Ontra Mobility Shares Transit Tech Lab Proof of Concept Results with MTA LIRR and NYC Transit

NEW YORK, NYOctober 20, 2026 – Ontra Mobility today shared the results of its Transit Tech Lab proof of concept with MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and MTA New York City Transit (NYCT), published in Transit Tech Lab’s 2026 Proof of Concept Report. Over eight weeks, Ontra applied its AI transit planning platform to a commuter rail timetable and a borough-wide bus network as part of the Data & Workflow Modernization Challenge.

Transit Tech Lab’s 2026 proof-of-concept results cover 17 companies that tested their technology with regional transportation agencies over eight weeks. Across two challenge tracks, Advanced Infrastructure and Data & Workflow Modernization, companies worked alongside the MTA and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, including PATH.

For LIRR, Ontra generated weekend timetable options for the Huntington and Ronkonkoma branches using LIRR GTFS data, timetables, station-to-station demand, run-time and dwell assumptions, stop patterns, and service constraints. The goal was to reduce passenger travel time, improve schedule regularity, and identify changes that would be practical to implement, including lower-disruption express trip options. Ontra estimates that a cost-neutral redesign could save 25% of passengers more than eight minutes per trip, about 177,000 passenger-hours a year, and that an alternative adding eight express trips could save about 148,000 passenger-hours a year.

For NYCT, Ontra modeled and redesigned the Brooklyn bus network using bus ridership, origin-destination and path data, GTFS data, regional demand inputs, road network data, and operating constraints, with the aim of improving ridership, convenience, equity, and efficiency. Ontra estimates that the redesigned network could add about 2.1 million annual riders, generate about $3.5 million in annual fare revenue, and eliminate about 2.5 million transfers a year.

These results are Ontra’s estimates from the proof of concept and have not been validated by the agencies. They show how demand modeling and optimization under real budget and operating constraints can help agencies evaluate service options faster and with clearer tradeoffs.

Thank you to the LIRR and NYCT project teams for their time and collaboration, and to the Transit Tech Lab and Partnership Fund for New York City team for their support throughout the program. Congratulations to our fellow 2026 cohort companies.

About Ontra Mobility

Ontra Mobility revolutionizes urban transit by providing a platform for cities and agencies to plan, integrate, and operate efficient, accessible, and sustainable bus, shuttle, and paratransit services. Their data-driven approach, developed by former Google engineers, optimizes routes and real-time dispatching to enhance ridership and reduce costs.