March 09, 2018
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MTA Announces 8 Winners of MTA Genius Transit Challenge |
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Winning Ideas to be Immediately Researched and Tested by New York City Transit Staff Winning Ideas Seek to Improve Subways Signals, Capacity and Communications Video and Website with Information on Winning Proposals are Online; Photos from Ceremony Available Here MTA, Partnership for New York City Launch Joint Venture to Continue Innovation Inspired by Genius Challenge
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced eight winners of the MTA Genius Transit Challenge, including two who plan to immediately reinvest their cash awards from the competition and contribute seed money to advance their ideas in conjunction with the MTA. As part of a wide-ranging effort to upgrade the subway system’s capacity and reliability, all the winning ideas will be thoroughly vetted and further developed as quickly as possible with future procurements subject to any required MTA Board approval. Given the urgent need to effectuate near term change, the Genius Transit Challenge sought innovative ideas to rapidly modernize the New York City subways signal systems, procure new state-of-the-art subway cars and bring connectivity to underground tunnels and trains. The eight winners were chosen for their ability to deliver quickly maximum positive impact on subway service and customer experience. In some categories, judges gave out multiple awards because more than one proposal had significant promise, or because two proposals utilized similar technological strategies. Prior to the Genius Challenge, estimates for modernizing the New York City subway signal system ranged from 40 to 50 years, with a cost of tens of billions of dollars. Governor Andrew M. Cuomo declared the status quo to be unacceptable and challenged the MTA to launch the Genius Challenge to find better solutions. With the ideas recognized today as winners of the Genius Challenge, NYC Transit has the potential to cut that timeline dramatically and the cost significantly, delivering modern signal technology to a century-old subway system. Winning submissions in the signals category offer the possibility of modernizing NYC Transit’s antiquated signal system far faster and more cost-effectively than previously estimated, reducing installation and implementation time by decades. Customers would see faster, more reliable and far more frequent service across subway lines, lessening crowding conditions in cars and platforms and decreasing commute times. The winners were:
Similarly, the winners of the subway car challenge proposed radically new approaches to loading guidelines, designing and building new modern subway cars for NYC Transit. They would potentially cut years from development, procurement and delivery schedules:
The third challenge sought innovative methods to upgrade the subway system’s communications and control technology with the goal of increasing service throughput and capacity. Improving train communications, particular in underground track tunnels where networks have sporadic coverage, provides multiple benefits to operations managers, employees and customers. Dispatchers and train crews can make better informed decisions during emergencies and communicate service changes to customers, while customers get the added benefit of connectivity in tunnels between subway stations. The winning idea would speed up maintenance, repairs and installations of communications systems by freeing up manned crews to address other, more complex work:
The judges also recognized two honorable mentions in the communications category in respect to their strong technical solutions, to Transit Wireless and Alcatel-Lucent, as discussed further below. “People from around the world delivered groundbreaking solutions that truly represent a new wave of innovation for the MTA, and we are more excited than ever about the future of New York Subways,” said Joe Lhota, MTA Chairman. “When Governor Cuomo announced his Genius Challenge last summer, I’m not sure any of us really knew what the reaction would be. The Governor’s idea was to accelerate changes to subway signal systems by tapping into the most creative minds and the latest technologies. The bet paid off, and now the MTA can move forward much faster than the previous 40-plus year timetable to give New York subway riders a modern, high-capacity signal system,” said Janno Lieber, MTA Chief Development Officer. “New York is committed to growing a robust economy supported by diverse, livable communities. Our ability to get people where they need to go quickly, safely, and efficiently is vital to that mission. The subway system is the economic engine of New York City and the metropolitan region, and today’s winning submissions to the Genius Challenge will help modernize our aging infrastructure and support a 21st century subway system for a 21st century economy,” said Howard Zemsky, Empire State Development Corporation President, CEO, and Commissioner.
Transit Innovation Partnership “Public transit is critical to New York City’s future. Through strategic innovation and private sector support, we have an opportunity to establish the MTA as a global leader in transit. We look forward to building on the success of the Genius Challenge to realize the potential of the MTA,” said Rachel Haot, Executive Director, Transit Innovation Partnership. “Governor Cuomo and the new leadership team at the MTA have created an unprecedented opportunity for business and the nonprofit sectors to put their expertise to work to help transform our regional transit system. We intend to build on the success of the Genius competition to make this the greatest system in the world,” said Kathryn Wylde, President and Chief Executive Officer, Partnership for New York City. “The Genius Challenge has shown us that an open forum for bold and creative ideas is the way forward for our transit system. I look forward to tapping into the expertise of the Transit Innovation Partnership, and working to foster a spirit of innovation and collaboration that will carry our public transit system into the 21st century and beyond,” said Pat Foye, MTA President.
Genius Challenge Process The Genius Challenge was launched in June 2017. Participants were asked to submit strategies for any of three challenges: improving the signal system; increasing service capacity and reliability; and identifying ways to quickly deploy modern train communications and control technology across the system. A panel of technology and transportation experts, aided by an evaluation committee of MTA staff and experts from academia and transit industries, reviewed 438 submissions from 23 countries. The panel narrowed the submissions to 64 semifinalists, then further down to 19 finalists. “It is critically important for government agencies to remember that sometimes, the best ideas come from the outside. I commend Governor Cuomo and the MTA on completion of a successful Genius Challenge. The contest succeeded in doing exactly what it set out to do -- inspire new ideas for how to solve the very old problem of modernizing the New York City Subway. I also congratulate the winners for coming up with new concepts in cars, communications and signals technology -- concepts that will assist this system and likely many others across the country,” said Sarah Feinberg, MTA Genius Challenge judge and former administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration. “It was a privilege and an honor to participate in Governor Cuomo’s MTA Genius Challenge as a judge. As an engineer, I was impressed with the large number of innovative and carefully-thought out proposals the MTA received. The Challenge energized and unleashed the ingenuity of individuals as well as established companies, and the winners represent the most creative solutions to a societal challenge,” said Balaji Prabhakar, MTA Genius Challenge judge and a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Stanford University. "The MTA Genius Challenge was an innovative way to get the best and brightest to help upgrade the subway faster and cheaper. Congratulations to MTA, the entrants and winners of this first of a kind competition," said Kristina Johnson, MTA Genius Challenge judge and chancellor-elect of the State University of New York. “As president of New York City Transit, I am committed to upgrading and modernizing this transit system from top to bottom and a top priority is modernization of the subway signal system. A modern signal system is the key to running more trains, to driving up reliability and to increasing network capacity. I have directed my staff to research and engage in all of these ideas, whether it is ultra-wideband technology or new installation techniques. But we cannot rest on the laurels of these winners, which is why the MTA and the Partnership for New York City are launching the Transit Innovation Partnership, a public-private collaboration dedicated to bringing new ideas, resources, and expertise to support the MTA’s mission,” said Andy Byford, MTA New York City Transit President. More information on the challenges and the details of the winning ideas are available on the Genius Challenge website.
Full Description of Winners Challenge 1 sought to accelerate the deployment of modern train signaling technologies in the subway system, to increase the number of trains at peak periods and promote faster and more reliable service. The panel chose two winning ideas, split between four winners, with joint awards going to applicants with nearly identical entries. Each will receive a $250,000 award.
Challenge 2: Subway Cars Challenge 2 sought strategies to obtain and deploy modern subway cars more efficiently or refurbish existing cars in order to increase the subway system's capacity and reliability, prevent car breakdowns, and reduce delays. The panel chose three winners, each of whom will receive a $330,000 award.
Challenge 3: Communications Challenge 3 sought to identify communications systems that will support the rapid installation and deployment of modern train communications and control technologies in the subway system, to increase the system’s capacity and overall through-put. Judges selected one winning idea, and one idea worthy of an honorable mention that was submitted separately by two firms. The winner will receive a $500,000 award. Honorable mentions do not receive a monetary award.
Rick Carlson, Chief Operating Officer, Metrom Rail, signals challenge co-winner: “We’re gratified that the MTA recognized Metrom Rail’s vision for the future of transit. We are pursuing a radical departure from traditional train control systems by providing a cost-effective solution that helps transit agencies minimize delays and accommodate more riders. We are excited to propel the use of ultra-wide band technology in the transit industry and look forward to working with the MTA – and other agencies worldwide – to dramatically improve transit operations.” Robert James, signals challenge co-winner: “Using ultra-wideband provides total situational awareness in the tunnels. We can double the train capacity provide greater safety to the trains and the track workers.” Andy Barr, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager, Ansaldo STS, signals challenge co-winner: “Ansaldo STS is extremely proud of this award. It represents the best recognition of our continued commitment to modernize New York City’s subway signal system. In our company, we consider the U.S. a domestic and strategic market. Such achievements reinforce our dedication to design and develop new products which fit the need of our local customers. Improving the quality of life is our mission, making it possible is our daily task.” Dominique Gaiardo, Management Director Urban Rail Signaling, Thales Group, signals challenge co-winner: “Governor Cuomo’s and MTA’s Genius Transit Challenge is an important step towards more efficient and more reliable transit services in New York City. As a company passionate about innovation, Thales is here to help the Governor and MTA master the signaling complexities they face for the most citizen-demanding metro in North America – whatever it takes.” Craig Avedisian, subways cars challenge co-winner: “Adding more subway cars to trains to expand capacity costs a lot less, and can be implemented far more quickly, than building new stations and tunnels. The idea provides enormous flexibility to deliver capacity where it is needed, and even leaves room for future growth. I am thrilled that the MTA also saw these benefits and is willing to apply the idea to get real results for customers. The real winners here are New Yorkers.” Jia Bo, Vice President, CRRC MA, subways cars challenge co-winner: “We are honored and excited to have been chosen for the MTA’s Genius Transit Challenge. We look forward to introducing CRRC’s design philosophy focused on accelerating the pace subway vehicles are procured and deployed to the New York transit system.” Marshall Moreyne, Chief Executive Officer, CSinTrans, subways cars challenge co-winner: “CSINTRANS (CSiT) is honored to have been selected as having one of the best ideas for this challenge. Implementing a multi-modal transit information system such as TRANSIS will contribute to improve the reliability of rail cars as well as help reduce future capital and maintenance costs of rail car equipment at the MTA. At the same time, customer information to the passenger will be greatly improved by providing the MTA the means to communicate relevant and timely information to travelers with a world-class customer communication network. We thank the MTA for taking such a bold and novel approach to finding the best innovative solutions worldwide.” Peter Toth, innovation engineer, Bechtel Innovation, communications challenge winner: “Collaboration between the public and private sectors is essential for solving today’s complex infrastructure problems. We are excited to be involved with this grand challenge and look forward to contributing to a viable solution alongside the MTA.”
The judges for the MTA Genius Transit Challenge were:
The members of the newly launched Transit Innovation Partnership (TIP) are:
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