Transit race using mood-reading technology will help L-train commuters
‘Williamsburg Challenge’ — Can You Get There from Here?
A nonprofit group plans to use a device that can read the moods of commuters to help devise the fastest and safest way to travel between Manhattan and North Brooklyn after the L train shuts down for repairs.
The upcoming yearlong shutdown, slated to begin in April 2019, will snarl the commutes of roughly 225,000 riders who travel between Manhattan and North Brooklyn each weekday, and MTA is struggling to come up with adequate substitute transportation.
The nonprofit Van Alen Institute has devised a crowd-powered way to test and compare alternate routes. This Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m., 20 volunteers will be fitted with sophisticated data tracking devices and sent out to find the fastest way to travel from Union Square in Manhattan to Bar & Grill in Williamsburg. The only rule is they may not use the L train.