This App Connects Public Transit Riders to Live ASL Interpreters

Starting Monday, the Metropolitan Transit Authority will make it easier for deaf and hard-of-hearing New Yorkers and tourists to communicate with transit staff by scanning a QR code. That code will lead them to an app called Convo Now, which will connect them with a live sign language interpreter so they can more easily engage with MTA staff and get answers to any questions. 

The pilot program is launching in over a dozen locations (listed below) and will be free to transit users. The QR codes will be posted on green signs on a window or booth, and will direct users to a live ASL interpreter in the Convo Now app, making it easier for MTA employees who may not know ASL to engage with more riders. 

Quemuel Arroyo, the MTA’s chief accessibility officer, says New York is the perfect location for this pilot program because of the high volume of residents and tourists. 

“No other transit system in all of North America has the volume that we have, over 6 million customers daily between our trains, our buses, our railroads, and we’re giving that service to everybody,” Arroyo said. “That customer base has a myriad of needs, and that’s what makes this case study so important and so impactful.”

Transit staff can be found within booths, by fare machines or on platforms, depending on the issues of the day. Ideally, deaf and hard-of-hearing transit riders can find a staff member and communicate with them via Convo interpreters. 

Convo Now is one of a handful of services looking to boost digital accessibility by tapping into mobile technology. Big Tech companies have also been focused on expanding their offerings to a wider range of users in recent years, increasingly leveraging AI to do so. For instance, Google has rolled out more expressive captions to better convey emotion and tone, Apple has improved Siri to better detect atypical speech and Amazon has added text-to-speech and captioning features to Alexa. This is all part of an effort to make platforms and services available to more people – and more customizable and helpful for everyone.

What is Convo?

Convo was founded nearly 15 years ago as a video relay service — a telephone service that lets people who are deaf or hard of hearing communicate using video. The company then expanded to making ASL interpreters available on-demand, 24/7 via the Convo Now app (available on iOS and Android) and website, so users could communicate more effectively with people who may not know ASL. It’s available in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and South Africa. 

The World Health Organization says there are more than 1.5 billion people with hearing loss globally. Further, more than 70 million deaf or hard-of-hearing people use a sign language to communicate, according to National Geographic.

Convo co-founder Wayne Betts says the service removes the hurdle for individuals to find interpreters and coordinate their availability. Instead, users can call up one of more than 500 available interpreters anytime, whether it’s for a 5-minute exchange at a store or an hour-long meeting at work. 

“That really allows us to revolutionize how we utilize interpreters and tools in our daily lives,” Betts said. 

Convo Now user Paul Maucere first downloaded the app four months ago, to help mitigate the challenges of being the only deaf employee at his office. He says it’s been helpful in a range of situations, “whether it’s communicating with a waitress, hotel front desk clerk or car salesman. It allows deaf and hard of hearing individuals to interact with others just as easily as anyone else does in everyday conversations.”

Another user, who asked to be referred to as CT for privacy reasons, noted the on-demand interpreter service has been especially beneficial for clinic visits.

“When we go now for appointments, we don’t have to call two weeks before to request an interpreter,” CT said. “We don’t have to call a day or two before to make sure the office didn’t forget to let us know the interpreter had to cancel. We show up, connect to the office Wi-Fi and scan the QR code to be connected to a (skilled) interpreter in literal seconds.”

Bringing Convo Now to public transit

Convo Now gives individual users 20 free minutes a month, after which a pay-as-you-go model kicks in (businesses can also shoulder the cost for their employees). The company’s partnership with the MTA, on the other hand, is part of its Convo Access service, in which the MTA pays a fixed annual rate — meaning users won’t have to worry about being charged for tapping an ASL interpreter while buying a train ticket, for example.  

Before launching this pilot program, the MTA and Convo ran a proof of concept at Times Square and 34th Street Penn Station, and sought input from advisory committees, advocacy organizations and the NYC Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, which all validated the program’s goals. Arroyo said transit customers engaged positively with the service. 

“We must fact check and validate that the solutions that we’re putting out there are what people want to see,” he said. 

The pilot program runs from Feb. 10 through November 2025. From there, the MTA will gauge user feedback and decide where to take the program. 

Transit customers can access Convo’s service at the below locations.

NYC Transit Customer Service Centers: 

• 161 Street-Yankee Stadium 
• Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center 
• Times Square-42 Street 
• Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue 
• St. George 

Long Island Rail Road: 

• Atlantic Terminal 
• Babylon
• Grand Central Madison
• Jamaica
• Penn Station
• Ronkonkoma

Metro-North Railroad: 

• Grand Central Terminal
• White Plains

Additional locations:

• Mobile sales operations (buses and vans)

• 3 Stone Street