Bus Challenge

How can we make buses faster and more efficient, especially in bus lanes?

Traffic has increased in New York City and bus lanes are often blocked. As a result, buses travel more slowly than ever. In midtown Manhattan, the average bus speed is as low as 3.4 mph, comparable to a New Yorker's walking speed.

In 2019, the Transit Tech Lab sought applications from companies with innovative technologies to make public buses faster and more efficient, especially in bus lanes.

See all program results

Challenge Finalists

About the Finalists

Pilot Winner

Preteckt

Delivers predictive diagnostics using the raw sensor data collected by a bus telematics system to help fleets avoid service interruptions and unexpected downtime

Results: Preteckt analyzed historical bus telematic information from 314 buses’ Aftertreatment Systems and was able to accurately predict bus system failures two days in advance. Preteckt’s insights can be used to increase the Mean Distance Between Failures—a critical bus metric—and reduce costs associated with fleet maintenance. Preteckt extended their pilot to work with two New York City Transit bus depots to examine potential savings on bus repairs if Preteckt’s automatic mechanic recommendations are acted upon.

Agency Partner

Remix

Remix’s platform helps planners redesign streets and transit to ensure populations are being served efficiently and equitably

Results: The MTA began a direct commercial engagement with Remix following the conclusion of NYSERDA’s grant funding. The MTA estimates that Remix potentially saved the agency millions in costs and 130 miles of non-revenue service per day.

The process was also 71% faster than the previous paper-based method. At the start of the overnight subway closures, Remix had hundreds of data sets to ensure that bus routes efficiently transported essential workers to their employment locations.