As part of the Signaling Challenge by the Transit Tech Lap, four companies - including Ouster - have been selected to implement their technology to improve the safety of New York City's subway system.
Ouster is partnering with Lux Modus, a company already using Ouster lidar for their products, to "create a high-resolution 3D map of the subway tunnels, including the new railway infrastructure". The main goal of the joint effort is to enhance the signaling infrastructure, which dates back to the 1930s.
By leveraging digital lidar, the human and operational risk associated with current rail inspection techniques could be greatly reduced - Heather Shapiro, director of communications at Ouster
Creating a 3D model of the whole subway infrastructure also results in other significant improvements. For instance, maintenance downtime could be reduced and worker safety enhanced. In the field of smart infrastructure, Ouster could already gain valuable expertise, as their sensors are heavily used for traffic monitoring, roadway analytics, and at intersections.
For more information, consider reading the following article: https://www.govtech.com/fs/modern-signaling-comms-tech-meets-nycs-aging-subway-system
