PROOF-OF-CONCEPT REPORT

Advanced Infrastructure and Data + Workflow Modernization Challenges

October 19, 2026

In this article

Overview

Every day, nearly five million New Yorkers ride the city's subways and buses, while hundreds of thousands more board Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road trains connecting the suburbs to the five boroughs. Over 900,000 vehicles travel more than 6,300 miles of streets, and beyond the region's roadways and rails, the Port Authority's airports handle over 150 million passengers a year while its port facilities move billions of dollars in cargo through one of the busiest harbors in the country. Behind the scenes, government agencies—including engineers, technicians, and office staff—keep it all moving. The scale of the effort it takes to run the largest transit network on infrastructure that’s continually being improved cannot be overstated, nor can the opportunity to make the work more efficient and impactful with new technology.

That’s where the Transit Tech Lab comes in. Every year, the Partnership Fund connects the greater New York area’s transit agencies with companies building solutions to their real operational challenges, from catching a crack in a rail before it becomes a safety issue to streamlining hours of paperwork with AI.   

In January 2026, the Transit Tech Lab launched its eighth annual competition, soliciting applications from early- and growth-stage companies around the world to help the larger New York metro area’s transit agencies tackle two challenge areas: advanced infrastructure, and data + workflow modernization. This year, the program received 138 applications from entrepreneurs around the world.

Over 300 agency operators and executives from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s PATH commuter rail, NYC Department of Transportation, NJ Transit, and NYC Department of Design and Construction partnered to identify these challenges and select 17 finalists to move forward with 20 unique eight-week proof-of-concept projects. Kicking off in May 2026, these finalists worked directly with their agency partners to test their solution in a real-world environment. This report outlines each company’s solution, how it was applied, and the potential it holds to improve the public transportation experience for millions of people in the tri-state area.

By The Numbers

138

APPLICATIONS

24

SEMIFINALISTS

20

PROOFS-OF-CONCEPT

Transit Tech Lab Net Promoter Score*

  • Company NPS: 8.8**

  • Agency NPS: 9.4***

*Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a metric used to measure customer loyalty and satisfaction with a company's products or services. It is a single-question survey that asks customers how likely they are to recommend the company to a friend or colleague on a scale of 1–10.
**Responses from 17 company stakeholders included
***Responses from 18 agency project managers included

Advanced Infrastructure Challenge

Delphisonic

PRIMARY PARTNER AGENCIES

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PATH)

ABOUT THEIR TECH

Delphisonic delivers real-time condition monitoring and predictive maintenance for rail operators through durable sensors and AI analytics software, helping transit agencies prevent emergencies before they happen, improve safety, cut maintenance costs, and extend the lifespan of critical rolling stock and track assets.

DURING THEIR POC

Delphisonic installed a sensor suite, including axlebox and reaction rod sensors, on a single PATH railcar to monitor bogie, bearing, wheelset, and track infrastructure conditions. Delphisonic demonstrated continuous data capture and transmission of real-time axlebox and reaction-rod dynamic events, which provided live component health scores (all within healthy baseline). Within one week of live track monitoring, the system detected elevated vibration in certain areas of the track, identifying potential issues PATH had already suspected. The sensors continuously monitored the track in real-time and transmitted 24/7 data updates to the Delphisonic analysis dashboard. In the future, Delphisonic could work with PATH to improve location accuracy, which was limited during the POC without access to the train's onboard positioning data and by weak GPS coverage in PATH's tunnels.

COMPANY-ESTIMATED POTENTIAL IMPACT

Solutions like Delphisonic can give PATH a way to move from reactive, inspection-based maintenance to proactive, data-driven maintenance, catching issues sooner, reducing the risk of unplanned outages, and lowering long-term repair costs by addressing problems before they escalate.

Duos Technologies

PRIMARY PARTNER AGENCIES

MTA (NYCT DOB)

ABOUT THEIR TECH

DuosTI provides an AI-powered imaging system that captures high-resolution imagery of vehicles at operational speed and automatically detects mechanical defects and anomalies within seconds. The technology is available in both fixed and portable configurations for transit fleet inspection and has been deployed for rail fleet inspection. 

DURING THEIR POC

DuosTI demonstrated its Vehicle Undercarriage Examiner platform on a single bus in Jacksonville, Florida to demonstrate applicability to MTA NYCT buses, capturing imagery of the suspension, brakes, drivetrain, and engine. As bus inspection differ from rail, the test demonstrated how DuosTI's existing rail inspection technology could be adapted to bus fleets. The POC also identified fluid leak detection as a high-value use case for future development.

COMPANY-ESTIMATED POTENTIAL IMPACT

This type of tool points to a scalable approach to automating undercarriage inspections across a large bus fleet, reducing hazardous and time-consuming manual checks through rapid, image-based inspections. Automated detection of issues such as fluid leaks could provide an early indication of developing mechanical problems, allowing NYCT to identify and address issues earlier and potentially reduce unplanned breakdowns.

Dynamic Infrastructure

PRIMARY PARTNER AGENCIES

MTA (C&D and NYCT) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PATH)

ABOUT THEIR TECH

Dynamic Infrastructure’s engineering AI platform turns inspection reports, images, and historical records into a single condition-intelligence system for capital planning and maintenance decisions.

DURING THEIR POC

Dynamic Infrastructure analyzed 394 images and over 100 pages of inspection data across two MTA subway stations and five Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s World Trade Center facilities, delivering results within hours instead of the days or weeks a manual review would take. The AI detected 100% of the defects already listed on PATH's inspection report, and flagged severity differently in 14% of cases based on Dynamic Infrastructure standards and methodologies. MTA’s evaluation of the POC outputs indicated that the application has potential to improve infrastructure information consistency.

COMPANY-ESTIMATED POTENTIAL IMPACT

By providing faster, predictive maintenance reports, Dynamic Infrastructure estimates the platform could cut PATH’s rehab costs, reduce emergency repairs by half, and free up the equivalent of three to six structural engineers' worth of capacity if scaled agency-wide. At scale, Dynamic Infrastructure estimates this technology could reduce MTA’s staff time required for quality control and administration of facility evaluations, helping inform more efficient infrastructure investment decisions.

Enspi Technologies

PRIMARY PARTNER AGENCIES

MTA (NYCT)

ABOUT THEIR TECH

Enspi builds a real-time digital twin of transit power and operational technology systems, using AI to detect anomalies, predict failures, and map cybersecurity vulnerabilities across traction power infrastructure.

DURING THEIR POC

Leveraging 17 public data sources, Enspi evaluated 472 MTA stations for electrical risk and built a digital twin to simulate fault behavior at key sites. The analysis linked rising electrical stress to real incidents, delay records, and ridership demand to prioritize three sites for additional investigation.

COMPANY-ESTIMATED POTENTIAL IMPACT

Based on the public data, Enspi estimates targeted sensing at these sites could help prevent costly failures before they occur, potentially cutting maintenance costs by 30% through more targeted upkeep, and reducing electrical consumption by 15%.

Orbit

PRIMARY PARTNER AGENCIES

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

ABOUT THEIR TECH

Orbit is an online marketplace for reclaimed construction materials, making it easier and faster to buy, sell, and reuse salvaged, refurbished, and surplus materials while also reducing waste from the construction and demolition sector.

DURING THEIR POC

Orbit worked with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and Chief Bricks to deconstruct and resell bricks from the Lincoln Tunnel retaining walls. Since the project kicked off, Orbit secured 110 buyer orders for roughly 3,000 bricks, plus a 4,000-brick order from PANYNJ for its own repairs. Orbit also identified market interest from key regional agencies like the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, NYC Department of Design and Construction, NYC Parks Department, and more. The reclaimed bricks are priced at 36-80% below new bricks of the same specification.

COMPANY-ESTIMATED POTENTIAL IMPACT

Orbit estimated the effort could avoid as much as 979 metric tons of CO2 (depending on the final yield rate of salvaged materials) compared to manufacturing new bricks, all the while preventing the bricks from becoming demolition waste.

Praedico

PRIMARY PARTNER AGENCIES

MTA (LIRR, NYCT)

ABOUT THEIR TECH

Praedico’s predictive software consolidates and aligns siloed track and infrastructure data over time to give rail operators a single, reliable map view of asset condition for smarter maintenance and capital planning.

DURING THEIR POC

Praedico deployed its platform on mock and open-source MTA data to demonstrate how cleaned and integrated data can improve short- and long-term maintenance decisions. The test showed completeness and availability of track and infrastructure information increasing from 89% to 94%.

COMPANY-ESTIMATED POTENTIAL IMPACT

At scale, Praedico estimates the platform's use cases also could reduce maintenance costs by 20% and extend asset lifecycles up to 30%.

Strobe Power

PRIMARY PARTNER AGENCIES

MTA (C&D, NYCT)

ABOUT THEIR TECH

Strobe’s hardware and software provide real-time visibility into facility energy use while autonomously operation and optimizing distributed energy assets. This helps organizations reduce energy bills, improve resilience, and maximize the value of their energy infrastructure investments.

DURING THEIR POC

Strobe evaluated MTA's energy assets and shortlisted five facilities to model the financial case for adding batteries, solar, and generators. Strobe built initial site-level financial models, projecting meaningful energy bill savings and energy market revenue. The selected facilities included one with plans for a 1 MW solar array, capable at peak production of generating enough electricity to power approximately 1,000 homes, paired with a 3 MW battery system, and another with plans for a battery-only installation.

COMPANY-ESTIMATED POTENTIAL IMPACT

At scale, Strobe estimates that deploying its hardware and software could reduce energy bills, strengthen operational resilience, establish the facility-level energy baselines needed for paid participation in demand response programs, and generate revenue through New York's wholesale energy markets.

T2D2

PRIMARY PARTNER AGENCIES

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

ABOUT THEIR TECH

T2D2 is an AI-powered computer vision infrastructure inspection platform that transforms photographs and videos into actionable condition data, inspection reports, and digital asset records.

DURING THEIR POC

T2D2 evaluated three Port Authority airport and marine terminal facilities, processing 83 images and 9 videos into 1,832 detections and generating 12 orthomosaics (large, stitched-together aerial maps that give a single, accurate visual of an entire facility rather than dozens of separate photos).

COMPANY-ESTIMATED POTENTIAL IMPACT

3 the Port Authority staff tested the online portal which achieved 95% detection accuracy and an estimated 60% reduction in inspection reporting and documentation time. T2D2 demonstrated how a visual inspection platform could cut inspection and documentation time and could give asset managers a more current, consistent view of infrastructure conditions to prioritize repairs and capital planning.

Viatec

PRIMARY PARTNER AGENCIES

MTA (C&D, NYCT)

ABOUT THEIR TECH

Viatec provides workforce fleet electrification battery solutions for medium and heavy-duty work vehicles at job sites to reduce operating costs and eliminate engine idling and emissions.

DURING THEIR POC

Viatec scoped a pilot installation of an ePTO (Electric Power Takeoff) solution on three bucket trucks based out of a Brooklyn NYCT garage.

COMPANY-ESTIMATED POTENTIAL IMPACT

Based on consistent duty cycle utilization of 70%, the technology could reduce engine idling by up to 880 hours and carbon emissions by up to 8 metric tons. Reduced idling is also expected to lower engine wear and associated maintenance costs over time, as well as potentially extending vehicle lifespan and warranty coverage based on engine miles. Benefits are also expected for truck operators, with a healthier job site environment driven by reduced decibel level noise, and healthier air by eliminating idling-associated emissions such as carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide.

Data and Workflow Modernization Challenge

Automotus

PRIMARY PARTNER AGENCIES

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (TB&T)

ABOUT THEIR TECH

Automotus delivers automated curb and terminal management technology to cities and airports across North America, with fixed cameras that leverage private-by-design AI to monitor vehicle activity and improve curb efficiency and enforcement of right-of-way rules, reducing traffic and safety hazards.

DURING THEIR POC

Automotus conducted a pilot scoping exercise with the Tunnels, Bridges & Terminals (TB&T) team, identifying a potential deployment at the Midtown Bus Terminal (MBT). Using its camera-based technology, Automotus proposed a pilot that would automatically track which buses use the terminal and when—identifying each bus by carrier as it enters and exits, counting trips and measuring how long buses are within the MBT, comparing that against carriers' official schedules to understand discrepancies, how long buses stay in the terminal for arrivals and departures, and how many times buses recirculate in various roadway conditions.

COMPANY-ESTIMATED POTENTIAL IMPACT

In practice, this would give the Port Authority accurate, real-time visibility into terminal usage. Future expansion of this type of program could also bill carriers automatically for their use—without manual counting, extra staffing, or relying on carriers to self-report.

contextere

PRIMARY PARTNER AGENCIES

MTA (B&T)

ABOUT THEIR TECH

Contextere’s MADISON AI insight engine connects directly to an agency's existing maintenance systems, technical manuals, service records, and operational data sources to provide frontline technicians with instant, plain-language answers and actionable guidance.

DURING THEIR POC

MADISON was evaluated on a Global M4 street sweeper at MTA's Randall's Island fleet facility. Technicians used the platform to ask questions about maintenance history, equipment specifications, and fault codes. MADISON retrieved answers directly from technical manuals, service records, and other maintenance documentation, achieving over 98% accuracy in identifying the correct information while citing the specific source for every response. This provided technicians with complete transparency and traceability back to the original documentation.

COMPANY-ESTIMATED POTENTIAL IMPACT

Contextere estimates that, at scale, MADISON could reduce frontline technician search time by 30% and technical escalations by 50%. It could also help the MTA preserve institutional knowledge as experienced employees retire or leave and improve maintenance handoffs by retaining relevant context and detail.

Hazel AI Technologies

PRIMARY PARTNER AGENCIES

MTA (LIRR)

ABOUT THEIR TECH

Hazel builds cutting-edge software for public sector procurement teams, accelerating every stage of the procurement lifecycle—from drafting solicitations to finding qualified vendors to managing bid evaluations—while keeping stakeholders in control of every decision.

DURING THEIR POC

Hazel AI deployed their Solicitation Builder module with LIRR to support drafting technical scopes of work, a key process in the procurement lifecycle that takes hours to complete. In the three weeks of user testing, Hazel AI trained seven LIRR technical project managers, who used the tool to draft 15 technical scopes of work. On sample scopes, Hazel cut drafting time by 40%—exceeding its 10% target—and included relevant requirements, with applicable standards and specifications, which helped develop a more complete Scope of Work for the user to confirm or expand. 100% of testers affirmed they would like to continue using it.

COMPANY-ESTIMATED POTENTIAL IMPACT

Hazel AI’s POC underscores the tool’s ability to enhance the overall quality and thoroughness of the procurement documents. At scale, Hazel AI could integrate to a full set of solicitation documents and additional procurement modules to significantly reduce drafting times and improve the quality of procurement documents generated.

Ironloop

PRIMARY PARTNER AGENCIES

MTA (IT/Cybersecurity)

ABOUT THEIR TECH

Ironloop continuously reads how the operational technology (OT) devices behind tunnels, bridges, and transit are configured, and turns that into a single asset inventory, a prioritized list of hardening fixes, and audit-ready compliance evidence that stays current as configurations change.

DURING THEIR POC

Ironloop deployed its read-only platform on MTA-provisioned hardware inside MTA's isolated OT cybersecurity test lab, fully air-gapped (meaning no connection) from the internet and from MTA's production network. Over the eight-week pilot, MTA's cyber team tested it against configurations from nine vendor families, including Rockwell, Siemens, and Cisco devices, and ran OT-safe network discovery across the lab's switches, firewall, and PLCs. All four POC goals were met. The platform ingested and analyzed configurations from legacy PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers, the industrial controllers that operate physical equipment like signals and switches) and network devices, mapped findings to NIST CSF 2.0 (the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Cybersecurity Framework, a widely used federal standard for identifying and managing cybersecurity risk), and produced a repeatable configuration baseline

COMPANY-ESTIMATED POTENTIAL IMPACT

Ironloop’s analysis can be re-run over time to measure hardening progress and catch unauthorized changes. Because it works from device configurations, Ironloop’s value proposition includes covering decades-old equipment with inconsistent configuration standards and surface cybersecurity risks and compliance gaps on an ongoing basis, before they become incidents.

Ontra Mobility

PRIMARY PARTNER AGENCIES

MTA (LIRR, NYCT)

ABOUT THEIR TECH

Ontra Mobility is an AI transit planning platform that leverages ridership, scheduling, and operations data to predict travel demand, recommend service design, and optimize timetables under real-world budget and operational constraints.

DURING THEIR POC

Ontra conducted a proof-of-concept with both the MTA LIRR and NYCT: For LIRR, Ontra generated weekend timetable options for the Huntington and Ronkonkoma branches. Ontra ingested LIRR GTFS data (standardized files containing route, stop, and schedule information used across transit systems), along with timetable data, station-to-station demand, runtime/dwell assumptions, stop patterns, and service constraints to minimize passenger travel time, improve schedule regularity, and identify implementable schedule changes, including lower-disruption express-trip options. For NYCT, Ontra modeled and redesigned the Brooklyn Bus Network. Ontra ingested NYCT bus ridership/origin-destination/path data, GTFS data, regional demand inputs, road network data, and operating constraints to improve ridership, convenience, equity, and efficiency.

COMPANY-ESTIMATED POTENTIAL IMPACT

For LIRR, one route optimization model option was a cost-neutral redesign that Ontra estimates could save 25% of passengers over 8 minutes per trip, totaling 177,000 passenger-hours saved annually). Ontra also modeled an alternative option that they estimated could add 8 express trips, projecting a total of 148,000 passenger-hours saved annually. For NYCT, Ontra estimates the redesigned Brooklyn Bus Network could add 2.1 million annual riders, $3.5 million in annual fare revenue, and 2.5 million fewer transfers per year.

VIATechnik

PRIMARY PARTNER AGENCIES

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

ABOUT THEIR TECH

VIATechnik’s Voyager, a digital twin platform, unifies BIM models, drawings, asset records, and live building data into one searchable, AI-powered interface for facility and asset management.

DURING THEIR POC

VIATechnik deployed Voyager for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's JFK Bergen Substation and the Bayonne Bridge, integrating seven and eight data sets, respectively. The deployment covered 838 assets at JFK and 1,985 elements at Bayonne Bridge, and was tested across 12 the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey users. Data ingested included design and model data (e.g., revit models, CAD files), asset and element registries, surveys, scans, and more. Voyager supported facility teams to find information and make more effective maintenance and operations decisions. 100% of surveyed users found Voyager can support challenging tasks like answering detailed questions about a facility, asset, space, or physical element, without needing to track down separate drawings, records, or subject-matter experts.

COMPANY-ESTIMATED POTENTIAL IMPACT

Users identified Voyager’s biggest value was that it could maintain a single, current source of truth for asset information rather than piecing it together from multiple disconnected systems.

Voicd

PRIMARY PARTNER AGENCIES

MTA (HQ/IT/Security) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

ABOUT THEIR TECH

Voicd’s voice intelligence platform uses AI to verify speaker identity, detect deepfake audio, and flag potential threats in real time across secure communications and public safety channels.

DURING THEIR POC

Voicd tested its platform against 29 MTA and 9 the Port Authority of New York and New Jerseyaudio samples spanning customer service, public safety, and multilingual scenarios. MTA and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey users focused on use cases of deepfake and synthetic speech detection, speaker authentication and voice biometrics, lexicon and content analysis, and stress and emotional state detection. The platform correctly classified 89.7% of the 29 MTA samples and matched enrolled speakers with 100% accuracy, while PANYNJ testing achieved 100% accuracy across all four evaluated capabilities based on 9 audio samples, exceeding the 80% target.

COMPANY-ESTIMATED POTENTIAL IMPACT

Voicd estimates its platform could strengthen transit security investigations and fraud detection, with next steps focused on testing against larger, real-world datasets.

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