Operational Efficiency and Human Capital Challenge Finalists Present Proofs-of-Concept Results

Since 2018, the Transit Tech Lab has been a catalyst in helping New York metro-area transit agencies explore and test new technologies to solve pressing transit challenges. Each year, we work with some of the region’s largest public transit agencies to identify pressing challenges and potential solutions to improve agency operations and deliver best-in-class service to riders.

This year, in partnership with the MTA, NJ TRANSIT, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the NYC Department of Transportation, the Transit Tech Lab challenges solicited solutions to improve operational efficiency and human capital resources.

In March 2023, over 120 public and private-sector evaluators reviewed applications, pitches, and technology demonstrations by nearly 150 companies from around the world. After a competitive selection process, the four participating transit agencies selected 15 companies to conduct a minimally viable test via an eight-week proof of concept.

After closing out our largest Transit Tech Lab cohort to date, we are excited to share the following report, which details each company’s solution, how it was used, and its potential for future impact. As in past years, a subset of companies will be selected to participate in a yearlong pilot to implement their technologies in an expanded use case.

We look forward to announcing these pilot winners in the coming months. Stay tuned!

Read the full report below.

Jonny Simkin, CEO of 2023 finalist Swiftly, said, “We absolutely loved the Transit Tech Lab program and found tremendous value from it. It helped illuminate some of the biggest challenges facing transit agencies today and facilitated ways for us to meaningfully engage some of the largest agencies in the country and help address those challenges with our innovative solutions.”

“Throughout the Lab, we understood our limits and shifted to observer status for some of the other POCs. The other transit agencies graciously allowed us to observe, so that we could build our understanding of these products, without having to commit our scarce resources to deploying an additional POC,” said an MTA project manager.

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