Rich fixes for MTA

Geniuses get $250G, $330G for their ideas

THANKS, GENIUSES.

The winning ideas to bring the aging subway system into the 21st century were announced at MTA headquarters on Friday as a part of a $3 million competition.

The MTA Genius Challenge launched by Gov. Cuomo awarded a cash prize to eight winners out of 19 finalists across three categories — signals, train cars, and rider communications.

“All the ideas that we’ve seen, even those that didn’t win today, were well worth hearing and seeing,” Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Joe Lhota said. “It shows how people think about the system and how to make it better.”

Among the most promising ideas to improve the ride is one that the MTA is already testing — a wireless technology called Ultra Wideband radio, which has been used in the medical and military industries.

The tech could let the MTA replace its old signal system much faster than the decades it will likely take to install a new signal system, known as Communications-based Train Control, which lets transit officials pinpoint train locations so they can safely run trains closer together. Robert James, 52, a transportation engineer who was one of four winners in the signals category, said Ultra Wideband Radio could be speeding up commuters’ trips by 2024.

“You don’t have to have all the track outages,” James, a former NJ Transit technology director and chief engineer of emerging mobility at HNTB, said. James’ pitch earned him $250,000.

A Chinese state-owned car maker, CRRC, won for its pitch to create a lighter train model that would cut down on maintenance and make upgrades easier.

CRRC won a $330,000 cash prize, though it’s going to invest $50 million to develop a new car for New York.

The model CRRC will build would have a shorter life span that needs less maintenance, with amenities like WiFi, LED lights and charging ports.

One winning idea had transit experts wondering if it crossed the line from genius to madness.

Craig Avedisian, an attorney, won $330,000 in the car category for his idea to attach more cars to trains, making them longer than subway platforms.

Trains would be divided into “A” sections and “B” sections, with doors opening up at alternating “A” stations and “B” stations.

“I think it’s, in concept, no different than local/express, J/Z (trains),” Avedisian said.