Freddie C. Fuller II
Senior Account Executive
Cubic Transportation Systems
Member, APTA Board of Directors, Legislative Committee, and Authorization Task Force
Vice Chair, Business Member Government Affairs Committee; Member, Business Development Committee

How many people are employed at your business?

Cubic Transportation Systems employs about 2,100 people globally. Our headquarters are in San Diego, CA, but the bulk of our work is in major cities across North America, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

How long have you worked in the public transportation industry?

I’ve been in the industry for 16 years. I’ve always had an interest in transportation—especially operations, where I always considered that the “rubber meets the road.”

I’ve worked for public agencies, nonprofits, and was a consultant. All of my experience led to Cubic, where I can leverage my relationships to support business development and serve customers.

How long have you been an APTA member?

I’ve been involved with APTA for 15 years, starting when I was director of planning and grants management with the Greater Richmond Transit Company. When I was named to the second Leadership APTA class (1998-1999), I got wholeheartedly involved with APTA.
Everything in my career has been about transportation. In that way, I’m kind of a “rare bird” in the industry in that I purposely built a career in transit. I didn’t happen into it like so many others. I knew what I wanted to do in terms of a career path.

What drew you to a career in public transportation?

As an undergrad at East Carolina University, I used to travel to DC quite a bit. I’d travel through the Springfield interchange and see all the traffic and congestion and wonder how to make it better. I transferred to Virginia Commonwealth University and then I went to grad school at Georgia Tech because I knew I wanted to study city planning there and I wanted to work for the [1996 Atlanta] Olympics, which I did in fleet operations.

Along the way, I had the good fortune to meet some folks who made a real difference—Vida Covington, now at Sound Transit; Keith Parker, now CEO of MARTA; and Rick Simonetta, who spoke to one of my graduate classes when he was CEO of MARTA—and many other friends.

APTA just happened to be having its Rail Conference in Atlanta in 1995 while I was in grad school. I attended—it was free to students. I introduced myself to everyone and handed out my resume. During my last year at graduate school, I subscribed to Passenger Transport and applied to every job that interested me, whether I was qualified or not.

What have you found to be the most valuable APTA benefit or resource? Which one helps you do your job?

The people! The opportunities to network and meet people in the industry are the most valuable benefits. I’m a people guy. I joke and tell folks that I get paid to dress up, eat, and talk. I like all three. Who doesn’t?! Being part of the APTA community has greatly benefitted me in my career development and in the daily activities of my job.

What do you like most about your job?

I always wondered what it would be like to work in business development. I felt that my extensive network could help the right firm grow its business. My dream came true with the opportunity at Cubic Transportation Systems. I truly believe that we are the best at what we do.

What is unique about your business? What would readers be surprised to learn?

Cubic is one of the best private-sector employers, period. People never leave—but if they do, they often come back.

There are two aspects of our business that may surprise readers. One is that our core competencies are evolving and developing. Cubic has long been focused on the design, build, and asset maintenance for customer fare collection systems; however, today outsourced process service management is a strong and growing part of our business. It began in Brisbane, Australia, has continued with our London customer, and is expanding now in Chicago and soon Vancouver and Sydney.

Second, we are now in the unique position of being at the heart of the technological infrastructure that will be the future of the industry. With the advances in our vision we call “NextCity,” we are repositioning as a leading provider of integrated payment and information systems. Our acquisition of NextBus has given us real-time passenger information systems, and we are expanding into and looking at adjacent fields such as analytics, tolling, parking, control room operations, traffic control systems, and other ITS markets.

Finally, we’re actively involved in the industry and with APTA because we truly care about our industry and want to be a good corporate citizen—not just strive to win new business.

Make sure you see Freddie C. Fuller II's video, now that you've read this!