2 Brooklyn teams take top prizes at MTA’s transit app challenge

App Quest 3.0 is an annual contest challenging technologists to build apps that improve commutes.
This year’s top prize went to Yo Train!, led by Cobble Hill’s John Nguyen. Yo Train! makes traveling easier by automatically giving you information about train arrivals when you are near them, without waiting for you to take out your phone. The Yo Train! team took home $10,000 for winning the “Best Accessibility App for MTA Customers with Disabilities” category.

The runner-up for the same prize took home $7,500. NYC Accessible was built by Greenpoint developer Andrew Glass, in collaboration with recreational therapist Jason Schwab. The app gives real-time updates on accessibility information about the city’s subway stations. Especially key: whether the elevators are working. (A project like this, Unlock Philly, was undertaken by civic hackers in Philadelphia in 2014.)
See all the App Quest 3.0 apps
Downtown Brooklyn’s Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) hosted the AT&T Transit Tech Developer Day this past November, as part of its sponsorship of the challenge. CUSP Director Steve Koonin said, in a press release, “App Quest’s award recipients clearly demonstrate how impactful data can be in addressing real world issues of city residents.”
The contest was sponsored by the MTA and AT&T, as well as Transit Wireless, a company bringing WiFi to NYC subway stations.
“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,” TransitWireless CEO William Bayne said in a release. “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.”