The deal includes two years of development and ten years of operation and maintenance. The new micropayment ticketing system, scheduled to debut in 2007, will allow passengers to use plastic debit cars to ride any of Victoria’s trains, trams and buses. Passengers will be able to add value to the cards at self-service terminals, on the telephone, or on the Internet.
Keane secured the deal through its newly created subsidiary, the Keane Australia Micropayment Consortium Pty Ltd (KAMCO), which will head a team that includes Switzerland-based technology services vendor Ascom, Australia-based automated fare company ERG Group, and German smart card and security firm Giesecke & Devrient.
Ascom’s share of the contract is around $90m, with another $80m for ERG and an undisclosed amount for G&D.
Keane vice president David Malcolmson said that there were at least six different consortiums, including all major systems integrators, in the initial bidding for the contract. He added that the Victorian government hired a third-party auditor to run the bidding and ensure an equal playing field for all.
In the final stages of bidding, Keane beat out Manta.T, a consortium of Australian defense contractor ADI Ltd and MTR Corp, the owner and operator of Hong Kong’s major public transit system.
Although Keane had no Australian presence six to nine months ago, it now hopes to become a larger player in the region, Malcolmson said. He also said that Keane is poised to capture more deals in the transportation and transit vertical and is already in discussion with several other large transit authorities about similar contracts.
Keane has previously developed smart card transportation systems in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and the Netherlands.
