NYC Transit Tech Lab announces 2026 project partners

The Transit Tech Lab (TTL) has announced the 18 finalists selected to collaborate with New York City transit agencies to test technologies tackling some of their biggest transportation challenges in the eighth annual competition from the business accelerator.

This year’s two challenges are focusing on technologies designed to help the transit agencies improve infrastructure management, modernise data, and update workflow processes.

Promising technology

The companies will deploy their technologies over an eight-week proof-of-concept period with one or more of the participating agency partners, including the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, NYC Department of Transportation, and NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC). The agencies may then opt to further test promising technology through a longer-term pilot.

More than 100 staff across the participating agencies identified the programme’s challenges for the year. Some 300 public sector operational staff and leaders then explored potential solutions through a rigorous evaluation period that included in-person pitch and demo days. The 18 participating companies were chosen from 138 applications. Seven of the companies participating this year are based in New York City.

“Doubling down on this work will require looking at every opportunity to become a more efficient and organised agency”

“This NYC DoT is going to be aggressively delivering on our Vision Zero goals, with ambitious, bold projects to make our streets safer,” said Mike Flynn, commissioner, NYC’s Transportation Department, in a press statement, when the competition was launched in January.

“Doubling down on this work will require looking at every opportunity to become a more efficient and organised agency. We look forward to working with the Transit Tech Lab to explore ways to use new tech to improve our data collection and workflow management.”

TTL reports that AI-powered technologies have been core to the lab since its first challenges in 2018, and this year is no different. More than half of the participating companies will seek to utilise AI and autonomous technologies to create smarter, more efficient networks and processes.

The 2026 cohort and their innovations:

Data and workflow modernisation challenge

Automotus (Los Angeles, California) – Computer vision-enabled, pole-mounted cameras that leverage AI to monitor vehicle activity at terminal kerbs and city kerbs, enabling airports and cities to reduce congestion, improve safety and customer experience, and increase revenue through automated payment and enforcement of kerb and right-of-way rules.

(Lead agency: PANYNJ Aviation)

Contextere (Ottawa, Canada) – Industrial insight engine that connects to an agency’s existing data systems (maintenance logs, schedules, sensor feeds) and applies operational context (asset, role, task) to provide frontline workers plain-language answers and recommendations to improve service reliability and reduce downtime.

(Lead agency: MTA B&T)

Cyvl (Boston, Massachusetts) – Mounts cameras and sensors on vehicles that drive road networks to automatically detect potholes, cracks, and other pavement problems, replacing slow manual inspections with a continuously updated, searchable map of infrastructure conditions.

(Lead agency: PANYNJ Engineering, Port)

Hazel (New York City) – AI-powered procurement tool that helps government agencies draft solicitations, find qualified vendors, and evaluate bids in a fraction of the time it takes today, while keeping staff in control of every decision.

(Lead agency: MTA LIRR)

In a Blink (Montreal, Canada) – Uses light-based (photonic) wireless technology to transfer an entire day’s worth of onboard video and sensor data from a transit vehicle in a few minutes, unlocking data that today sits trapped on buses and trains.

(Lead agency: MTA NYCT)

Ironloop (New York City) – Software platform that monitors the configuration of critical control systems (like Scada and PLCs) to catch cybersecurity risks and compliance gaps before they become incidents.

(Lead agency: MTA HQ)

Ontra Mobility (New York City) – AI transit planning platform that leverages ridership, scheduling, and operations data to predict travel demand, recommend service design, and optimise timetables under real-world budget and fleet constraints.

(Lead agency: MTA NYCT, LIRR)

VIATechnik Voyager (Chicago, Illinois) – Digital twin platform that centralises access and enables AI-powered insights across building information modeling (BIM) drawings, asset records, reality capture, equipment documents, portfolio attributes, and live streaming IoT data so facility teams can find information and make more effective maintenance and operations decisions.

(Lead agency: PANYNJ Engineering)

Voicd (Boothwyn, Pennsylvania) – Voice analysis technology solution that uses AI to verify speaker identity, detect deepfake audio, and flag potential threats in real time across secure communications and public safety channels.

(Lead agency: MTA HQ, PANYNJ Security)