Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
VeriFone has been selected as the exclusive vendor for installation and support of the Taxicab Smart Meter System project in Washington, D.C..
The contract, valued at from $35 million to as much as $45 million with advertising revenue, will result in all 6,500 District cabs being equipped with integrated VeriFone systems, including driver tablet, credit card acceptance device and passenger information tablet display, with display of news and other programming, as well as safety alert activation features for both passengers and drivers. The contract also includes a Back Office Management Information System that will provide the DCTC with automated trip reporting and GPS location services.
The contract was approved Tuesday by Washington’s City Council. VeriFone won the contract in a competitive bidding process.
“This presents a rare opportunity to significantly enhance the driving experience of District citizens and visitors while improving operations for drivers,” said Washington Mayor Vincent C. Gray in announcing the contract win. “The Taxicab Smart Meter System provides the riding public with new payment options and the opportunity to view digital content during trips. In addition, it improves manageability and accountability of the entire taxi fleet.”
The 10” tablet passenger information modules will stream content from VeriFone Digital Network, including news, weather, local and national content provided by NBC4 and NBC Universal. The passenger information modules include videos, interactive banners, clickable ’tabs’ and crawlers, interactive maps and micro sites for advertisers and partners.
Referring to the extension of VeriFone’s VNET TaxiTV platform to the DC taxi market, Chris Polos, VeriFone’s vice-president of media, says, “This will give advertisers unprecedented access and scale to an affluent and influential audience in a captive environment.”
“The District’s state of the art system represents the expertise VeriFone has developed in providing integrated secure payment and digital content solutions, which we call PAYMEDIA, for taxis and other market segments,” says Amos Tamam, VeriFone senior vice-president, Taxi Systems. “We’re extremely proud to add Washington, D.C., to the growing list of major cities utilizing our solutions and services.”
The addition of 6,500 cabs in Washington, D.C., will increase VeriFone’s taxi media footprint by 23% to over 35,000 in the USA alone, delivering over 10 billion advertising impressions annually. VNET’s TaxiTV now spans more than 11 major media markets across the Atlantic.
Earlier this year, VeriFone added Sky News to its London taxi content and last year reached an agreement with NBC owned television stations to deliver NBC Universal’s award-winning content to markets throughout the US, including New York City, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Philadelphia and San Francisco. VeriFone taxi solutions are established in more than 50 cities worldwide.
July 13th, 2012 at 12:55 @580
Congratulation to VeriFone for this contract. Services provided are truly amazing. Looking forward for new add ons..