Finalists selected for Transit Tech Lab’s Operational Efficiency and Human Capital Utilization challenges

Transit Tech Lab has selected 15 companies to collaborate with New York City regional transit agencies to test technologies designed to address two challenges: Operational Efficiency and Human Capital Utilization.

The Operational Efficiency challenge posed the question of “How do we utilize new tools to increase operational efficiencies?” to challenge respondents with an aim of finding tools that can reduce costs while increasing efficiency.

The Human Capital challenge seeks to answer how regional transit agencies best utilize human capital resources as they face workforce shortages.

“For the past five years, the Transit Tech Lab has been proud to bring together talented public- and private-sector partners who are committed to building an exciting new future for our transportation system. This new class of Transit Tech Lab companies are at the forefront of innovation, and we can't wait for New Yorkers to yield the benefits of their work to improve operational efficiency and human capital utilization,” said Stacey Matlen, vice president of innovation at the Partnership for New York City.

Nearly 150 applications were submitted in response to the two challenges. The companies selected will deploy their technologies over an eight-week “proof of concept” period working with one or more of the following agencies: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) – including New York City Transit and Metro-North Railroad – the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) and the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT).

“The work of the Transit Tech Lab to connect nontraditional tech solutions from these companies with challenges that large transportation systems like ours face is vital to ensuring we all have access to innovation globally and can help create products that could serve industries beyond transportation,” said Robert Galvin, PANYNJ chief technology officer.

NYCDOT Assistant Commissioner for Policy, New York City Department of Transportation Will Carry, whose agency will work with Signapse AI to improve communication with customers who use American Sign Language, said, “These selected companies offer exciting possibilities to strengthen the public sector workforce and improve customer service to transit riders.”

The Transit Tech Lab was created by MTA and Partnership for New York City to serve as a public-private initiative that matches regional transit needs with growing firms that offer innovation solutions.

Lookman Fazal, chief information officer, NJ Transit, recognizes the value these growing companies can bring to push mobility forward.

“By working with the Transit Tech Lab and its cohort of cutting-edge startups, we're not only improving our operations and enhancing the customer experience, but also building the foundation for decades of future innovations that will make a better world not just for our riders, but for us all. We're proud to be part of this forward-thinking initiative and look forward to the benefits it will bring to our riders and the broader transportation ecosystem," Fazal said.

The Operational Efficiency Challenge and the Human Capital Challenge are part of the fifth round of challenges issued to the industry. The inaugural challenge in 2019 set finalists on a road to find solutions to a range of subway and bus priorities, including reducing cost and subway delays by employing predictive maintenance, deploying a platform for transit network planning, using computer vision to reduce bus lane blockages, applying sensors to address platform crowding and tools to predict subway delays.

Previous challenges included the Signaling Challenge, which enlisted transportation technology innovators to identify ways to make existing subway cars compatible with new signaling technology as quickly and cost-effectively as possible.

There was also the COVID-19 Challenge, which led to year-long pilots for three companies focused on improving cleaning and service of public transportation in response to the pandemic. The program builds on the Transit Tech Lab’s award-winning MTA Live Subway Map and has put the New York metropolitan region at the forefront of transit innovation.

“Every year, the leaders of the MTA present their most challenging issues to the Transit Tech Lab, and every year, the challenges orchestrated by the lab deliver,” said MTA Senior Advisor for Innovation and Policy Michael Wojnar. “Several firms first brought to our attention via the [Transit Tech Lab] are now great business partners, having provided forward-thinking solutions to problems and conditions in desperate need of innovation. The relationship between the Transit Innovation Partnership, the [Transit Tech Lab] and the MTA is one of the most successful and productive public-private partnerships in the long history of this authority.”