Surveillance, thermal heat & EV chargers: NYC Transit Tech Lab releases 2024 project results

The Transit Tech Lab, a New York City initiative designed to spur new technologies, on Monday published results from its 2024 program, which took on public transit projects such as converting lampposts into EV chargers, using lidar to create digital maps for visually impaired riders and creating under-train and vehicle surveillance systems for automated inspection

The eight-week program, created by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the investment firm Partnership Fund for New York City, this year included 18 technology startups that worked alongside regional transit agencies to test technologies for adaptive transit systems, improving customer experience and maximizing street curbs.

According to Monday’s report, the sixth-annual program was the largest to date, attracting 150 applicants.

“We established the Transit Tech Lab, as well as our other Lab programs, to ensure that government has access to transformative technologies,” Maria Gotsch, president of Partnership Fund for New York City, said in the announcement. “We believe the 18 technologies demonstrated during this year’s proof-of-concept period provided valuable insights for our transit partner on how technology can enhance their operations and in doing so hold immense potential to improve our city.”

Nine startups chosen for the lab’s “resilience” challenge focused on sustainability. Cascara Energy found a way to repurpose $171,000 of excess heat annually at the Brooklyn Third Avenue Subway Station. CloudMonitoring helped install environmental sensors at 12 MTA facilities to protect workers and critical infrastructure using alerts about extreme heating and flooding. 

Five startups that took on the lab’s “customer experience” challenge sought ways to better communicate service changes, reduce delays and find new ways to meet the city’s public transit safety and cleanliness initiatives. Convo Communications launched an American Sign Language translation service at certain MTA and Port Authority locations, and GoodMaps created an augmented-reality tool to help riders visually plan their trips.

Four applicants took on the lab’s “curb activity” challenge, working with the Department of Transportation to evaluate sensors that could help automate the city’s collection of curb data and assessing the city’s current data management systems to evaluate curb management software.

“Working with the startups allows the agency to participate in research development such as exploring scalability of the projects across our myriad facilities,” Rob Galvin, chief technology officer for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said of the program. “The opportunity to access the creativity and innovation at these startups has been incredibly helpful as we work to incorporate best practices into our daily operations.”

The New York City metropolitan area is home to the largest public transit system in the United States, with a 248-mile subway system and a bus network. The subway has a daily ridership of about 3.6 million people and an annual ridership of 1.15 billion, according to a 2023 report from the Metropolitan Transit Authority.

The Citizens Budget Commission, a nonprofit that analyzes New York City and state finances, last week published a report estimating the MTA needs roughly $115 billion to pay for repairs to its transit system, which is more than 100 years old. The nonprofit recommended the transit authority prioritize fixing its current infrastructure rather than investing in new projects.

Since 2018, the Trabsit Tech Lab has fielded more than 900 applicants, tested 69 new technologies, piloted 33 integrated solutions and deployed 12 at scale, according to a press release.