The headline on the New York Times when the "Genius Transit Challenges was announced: "M.T.A. Asks Transit Fans, ‘Who Wants to Be a Subway-Saving Millionaire?’" Now it looks like the winner will already be a millionaire.

"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.
FULL STORY: 19 Finalists Announced for MTA’s Genius Transit Challenge

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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
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HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research