Cubic Buys Lexis, Forms Cubic Parking Systems

March, 2005

Cubic Corp. of San Diego has acquired the assets of Lexis Systems, a Vancouver, Canada-based provider of revenue collection systems for parking and public transportation. The acquisition includes intellectual property, technology, the complete product line and software suite, inventory, and the Vancouver-based operations.
The assets from Lexis Systems, together with the recently acquired Traf-Park Inc., make up a new business unit for Cubic Transportation Systems, called Cubic Parking Systems. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cubic Corp.
The latest acquisition and company formation enhance Cubic's regional smart card systems for public transit in parking, a vital service in major metropolitan areas.
The North American parking equipment and system control market is more than $200 million per year and is poised for growth as municipalities move away from single-space, coin-operated on-street meters to "multi-bay" meters that take contactless smart cards as a form of payment.
With the combined installed customer base of Lexis and Traf-Park, Cubic Parking Systems has a substantial share of the parking market, with more than 2,200 pieces of equipment installed for almost 200 customers in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Cubic's David deKozan will head Cubic Parking Systems. Named its Vice President and General Manager, he has moved from San Diego to the new company's headquarters in British Columbia.
Robert Ziola, founder and former president of Lexis Systems, will remain as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the company. His duties will also include responsibilities for smart card payment sales under $10MM.
Traf-Park operations have been moved to Vancouver. Former Traf-Park President Pierre Boulin is heading the sales office in Montreal. In addition to Vancouver and Montreal, the company will have regional offices in Toronto, Nashville and San Diego.
Cubic Parking Systems offers a contactless smart card payment system for on- and off-street parking that is integrated and interoperable with public transit fare collection systems. Commuters can pay for parking their vehicles with the same smart card they use to pay for fares on public transportation.
Previously, Lexis Systems has been a provider of a variety of managed services for major parking operators, national park systems, universities and colleges, hospitals, city and county projects, major ski resorts, boat marinas and large city transit programs. Earlier this year, when the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority decided to use its SmarTrip smart card system for all of its parking, it chose Lexis to provide the equipment.
Nearly 1,200 Lexis Pay Stations are installed in key cities throughout North America, including Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington DC, and Atlanta. Cubic has smart card automatic fare collection systems in many of these cities and good opportunities in others. Parking is a factor in all of them. Integration with the mass transit ticketing system is a natural step.
Central Parking Corp. previously owned, through an affiliate, a controlling interest in Lexis Systems and operates Lexis machines in more than 500 locations. Cubic Parking Systems will continue to support Central Parking as a supplier and systems integrator under a five-year service contract.
Cubic Transportation Systems is a solution provider of automated fare collection systems for public transport, including bus, bus rapid transit, light rail, commuter rail, ferry and parking. Cubic's solutions and services include central computer systems, equipment design and manufacturing, device-level software, installation, warranty, maintenance, computer hosting services, call center services, card management and distribution services, financial clearing and settlement, multi-application support, and outsourcing services.