COVID-19 Response Challenge launched by New York transit partnership

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), New York City Department of Transportation, New Jersey Transit, and the Port Authority have partnered with the Transit Innovation Partnership to launch the “COVID-19 Response Challenge”. The Challenge sets out to engage the private tech industry and rapidly evaluate and deploy innovative technologies that make public transit safer, healthier and more responsive to customer and workforce needs in light of the global pandemic.

“To truly modernise every element of how we run our transit system, you have to look far and wide for new ideas,” said Interim New York City Transit President, Sarah Feinberg. “That means tapping into the city’s robust entrepreneurial and technology scenes and thinking in new ways about how a vital institution like New York City Transit can embrace innovation in everything it does.”

“The pandemic hit us in New York like no other place in the country. MTA took unprecedented steps the past four months, opening itself up to innovative ways to reduce the risk to our riders and our workers,” added MTA Chief Innovation Officer, Mark Dowd. “We are excited to partner with the Transit Innovation Partnership in our quest to find new technologies and approaches that safely remove contaminated aerosols from our public transit system.”

“As New York City reopens for business, we look forward to supporting the MTA as it reimagines public transit to meet the challenges of the COVID-19 era.” said Rachel Haot, Executive Director of Transit Innovation Partnership.

The Challenge has called for companies to submit proposals by July 30 that address critical pandemic-related health and safety objectives for the New York metropolitan region’s mass transit network. MTA is specifically seeking companies that have proven innovative technologies that can safely reduce or eliminate contaminated aerosols from the public transit system. 

Companies that submit proposals deemed promising by transit, tech and health sector evaluators may have the opportunity to implement their technology with regional transit systems.

Areas of interest for the COVID-19 Response Challenge include:

• Thermal monitoring tools and systems to automatically measure body temperatures
• Cutting-edge cleaning materials and equipment such as electrostatic sprayers, new-design air filtration systems, light-based systems and anti-microbial shields
• Approaches to measure and encourage distancing in shared transit spaces
• Tools to measure, communicate and mitigate crowding in trains, buses, stations and other shared spaces
• Tools and frameworks to identify and communicate potential exposure risks
• Tools to measure and support the use of masks and other personal protective equipment
• Innovations in personal protective equipment, including contactless vending and fare card machines, mask and shield designs, sanitiser dispensers, and partitions
• Approaches and technologies to redesign shared spaces and fare collection in vehicles and stations to encourage cleanliness, health, safety and distancing
• Platforms to expand customer feedback and communication opportunities
• Autonomous cleaning robots and robotic equipment to support cleaning crews
• Secure digital services to further support mental and physical health among transit employees, such as counselling, coaching and self-care platforms
• Tools to support remote transit employees such as secure cloud platforms for infrastructure monitoring, situational awareness, operations and service delivery.