NYC Tech Transit Lab seeks startups with AI solutions to ridership, scheduling challenges

New York City’s Tech Transit Lab on Monday announced the launch of its seventh annual competition, which this year will be centered around tech startups looking to work with NYC public transportation agencies that will pilot their artificial intelligence technologies.

The lab is an eight-week program for tech startups led by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New Jersey Transit Corporation, the NYC Department of Transportation and the Partnership Fund for New York City.

Stacey Matlen, vice president of innovation at the Partnership for New York City, said AI will be central to the program this year.

“This year we’re focused on harnessing the power of AI and other tech to improve foundational elements of the customer experience like scheduling, communications and system maintenance. We’re excited to collaborate with our partner agencies and forward-thinking technology companies to build a vibrant future that benefits all New Yorkers,” Matlen said.

This year, the transportation agencies are seeking proposals for two challenges. The first calls for technologies to help the agencies analyze ridership and travel-demand data to improve ridership, and the other calls for ways to optimize inspections and maintenance.

Following company applications, representatives from each participating transportation agency will evaluate the impact of the proposals, along with the applicants’ product, team and value proposition.

Previously competition themes have included optimizing transit schedules, paid ridership, customer communications, inspections and maintenance. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the lab called for experimental solutions that could help the public transportation agencies near NYC recover from the health crisis and boost environmental sustainability.

Last September, the lab shared the results 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 2024 program was the largest so far, attracting 150 applicants.

Since the program’s inception in 2018, more than 900 companies have applied to participate in the program, 69 companies have tested their technologies and 37 solutions have commercially scaled or informed commercial procurements — including a live subway map, which is now used by the MTA.

The lab is accepting applications until Feb. 27, and the selected companies will pilot their technologies with one or more of those agencies over an eight-week period later this year.