Vix Technology

Last updated

Vix Technology
Company type Private
Industrypublic transport technology, fare collection
Headquarters
Perth
,
Australia
Key people
Products smart card automated fare collection systems and intelligent transportation systems
Website vixtechnology.com

Vix Technology (Vix) is an Australian company that designs, supplies and operates automated fare collection (AFC) systems, intelligent transportation systems (ITS), access, payment and passenger information display systems (PIDS) for the public transit industry.

Contents

The company has designed, supplied and operated systems for cities and operators worldwide, including Hong Kong's Octopus card system, [1] Seattle's ORCA card system, and Stockholm's SL Access [2] system. [3]

History

In 2009, Vix Technology acquired the assets of the former ERG Group, when ERG restructured and changed its name to Videlli Limited. [4] In 2010, Vix Technology acquired ACIS, a UK-based supplier of ITS and PIDS solutions.[ clarification needed ] [5] In 2011, Vix Technology launched a rebranding of the company, integrating all of its business under one brand "Vix". [6]

Major contracts

Hong Kong

ERG developed the components of the Octopus card system for Hong Kong. The system was completed in September 1997 and remains the largest transit smart card project in the world with over 14 million transactions per day. [7]

San Francisco

In April 1999 the ERG-Motorola alliance was contracted to the largest smart card project in United States to design, build, operate and maintain the Clipper (then called TransLink) fare payment system in the San Francisco Bay Area. The contract encompasses the six largest transit operators, including buses, light, medium and heavy rail carriers, and ferries. Muni and Caltrain began accepting TransLink on all routes starting in September 2008. [8] Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) began accepting it in early 2009, followed by SamTrans and Santa Clara VTA. However, when Motorola withdrew from the contract, the MTC refused to assign it solely to ERG because it was concerned that ERG had insufficient operating capital. [9] On 27 May 2009, the contract was assigned from Motorola and ERG to Cubic Transportation Systems. [10] TransLink was renamed Clipper and officially launched on 16 June 2010 with Cubic as the operational partner. [11]

Stockholm

In April 2003, ERG signed a contract with Stockholm's public transport authority, Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL) to implement a smart card based fare collection system. [12] The contract involved the upgrade of the current rail and metro magnetic ticketing system to contactless smart cards, together with the extension of the system to the bus network, sales outlets, and new ticket vending machines. The contract included the issuing of over one million cards. The system went into public trial from September 2008 and became widely available to the public in 2009.

During 2021 SL started to phase out the system and it was shut down in March 2023. [13]

Singapore

In 1999, the ERG-Motorola alliance won a contract in Singapore to design and install an integrated smart card ticketing system known as EZ-Link for the Land Transport Authority. On 13 April 2002, the smart card ticketing system went into full service on Singapore's public transport network. At the end of the first week in operation it was processing more than 500,000 transactions per day, a figure that has now risen to more than seven million. EZ-Link is now one of the largest integrated smart card based transit systems in the world with more than 22,000 readers in place across the five transit operators covering bus, rail and light rail.

Cape Town

Vix was appointed as the AFC technology partner in 2011 for the supply of a fully automated fare collection system for the city's new multimillion-dollar bus rapid transit system. The contract embraces the supply of all software and hardware. The roll-out commenced in October 2011.

Seattle

In April 2003, ERG signed a contract with the Regional Fare Coordination System (RFCS), a group of seven transit agencies surrounding the Puget Sound, to create and operate the smart card ticketing system known as ORCA (One Regional Card for All). The card serves those in Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, Bremerton, and the surrounding areas. In April 2009, the ORCA card began processing fares for buses, light rail, heavy rail, ferries, and vanpool services. In addition to processing fares for adults, youths, and seniors, the contract includes issuing smart cards, clearinghouse services, business and institutional accounts, and operations and maintenance. Even though the system is now in the operations and maintenance phase, the RFCS continues to expand the system. Rapid Ride was added in 2009 and Seattle Monorail was added in 2019. [14] In 2018, Vix lost the contract for the next generation ORCA card system to competitor INIT. [15]

Other

Vix (ERG) has also designed, developed, and operated solutions[ buzzword ] in the following locations:[ citation needed ]

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seattle Center Monorail</span> Monorail line in Seattle, Washington, US

The Seattle Center Monorail is an elevated straddle-beam monorail line in Seattle, Washington, United States. The 0.9-mile (1.4 km) monorail runs along 5th Avenue between Seattle Center and Westlake Center in Downtown Seattle, making no intermediate stops. The monorail is a major tourist attraction but also operates as a regular public transit service with trains every ten minutes running for up to 16 hours per day. It was constructed in eight months at a cost of $4.2 million for the 1962 Century 21 Exposition, a world's fair hosted at Seattle Center. The monorail underwent major renovations in 1988 after the southern terminal was moved from its location over Pine Street to inside the Westlake Center shopping mall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Go-To card</span> Public transit ticketing system in Minnesota, United States

The Go-To card is a contactless smart card used to pay fares for bus, light rail, and commuter rail lines operated by Metro Transit and other transit agencies in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. The system has significantly sped up boardings on area buses while alleviating wear and tear on existing ticket machines and fare boxes. The old magnetic strip reading machines were weather sensitive and could not be placed out in the elements like at the Hiawatha Line light rail stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Storstockholms Lokaltrafik</span> Swedish transport company

Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL), or more formally Aktiebolaget Storstockholms Lokaltrafik, is the organisation running all of the land based public transport systems in Stockholm County. It was previously known as Stockholms Lokaltrafik.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manila Light Rail Transit System</span> Rail system serving Metro Manila

The Manila Light Rail Transit System, commonly known as the LRT, is an urban rail transit system that primarily serves Metro Manila, Philippines. Although categorized as a light rail system because it originally used light rail vehicles, it presently has characteristics of a rapid transit system, such as high passenger throughput, exclusive right-of-way, and later use of full metro rolling stock. The LRT is jointly-operated by the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), a government corporation attached to the Department of Transportation (DOTr), and the Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC). Along with the Manila Metro Rail Transit System and the Metro Commuter Line of the Philippine National Railways, the system makes up Metro Manila's rail infrastructure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clipper card</span> Public transit ticketing system in the San Francisco Bay Area, US

The Clipper card is a reloadable contactless smart card used for automated fare collection in the San Francisco Bay Area. First introduced as TransLink in 2002 by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) as a pilot program, it was rebranded in its current form on June 16, 2010. Like other transit smart cards such as the Oyster card, the Clipper card is a credit card-sized stored-value card capable of holding both cash value and transit passes for the participating transit agencies. In addition to the traditional plastic card, Clipper is available as a virtual card in Google Wallet and Apple Wallet. Clipper is accepted by nearly all public transit services in the Bay Area, including but not limited to Muni, BART, Caltrain, AC Transit, SamTrans, Golden Gate Transit, Golden Gate Ferry, San Francisco Bay Ferry, and VTA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fares and ticketing on the Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore)</span>

Rail operators are government-assisted profit-based corporations, fares and ticketing on Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system are aimed to break-even or exceed operating expenses. Rail operators collect fares based on account-based (ABT) and card-based ticketing options, the prices of which are calculated based on the distances travelled between the origin and destination. These prices increase in stages for standard non-concessionary travel, according to the distances travelled. In account-based ticketing, the fare is automatically calculated in the back-end and charged to the passenger post journey. On the other hand, card-based ticketing is proprietary to the transport network and the fare is computed by the system based on the store values recorded in the cards. The public transit system is harmonising towards full ABT.

Public transport ticketing in New South Wales, Australia operated using magnetic-stripe technology between 1989 and 2016. This ticketing system, known variously as the Automated fare collection system, STATS and, from 2010, MyZone, was progressively replaced by a contactless smart card called Opal between 2012 and 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ORCA card</span> Proximity smart card for public transit in the Puget Sound region of Washington state

The ORCA card is a contactless, stored-value smart card system for public transit in the Puget Sound region of Washington, United States. The card is valid on most transit systems in the Seattle metropolitan area, including Sound Transit, local bus agencies, Washington State Ferries, the King County Water Taxi, and Kitsap Fast Ferries. It was launched in 2009 and is managed by the Central Puget Sound Regional Fare Coordination Project, a board composed of local transit agencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transperth</span> Public transport system serving Perth, Western Australia

Transperth is the public transport system for Perth and surrounding areas in Western Australia. It is managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government organisation, and consists of train, bus and ferry services. Bus operations are contracted out to Swan Transit, Path Transit and Transdev. Ferry operations are contracted out to Captain Cook Cruises. Train operations are done by the PTA through their Transperth Train Operations division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transit pass</span> Transit ticket for multiple trips

A transit pass or travel card, often referred to as a bus pass or train pass etc., is a ticket that allows a passenger of the service to take either a certain number of pre-purchased trips or unlimited trips within a fixed period of time.

The go card is an electronic smartcard ticketing system developed by Cubic Corporation, which is currently used on the Translink public transport network in South East Queensland, Australia. To use the go card, users hold the card less than 10 cm away from the reader to "touch on" before starting a journey, and must do the same to "touch off" the service at the end of the journey. The cost of each journey is deducted from the go card balance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transit Access Pass</span> Physical and electronic public transit smart card used in Los Angeles

The Transit Access Pass (TAP) is a contactless smart card used for automated fare collection on most public transport agencies within Los Angeles County, California. The card is also available in electronic form, free of charge, in Apple Wallet, thereby bypassing the need to purchase the plastic USD $2 card. It is administered by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), and the card and fare collection systems are manufactured by Cubic Transportation Systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Videlli</span>

Videlli Limited was an Australian company that developed automated fare collection systems for transit systems. Founded in 1984 as ERG, it was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in 1985. Due to the large level of losses run up, ERG sold all the operating assets to Vix Technology in 2008, before ERG changed its name to Videlli and was delisted. Its head office was in Melbourne, Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opal card</span> Contactless fare collection system used in New South Wales, Australia

Opal is a contactless smartcard fare collection system for public transport services in the greater Sydney area and most other urban areas of New South Wales, Australia. Operation of the Opal system is managed by Transport for NSW. First launched in late 2012, Opal is valid on Transport for NSW's metro, train, bus, ferry and light rail services that operate in Sydney and the neighbouring Central Coast, Hunter Region, Blue Mountains, Illawarra and Southern Highlands areas. Opal equipment was designed from the start to support a variety of cards, but launched with the captive Opal cards.

Cubic Corporation is an American multinational defense and public transportation equipment manufacturer. It operates two business segments: Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) and Cubic Mission and Performance Solutions (CMPS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Automated fare collection</span> Ticketing system

An automated fare collection (AFC) system is the collection of components that automate the ticketing system of a public transportation network – an automated version of manual fare collection. An AFC system is usually the basis for integrated ticketing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metrebus Card</span>

The Metrebus Card is a contactless smartcard ticketing system for Rome. It has stored value on a paper ticket for either 1, 3 or 7 days. All three versions of the tickets look the same on the front, but on the back of the ticket the magnetic data printed on the ticket varies depending on which version of the ticket was purchased.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ticketer</span> Bus ticket machine manufacturer

Ticketer is the brand name for a range of electronic ticket machines provided by British company Corvia Ltd, primarily for usage on buses. The cloud-based system, first marketed on a small scale in 2008, has since developed into a rival to the three major ticket issuing systems used by bus companies throughout Britain.

Fare capping is a feature of public transport fare collection systems. Fare capping credits passengers' fares for individual trips towards an unlimited pass, limiting the cost of fares that passengers pay.

References

  1. ↑ "Australian Technology Puts Hong Kong In The Picture". Australian Consulate-General, Hong Kong, China. 17 February 2007. Retrieved 4 June 2007.
  2. ↑ "Public transportation in Stockholm-About.com". About.com. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "ERG Selected for Stockholm Transit Fare Collection Project". SecureIDNews. 1 April 2003. Retrieved 4 June 2007.
  4. ↑ "Videlli Company History"
  5. ↑ "Vix Acquires ACIS"
  6. ↑ "Vix Launch New Brand and Complete Mobility Solution". Vixtechnology.com. Vix Technology. 3 October 2011. Archived from the original on 1 February 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  7. ↑ "Australian Minister for Trade, Mark Vaile 29 September 2000 Export Champions and Heroes Business Club Australia, Darling Harbour". Speech. Retrieved 17 September 2008.
  8. ↑ "Caltrain and Muni Revenue Ready". Vix ERG. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  9. ↑ Memorandum regarding assignment of contract from Motorola and ERG to Cubic
  10. ↑ Memorandum regarding assignment of contract from Motorola and ERG to Cubic: Commission Approval
  11. ↑ "Cubic Supports Metropolitan Transportation Commission in Launching ClipperSM Card for San Francisco Bay Area". Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  12. ↑ "ERG Selected for Stockholm Transit Fare Collection Project". SecureIDNews. 1 April 2003. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  13. ↑ "Fares & tickets | SL". sl.se. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  14. ↑ "Seattle Monorail now accepts ORCA cards | Sound Transit".
  15. ↑ "Systems Integrator for next generation ORCA" (PDF).
  16. ↑ "ERG wins Gothenberg [sic] contract.(Gothenberg, Sweden, smart card contract)(Brief Article)". 1 July 2001. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  17. ↑ Bookmark +, Metro Magazine Staff •. "Vix Technology to equip Edmonton transit systems with 'smart' ticketing". www.metro-magazine.com. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  18. ↑ "Rome Setting The Pace For Contactless Smart Card Technology". Odyssey Media Group. 19 December 2000. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  19. ↑ "Smart card system will help keep Romans moving". Logistics Online. 20 December 2000. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  20. ↑ "Excellence In Transport Recognised At National Transport Awards 2017". Facts Magazine. 16 October 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  21. ↑ "VIX TECHNOLOGY WINS BEST SMART TICKETING PROGRAMME AWARD AT TT GLOBAL 2018". Vix Technology. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  22. ↑ "'VIX TECHNOLOGY ASSURE TICKETING SYSTEM' RECOGNIZED IN AUSTRALIA'S INTERNATIONAL GOOD DESIGN AWARDS FOR DESIGN EXCELLENCE". Vix Technology. 13 October 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  23. ↑ Vanessie, Petra (24 July 2021). "WA Tech Innovators Celebrated and Acknowledged at 30th INCITE Awards". The Incite Awards. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  24. ↑ "AUSTRALIAN HR AWARDS 2021 WINNERS: Individual Awards". Australian HR Awards. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
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