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Eighteen startups have eight weeks to show how their technologies can help New York’s transit system improve infrastructure management, modernize data and update workflow processes.
The latest cohort marks the eighth year of the Transit Tech Lab, a public-private initiative created in 2018 by the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Partnership Fund for the City of New York. Since its inception, more than 1,000 companies have pitched, with 81 concepts tested and 22 brought to fruition, Stacey Matlen, senior vice president of innovation at the Partnership Fund, told Smart Cities Dive.
“We recruit startups from all over the world to apply,” Matlen said. The Partnership Fund helps facilitate the evaluation process, and transit staff review the technologies, he explained.
All 18 companies are already producing proofs of concept in collaboration with partner agencies. “They’re using simulated data or public data, and they’re demonstrating the value of their technology in a secure way,” Matlen said. MTA agencies, which include subways, buses, commuter rail, bridges, tunnels, construction and other operations, decide which concepts to test in a one-year pilot program.
Previous ideas that have come to fruition include scheduling software that helped the MTA redesign its bus network, an app that helps visually impaired riders and those with limited English proficiency navigate the transit system, and a digital map of the subway system that shows train locations, departure times, service changes, routes, and the status of elevators and escalators.
“What we find is that technologies that can articulate how they’re saving time, how they’re saving money and [how] are really improving operations are the ones that tend to scale,” Matlen said.
Modernizing procurement, addressing cybersecurity threats and optimizing bus and train schedules are issues that arise with each innovation cycle, he said.
“We’re definitely seeing AI” as a growing trend, Matlen added. For this year’s cohort, “most, if not most, of the solutions use AI in some way, shape or form.”
Cohort 2026 proposals include an AI-powered procurement tool that helps government agencies draft solicitations, find qualified suppliers and evaluate bids; an AI tool to detect mechanical degradation of highway components; and an AI-powered track imaging system that captures high-resolution scans of rolling stock at high speed and automatically detects mechanical defects.
At the end of the eight weeks, each company will present its concepts to managers and agency staff. Companies selected to move forward with a one-year pilot program should begin implementing their ideas around November, Matlen said.
In addition to the MTA, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is involved in brainstorming ideas for aviation, ports, engineering, security and its Port Authority Trans-Hudson, or PATH, rapid transit line between New Jersey and Manhattan. Other participants include the New York City Departments of Transportation and Design and Construction and New Jersey Transit.
