Transit Data Challenge
About the Transit Data Challenge
We'll release our call for submissions for the 2025 Annual Meeting in the spring of 2024. Check back here in early April for more information.
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The challenge
To demonstrate innovative methods and tools that creatively use data to improve decision-making and get results for public transit.
What kind of results? We welcome a wide range of submission topics—from operations, planning, safety, maintenance, and internal administration. Previous finalists have presented on:
–external-facing dashboards used to communicate information to riders
–internal dashboards used to facilitate administrative functions
–innovative performance measures for service delivery
–innovative methods for data collection and analysis
Objectives
1 | Highlight data’s impact in public transit
Advance the way that transit agencies use data to measure and manage performance, ultimately improving decision-making and/or the customer experience
2 | Foster information-sharing across public transit
Contribute to best practices for the transit industry and provide an opportunity for other agencies to apply lessons learned or implement new tools. Build visibility of transit professionals, students, academics, and others who are using data to tell stories in an innovative way
3 | Expand inclusivity at TRB
Introduce more people to the research and networking connections that TRB offers . Recognize data’s impact in telling stories of those not often heard through traditional decision-making methods, and apply this principle to the challenge itself — encouraging submissions from young professionals, people of color, those outside of the US/Canada, and others new to TRB
Additional guidance
–The challenge is “software-agnostic”: We’re looking for great tools, ideas, and methods, regardless of the software or application used
–If submitting for work that builds upon an already established tool, we encourage submissions to highlight your or your team’s innovative contribution to that tool. This could be empirical, methodological, or theoretical
–We welcome submissions from private individuals and companies, but do encourage a spirit of “not-for-profit” presentations (in other words, the challenge is not intended to be a platform for selling a product)
Format
A select group of finalists will present to session attendees and an in-person judging panel. Finalists will be expected to present a brief presentation that concisely demonstrates their data method or tool and highlights their narrative write-up responses. Judges will make their decision based on this presentation only.
An additional group of runner-up finalists will have an opportunity to present during the poster session only. In advance, judges will select a poster session winner also announced at the end of the event.
When the presentations conclude, judges will convene to discuss their evaluations, and finalists will have an opportunity to answer attendee questions during the poster session. Presenters, judges, and attendees will reconvene near the end of the event and a winner will be announced. In-person attendees will also vote for their own favorite presenter in a People’s Choice Award.
All finalists should plan to bring a poster summarizing their tool for the poster session. We’ll share more information with finalists on poster session requirements closer to the event.
Additional information
The Transit Data Challenge is sponsored by TRB’s Transit Management and Performance Committee (AP010). Please review our website for more info or email transitdatachallenge@gmail.com with any questions. Please note that this is a committee award, as opposed to a TRB award.
The Transit Data Challenge is an ever-growing, responsive program. We welcome ideas to improve it, maintain its relevance, and expand its scope and reach. Please don’t hesitate to reach out!
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Past challenges
The 2024 challenge in review
Held in-person on Sunday, January 7, 2024 as part of TRB's 103rd Annual Meeting in Washington, DC
During the challenge, eight finalists presented their work to a panel of judges and over 100 attendees. After presentations, an additional select group of Transit Data Challenge applicants joined finalists to present on their submissions during a poster session.
Judging panel
Tom Coleman | Analysis Division Chief, Federal Transit Administration
Alice Grossman | Transportation Research Manager, Congressional Research Service
Pedro Ochoa | Manager, Business Performance Analytics, Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Winner
Transit Drivecycle: Estimating Bus Speed Profiles and Energy Consumption | Saadiq Mohiuddin | Presentation PDF
Presenter Finalists
Green Machine Analytics | Ken Bales, Culver CityBus | Presentation PDF
Visualizing Speed Restrictions and Their Impacts | Charlie Cabot and Mark Cunningham, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority | Presentation PDF
Enterprise Data Analytics Platform | Venkata Prasad Gudlavalleti, Austin CapMetro | Presentation PDF
California Transit Speed Maps | Katrina Kaiser, California Department of Transportation | Presentation PDF
Interactive Bikeshare Analytics and Planning Tool | Ghazaleh Mohseni, York University | Presentation PDF
Slow Zone Tracker | Austin Paul and Seth Kaplan, TransitMatters | Presentation PDF
Bus Location Health Tool | Andrew Pofahl, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority | Presentation PDF
Poster Session Finalists
MTA Open Data and metrics.mta.info Integration | Lisa Mae Fiedler, Metropolitan Transportation Authority | Poster PDF
Puget Sound Regional Council Transit Toolset | Stefan Coe, Puget Sound Regional Council
ZEBRA: A Web App for Electric Bus Planning | Dan McCabe, University of Washington | Poster PDF
Charger Scheduling Optimizer for Electric Fleets | Behnaz Naeimian, York University | Poster PDF
Elevator and Escalator Materials Management Dashboard | Kevin Sanders, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
TransitTalk Digital Assistants: Harnessing Transit Data Using LLMs | Jiahao Wang, University of Toronto | Poster PDF
A special thanks to our 2023 Transit Data Challenge sponsoring committee:
Standing Committee on Transit Management and Performance (AP010)
and supporting committees:
Standing Committee on Innovative Public Transportation Services and Technologies (AP020)
Standing Committee on Public Transportation Planning and Development (AP025)
Standing Committee on Transit Data (AP090)
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The 2023 challenge in review
Held in-person on Sunday, January 8, 2023 as part of TRB's 102nd Annual Meeting in Washington, DC
During the challenge, six finalists presented their work to a panel of judges and over 100 attendees. After presentations, an additional select group of Transit Data Challenge applicants joined finalists to present on their submissions during a poster session.
Judging panel
Richard Anderson | Managing Director, Transport Strategy Centre at Imperial College London
Cole Greene | Chief Performance Officer, Maryland Transit Administration
Patricia Vidaurri | Director of Strategic Planning and Initiatives, CapMetro Austin
Winner
Census Dashboard: A Tool for Equity at Sound Transit | Kelly Dunn, Alta Planning + Design | Presentation PDF
Presenter Finalists
Using Data Science for Intelligent Bus Operation Reporting at WMATA | Xuenan Ni, Cambridge Systematics | Presentation PDF
GTFS2STN: Converting GTFS Data Feeds to a Spatiotemporal Network | Meredith King, University of Tennessee at Knoxville | Presentation PDF
The Bus On-Time Performance Explorer | Sam Winward, Pittsburgh Regional Transit | Presentation PDF
Customer Segmentation | Catherine Vanderwaart, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority | Presentation PDF
The Equity Data Analytics Tool | Nicole Geitebruegge, TransLink | Presentation PDF
Poster Session Finalists
Bus Stop Spacing Analysis Tool | Praneeth Devunuri, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Poster PDF
Bus Actual vs. Scheduled Run Times and Speeds Dashboard | Ian Frazer, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority | Poster PDF
Equity-Aware Route Planner | Shuocheng Guo, University of Alabama | Poster PDF
MTA Subway Fare Data Analytics Dashboard | Jun Yan, Federal Transit Administration | Poster PDF
A special thanks to our 2023 Transit Data Challenge sponsoring committees:
Young Members Coordinating Council (A0010C)
Standing Committee on Visualization in Transportation (AED80)
Standing Committee on Transit Management and Performance (AP010)
Standing Committee on Innovative Public Transportation Services and Technologies (AP020)
Standing Committee on Public Transportation Planning and Development (AP025)
Standing Committee on Transit Capacity and Quality of Service (AP015)
Standing Committee on Passenger Intermodal Facilities (AP045)
Standing Committee on Transit Safety and Security (AP080)
Standing Committee on Transit Data (AP090)
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The 2022 challenge in review
Held virtually as part of TRB's 101st Annual Meeting on Thursday, January 20, 2022
During the challenge, eight finalists across agencies and academia shared their innovative tool, method, or product that uses data to improve decision-making—and get results for public transit.
Judging panel
Herb Higginbotham | National Practice Lead for Transit and Shared Mobility at Cambridge Systematics
LaShawn King Gillespie | Director of Customer Service and Operations at Foothill Transit
Lindsey K. Morse | Senior Research Associate at Transport Strategy Centre at Imperial College London
Winner
Realtime Customer Loading Initiatives Sunny Zheng, LIRR | Presentation PDF
Finalists
Transit Transfer Analysis Tool | Nisar Ahmed, MTC | Presentation PDF
Rail Schedule Adherence Toolbox | Kevin Combes, WMATA | Presentation PDF
COVID Ridership Recovery Tracker | Mary Rose Fissinger, CTA | Presentation PDF
National RTAP Cost Allocation Calculator | Ahmadreza Mahmoudzadeh, Texas A&M University | Presentation PDF
Bus Congestion Hot Spot Map | Scott Traum, WMATA | Presentation PDF
College Intern Program Dashboard | Terrence Zarate, WMATA | Presentation PDF
Transportation Demand and Service Performance Analysis Toolkit | Michelle Zeidman, Washington State Ferries | Presentation PDF
A special thanks to our 2022 Transit Data Challenge sponsors:
Cambridge Systematics
TRB AP010 Transit Management and Performance Committee
TRB AP090 Transit Data Committee
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The 2021 challenge in review
During the 2021 TRB Annual Meeting in January 2021, six finalists presented data analyses, visualizations, and tools that support better decisions at our transit agencies. Click the links below to view available presentations.
Judging panel
Frances Fisher | Chair of Transportation Research Board Transit Management and Performance Committee and Sr. Transportation Engineer at Bay Area Rapid Transit
Michael Helta | Chief Innovation Officer of MDOT MTA
Christof Spieler | Vice President and Director of Planning at Huitt-Zollars and Senior Lecturer at Rice University
Winner
Room2Ride | Ellie Newman, Port Authority of Allegheny County | Video / Presentation PDF
Finalists
Social Distance Dashboard | Donovan Calicker, Jacksonville Transportation Authority | Video
ROVE Map: An Open-Source Bus Performance Visualization | Nicholas S. Caros, Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Video / Presentation PDF
Composite Scoring to Rank and Evaluate Bus Performance | Greg McFarland, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority | Summary PDF
Text Analytics: Customer Comments | Viswa Panicker, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority | Video
Estimating Real-Time Transit Ridership Flow and O-D Information: Passive Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Sensing Technology | Ziyuan Pu, University of Washington