New York-based URBAN-X has shut down.
The program, operated under the umbrella of automotive brand MINI, aimed to “reimage city life and showcase MINI’s ability to find clever solutions to today’s urban challenges,” according to the accelerator’s farewell message.
Since 2016 the accelerator focused on what it called “urbantech,“ which it described as “intersecting technology” with such issues as mobility, energy and built environment. In November, URBAN-X announced a new cohort of six tech startups for a four-week program to work on such problems.
No reason for the demise of URBAN-X was given.
“We are confident that the startups supported through URBAN-X will continue to play an important role for cities around the world and anticipate the learnings from URBAN-X will continue to be valuable to MINI’s thinking well into the future,” read the goodbye message.
Meanwhile, another opportunity has opened up for tech companies that want to gain recognition in the big-city transit space.
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, along with associated groups, have launched the seventh annual Transit Tech Lab.
The goal is to find “tech-driven approaches” to improving ridership as well as inspections and maintenance.
The call for applications to the program comes as New York City’s transportation system and traffic are under the spotlight thanks to the recent launch of congestion pricing in lower Manhattan, a program designed to raise more funding for mass transit.
The lab program seeks entries that address such problems as how to measure, capture and improve paid ridership on subways, buses and commuter rail, how to better distribute information about service changes, disruption and arrival times, and how to make system navigation easier. Cutting down on fare evasion is another challenge that tech could help deal with.
“This year we’re focused on harnessing the power of AI and other tech to improve foundational elements of the customer experience like scheduling, communications and system maintenance,” said Stacey Matlen, senior vice president of innovation at the Partnership for New York City, one of the groups taking part in this push, in a statement.
The lab program launched in 2018.
Since then, more than 900 companies have applied to take part, with 69 testing their technologies through the lab and 37 of those tools achieving commercial scale or procurements.
