Boston

Excellence Begins with Execution

AFC 2.0 Project – Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (Boston, MA)

Replacing one of the most iconic card-based fare collection systems in North America requires extraordinary attention to detail. The MBTA is forging ahead with a new account-based, open-loop payment system that will shift full operational responsibility to their selected AFC vendor (Cubic Transportation Systems), while maintaining tight fiscal controls over agency revenue. The system will accept MIFARE-based smart cards, contactless EMV, and mobile wallet payments, and include a robust, fully auditable, and fully integrated financial management, clearing, and settlement system. This project will bring the latest features and functionality to one of the oldest transit systems in the United States. CCG is the MBTA’s technical consultant for the design and implementation of the AFC 2.0 system. Our responsibilities include ensuring that the delivered system is fully auditable, secure, and meets agency needs, contractual requirements, and performance metrics.

Furthermore, CCG is leading the implementation workstreams for major system components, including mobile applications, customer and employer/institutional websites, fare vending machines, performance monitoring and KPI reporting, customer service terminals, retail solutions, inspection solutions, transit store point of sale solutions and APIs and system to system interfaces. As part of this project our team also led a highly focused strategy for MBTA to migrate to all-door boarding and fare inspection. For this initiative, our team conducted a current state and gap analysis to align with the agency’s goals and objectives.

In addition, our team managed a highly technical interoperability project between Cubic and the MBTA’s incumbent AFC vendor, Scheidt & Bachmann. This initiative will enable the new AFC 2.0 devices to process taps from legacy fare media. CCG is responsible for ensuring that the technical deliverables are supplied by both vendors and the integrated solution meets the mutually accepted design. The MBTA has also entrusted CCG with managing the quality assurance of the project and CCG is leading the overall testing to ensure compliance with all functional and performance requirements.

In order to remain compliant with PCI-DSS v4.0 requirements (March 2025) the agency must consider upgrading to the latest S&B account-based solution. MBTA awarded a contract to CCG to review the S&B account-based solution and develop a detailed transition plan that not only includes the system, hardware requirements, and transition but also includes a customer impact and risk analysis associated with transitioning to the new S&B solution.