help straighten things out.
With that project successfully completed, Matthew left CTS and joined a different company for six months before being lured back to Cubic to manage the accounts for its European operations. At the same time, he was studying for his MBA and found that his responsibilities continued to grow. Before long, he was given the commercial lead for the organisation’s relationship with Transport for London and a pivotal moment came in late 2008 when the decision was made to restructure the Oyster card project. Matthew led the negotiations for a new contract and it became what is known as the Future Ticketing Agreement.
“This was very significant for Cubic,” Matthew says. “It doubled Cubic’s role in the Oyster card project and it was significant on Transport for London’s side because it set the foundation for a lot of the innovation that followed in its wake.
