William O’Neil
Cubic Transportation Systems Modernizes Digital Backbone of Global Transit Systems on AWS
Cloud Native App Dev
Migrations
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Cubic Transportation Systems, provider of the Urban Mobility Back Office (UMB) that powers fare collection for major transit systems around the world, including the subway system in one of the largest cities in the United States, partnered with Caylent to modernize its global transit platform on AWS. Together, Caylent and Cubic are building a cloud-native foundation designed to scale beyond 8 million daily transactions in its largest markets while improving resiliency, security, and operational efficiency.
→ Cloud Evolution Program combining AWS migration, application modernization, data platform build-out, and structured Organizational Change Management (OCM).
→ Migration of legacy on-premises Oracle workloads to Oracle RDS on AWS for core transactional systems, with optimized configurations for higher throughput and lower latency.
→ Refactoring of the Account-Based Processor and Cubic Payment Application into containerized microservices on AWS.
→ Implementation of a modern data platform for near real-time analytics across transit usage, demand, and performance.
→ Creation of a secure, multi-account AWS landing zone with automated CI/CD and Infrastructure as Code.
→ Integrated governance and security controls to support global compliance and mission-critical uptime.
→ Architecture designed to scale from roughly 4 million to over 8 million daily transactions in high-volume environments in some of the largest cities in the United States.
→ Throughput up to 300 transactions per second (TPS) in real time during load testing, with post-optimization testing reaching 500 TPS.
→ Reduction in environment provisioning time from approximately 3 months to about 1 hour through automated Infrastructure as Code, with additional time for validation and testing.
→ Significant projected cost savings through infrastructure optimization, including a targeted reduction of approximately 45% in costs for one of the country’s largest fare-payment systems.
→ Improved disaster recovery posture through automated infrastructure provisioning and multi-AZ architecture, aligned with the critical nature of transit operations.
Caylent and Cubic co-designed a Cloud Evolution Program that blended the migration of workloads to AWS with the broader transformation of Cubic’s enterprise operating model. On the data side, Caylent migrated key Oracle workloads from on-premises infrastructure to Oracle RDS on AWS, tuning configurations to support higher throughput and lower latency. Caylent also built a new analytics and trip history platform on Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL Serverless v2, removing one of the biggest constraints on real-time data processing and insight. On the application side, Caylent introduced a microservices-based architecture and containerized critical workloads, including the Account-Based Processor and payment services designed to meet PCI compliance requirements, so they could scale independently to meet spikes in demand and support more frequent, low-risk deployments. To enable data-driven decision making, Caylent also helped Cubic implement a modern analytics platform on AWS that delivers near real-time insights into ridership patterns, capacity needs, and operational performance. "Moving to AWS was about more than modernizing our infrastructure," said Ramsey. "It was about removing every barrier to world-class delivery because the right technology doesn't just support the business, it unlocks it."
To support secure, repeatable growth, Caylent built a multi-account AWS foundation with baked-in governance, observability, and automation using Infrastructure as Code and CI/CD pipelines, which now standardize environment creation and deployment and reduce manual effort and risk.
Recognizing that lasting transformation requires more than technology, Caylent embedded OCM practices as a core component of the program based on Prosci’s ADKAR model. This initiative prepared Cubic’s global workforce for new ways of working, with targeted communications, leadership alignment, and training programs that drove adoption of cloud-native tools and DevOps practices. “Caylent didn’t just move workloads; they helped us rethink our architecture, operating model, and how our teams collaborate” said Ramsey.
The outcome is a platform ready for the future of connected, data-driven mobility, built on AWS, resilient at scale, and embraced by the workforce that operates it. This engagement demonstrates how migration, when approached as a catalyst for enterprise transformation, creates lasting business value and sets the standard for modern cloud adoption.
Working with Caylent
Cubic needed a partner that understood both the technical demands of mission-critical transit systems and the realities of large-scale organizational change, and Caylent stepped into that role as a collaborative advisor. Caylent worked closely with Cubic’s engineering, operations, and leadership teams, co-creating modernization patterns, reviewing architecture decisions together, and emphasizing hands-on knowledge transfer so Cubic’s teams could confidently own and extend the new platform.
"Caylent became far more than a vendor, they became part of our team," said Ramsey. "They took genuine ownership of our success, showing up time and again with the expertise, commitment, and follow-through that you rarely see from an outside partner. We came away with a stronger platform, a stronger internal team, and a partner who treated our customers' outcomes as their own."
Technologies used
Caylent’s solution for Cubic leverages AWS services including Oracle RDS on AWS for core transactional data, Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL Serverless v2 for the new analytics and trip history layer, containerized application workloads running on AWS, and a modern analytics stack for near real-time insight, all underpinned by a secure, multi-account AWS foundation with Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD automation, and integrated security, monitoring, and backup services to meet the high availability and compliance requirements of global transit operations.
"Caylent became far more than a vendor, they became part of our team. They took genuine ownership of our success, showing up time and again with the expertise, commitment, and follow-through that you rarely see from an outside partner. We came away with a stronger platform, a stronger internal team, and a partner who treated our customers' outcomes as their own."
David Ramsey
Chief Architect
Cubic’s UMB underpins complex fare systems across multiple regions, supporting card-based, account-based, and open payment models for millions of riders every day. As ridership patterns change and cities demand more real-time insight into usage and capacity, Cubic needed a more scalable, cloud-first architecture that could keep pace with both transaction growth and the complexity of modern fare policies.
"Our customers depend on us to keep cities moving," said David Ramsey, Chief Architect at Cubic. "We needed a partner who would invest in understanding our business deeply, one who sees our success as their own success, and helps us design a future-ready platform supporting some of the world's busiest transportation systems." The company identified AWS and Caylent as the right fit for their vision but knew a simple lift-and-shift migration would not yield the desired results.
Cubic’s legacy on-premises and Azure-based environments were reaching scalability and performance limits as global transaction volumes climbed and new markets came online. High-volume regions where daily fare transactions were expected to double, exposed bottlenecks in monolithic applications and a tightly coupled Oracle Data Store environment.
Complex stored procedures and fragmented services contributed to latency that affected real-time processing and rider experience, particularly at peak times. “Our legacy stack had carried us a long way, but it couldn’t keep pace with the scale and speed our customers now expect,” said Ramsey. “On top of scale, we needed consistent governance, security, and resiliency across a global footprint while our distributed teams required new skills, processes, and tooling to operate effectively in the cloud.”
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Company
Cubic Transportation Systems is the leading integrator of payment and information solutions and related services for intelligent travel applications. They deliver integrated systems for transportation and traffic management, delivering tools for travelers to choose the smartest and easiest way to travel and pay for their journeys, and enabling transportation authorities and agencies to manage demand across the entire transportation network – all in real-time.
Location
San Diego, CA
Industry
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