MTA's 'Genius Transit Challenge' Finalists Have Plenty of Resources to Muster

"The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced the 19 finalists in three categories for the MTA Genius Transit Challenge today," reports Olivia Martin.

"Winners will be declared in early 2018 and will receive up to a $1 million genius award," adds Martin to describe the contest. The MTA announced the "Genius Transit Challenge" over the summer to crowdsource ideas to improve the beleaguered New York subway system, although the list of finalists has a decidedly less democratic feel than we might have expected. Massive corporations like AECOM, Alstom, Siemens, Bombadier, and Bechtel populate the list. "The three categories are: to improve signaling, to identify strategies to better deploy subway cars, and increase communications infrastructure," writes Martin.