Earlier this week, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced the winners of its third annual contest of smartphone apps targeting train, subway and bus riders. Essentially, the MTA and AT&T challenge developers to show off their skills while solving real-world problems and enhancing the transit experience of MTA’s 8.5 million daily riders.
Last year’s event, App Quest 3.0 was sponsored by the MTA, AT&T, Transit Wireless and New York University's Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP). Over a course of four months, developers from around the world participated in the contest giving them an opportunity to develop new mobile solutions with the goal of helping to improve commuters’ rides.
This year the big winner was an app called YoTrain. This app was developed to assist the visually and hearing impaired in getting real-time information through voice and text alerts. The user presets stations and the app automatically notifies riders when the next train will arrive when they are within half a block from any of those stations.
App Quest 3.0 consisted of 43 teams from 10 countries, of which eight were awarded prize money ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 with an additional two receiving honorable mention. The panel of nine judges was made up of top executives who are considered to be experts in digital, transit and tech from several organizations.
According to Thomas F. Prendergast, MTA chairman and CEO, "The real winners out of this challenge are MTA customers. We are delighted that so many talented and enthusiastic tech teams dedicated their energies toward helping our customers. Apps offer a very exciting and powerful potential to assist our customers and improve their experiences with us and we want to encourage the development of great apps."
A breakdown of the top 10 apps reads as follows;
- Grand Prize ($10,000): Best Accessibility App for MTA Customers with Disabilities: YoTrain!
- Runner-up Prize ($7,500): Best Accessibility App for Disabled MTA Customers: NYC Accessible
- Grand Prize ($7,500): Best Consumer/Transit Rider App: Departures NYC
- Runner-up Prize ($5,000): Best Consumer/Transit Rider App: TravAlarm
- Popular Choice ($5,000): 1-Touch NYC
- Large Organization Recognition Award: iRideNYC
- Best Way-Finding Application for Novice Transit Riders ($5,000): Departures NYC
- Best Data Visualization App ($5,000): ReMap
- Best Crowdsourcing App ($5,000): TravAlarm
- Honorable Mention: Navigate
In addition to having a lot of historical data to gather statistics from, the MTA has been installing underground Wi-Fi routers so that passengers can receive information on their mobile devices. I was shocked earlier this week when my phone rang while I was on the subway. We have the technology in place, now it is time to make use of it to help the straphangers.
William Bayne, who is the CEO of Transit Wireless, said "As we continue to rollout wireless connectivity to the underground, we were extremely inspired to join the MTA and AT&T this year and add a new layer to app innovation and development to App Quest 3.0 by installing PROMObeacons as part of the competition. Beacon technology is the wave of the future and Transit Wireless is the first company to 'test' this technology in an underground transportation system globally. We are excited to see how these new apps involving beacon technology can benefit the New York City riders."
Edited by
Dominick Sorrentino 
QUICK LINKS 
