A public-private partnership of transportation agencies in the New York City region announced Wednesday it will work with a number of companies to test new technologies designed to enhance operational performance and improve employee recruitment and retention.
The Transit Tech Lab, made up of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the Partnership for New York City, will work with 15 companies that have been selected to collaborate with transit agencies in the region. The Operational Efficiency and Human Capital Utilization challenges, announced in 2023, solicited nearly 150 applications from across the world, the partnership said.
“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,” Michael Wojnar, Senior Advisor for Innovation & Policy at MTA, said. “Several firms first brought to our attention via the TTL are now great business partners, having provided forward-thinking solutions to problems and conditions in desperate need of innovation.”
Applicants were asked to show how their technology solutions would mitigate service disruptions, automate operations and combat workforce shortages. The selected companies will deploy their technologies over an eight-week period in one or more agencies, including the MTA, including the New York City Transit and Metro-North Railroad; the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, NJ Transit and the NYD Department of Transportation.
Among the operational technologies to be deployed are: ACCURE Battery Intelligence, that prevents battery fires and reduces operations and maintenance costs of Electric Vehicle (EV) fleets, tested in the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, New York City Transit, and NJ TRANSIT; Signapse AI, that uses AI to translate written text to sign language enabled content for the deaf community, tested in the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, NYC Department of Transportation, and NJ TRANSIT; and ThroughPut Inc., a supply chain diagnostics software that eliminates maintenance downtime caused by supply chain delays and unavailability of parts, tested at Metro-North Railroad.
In terms of human capital technologies, companies deploying their solutions include: eSkills Corporation which provides a talent assessment platform, tested in MTA and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; and Jetdocs that provides a centralized catalog to streamline workflows and enhance internal collaboration, also tested at MTA and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
“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,” Stacey Matlen, Vice President of Innovation at the Partnership for New York City said. “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.”