Accessible Mobility Technology Showcase

Accessible Mobility Technology Showcase

C2SMART Center and the NYU Rudin Center for Transportation, together with the Transit Tech Lab, hosted a showcase on new mobility technologies for people with disabilities. This program included a panel to discuss new mobility technologies and how they can work best in New York City. The panel was followed by demonstrations of the technologies that are finalists in Transit Tech Lab’s Accessibility Challenge, which seeks to make New York’s public transit system more accessible. The program included a presentation about the Evaluation of New Features at MTA New York City Transit’s Accessible Station Lab, currently under study by C2SMART researchers. Rachel Cohen of NYCT and C2SMART Managing Director Shri Iyer spoke of the collaboration between the MTA and C2SMART for the Evaluation and the results from the surveys they administered.

Natalia Quintero from the Transit Tech Lab presented about the Transit Innovation Partnership, a public-private initiative with the mission to make New York the global leader in public transit. Quemuel Arroyo, the Chief Accessibility Specialist for the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT), was the final panelist to present. Arroyo is now the Global Head of Community at Charge, a micro-mobility company that is focused on constructing the largest network of electric charging, storage and service stations for e-bikes and e-scooters. Arroyo highlighted the importance of new mobility technologies, remarking that “we don’t [all] experience NYC the same way. How do we design for the most universal platform?”

Following the panel, demonstrations from the finalists of the Transit Tech Lab’s challenge presented on their products that address the needs of people with disabilities in the New York City public transportation system.