The Clever Commute Blog

Welcome “Wall Street Journal” readers!

Administrator — Thu, 17 May 2012 01:24:35 +0000

You are probably here because you saw Clever Commute mentioned in today’s edition. Here are links to key info:

Click here to see “About Clever Commute”

To sign-up:
Go to www.clevercommute.com and click on Find your line. (or just go here)
Follow the confirmation instructions from there.

Other cool things we offer:

Ride NJ Transit trains? Check out our amazing new service: The Inside Track. We tell you your track number BEFORE it is posted at the terminal!

(2) If you are a Businesses

You can always contact us via this link:

Thanks!

– Clever Commute Team

NJT – We Tweet your track number! [beta]

Administrator — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 17:38:36 +0000

If you ride NJ Transit trains from NY Penn Station, then check out our new offering which tweets your track number. This is very cool because tweets are fast and simple…and it gives you newfound control over the delivery of your data. When you “follow” the track announcements for your line, you can even tell Twitter to send them to you as text messages!

Here are the “follows”

@cc_ny_nec_trx – track numbers for the Northeast Corridor line
@cc_ny_mande_trx – Gladstone/Morristown line
@cc_ny_njcl_trx – North Jersey Coast line

Other great news: separately from the “track number” tweets, we also deliver the general Clever alerts via Twitter. So, instead of your getting “alerts” in your inbox, you can get those as tweets as well. You can read all about that at http://www.clevercommute.com/twitter

For general alerts regarding Northeast Corridor Line, follow @cc_njtt_nec
For general alerts regarding North Jersey Coast Line, follow @cc_njtt_njcl
For general alerts regarding Gladstone & Morristown Lines, follow @cc_njtt_mande

Remember: generally, tweets are delivered faster than e-mails!

Here are notes about using Twitter (from Twitter.com)

How To Get SMS Notifications for Tweets – https://support.twitter.com/articles/14020-twitter-via-sms-basic-features#sms-notifications
How to manage Twitter “sleep settings” - https://support.twitter.com/articles/15366-how-to-manage-mobile-sleep

Finally: Please note that this new service is beta…and is currently free. The use of any Clever Commute services is subject to our Terms and Conditions.

People Helping People Helping People

Administrator — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:11:27 +0000

We just wanted to be sure you know that we have a new-ish way to manage customer support (and our Contact Us link at our web site). We announced it almost a year ago at this blog post.

As the size of our community surpasses the 20,000 commuter mark, it’s time to think about new and innovative ways to thrill and retain the only true asset we have: the commuters.

It probably comes as no surprise that we are crowdsourcing it…with help from an innovative company called GetSatisfaction.com

What is Get Satisfaction (2 minute YouTube video). Didn’t watch that? Well here is what you need to know: GetSatisfaction is a 3rd party website which tracks and manages the questions and answers from the community. Instead of writing to someone at Clever Commute…and waiting…the GetSatisfaction technology guides you to the answer.

Clever Commute technology is solid and the commuters are proactive and helpful. But…”stuff” comes up…and we need a scalable way to address it. For example:

Commuters may have question about their subscription (sign-up, change address, pausing “Clever Commute” while on vacation, etc)
Our business partners have questions about their data feeds
Sponsors may be looking for our media kit for advertisers
The media may want to reach us for a quote or interview

So, please check it out the next time you have an issue or a question.

Poetry in (of) motion?

Administrator — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:16:08 +0000

I can’t say I know a lot about poetry…but someone sent this along…so I figured “why not?”

It’s a poem called “Commuters”

Read it here

Listen to it here

Thanksgiving get-away 2011

Administrator — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 02:50:24 +0000

More on #1 for the major carriers:

Metro North’s Thanksgiving Holiday Service for Hudson, Harlem & New Haven Lines, Nov. 23-27
LIRR Offers Extra Thanksgiving Weekend Service; Off-Peak & Family Fares in Effect
NJ Transit – As of press time for us, we could only find Thanksgiving Holiday Bus Schedules
(they usually post something about trains…so keep an eye on their web site for that)

But…ONLY Clever Commute will show you What happened last year on ‘getaway’ day?
We think this info is key to helping you plan. Here is the rundown:

On Wednesday, November 24, things got crowded after 1:00 PM…but 3:00 looked to be the worst of it:

Trains:
1:05 PM [Penn Station] – LIRR rider shared this: 1:05 running 10 min late. Probably due to overcrowding on short train
3:25 PM [Penn Station] – NJT riders share these

Train was SRO – hundreds of passengers left on platform
Packed to to gills; no standing room even
and finally – stuck at Newark for crew to push passengers aside to open the doors

Bus:
3:05 PM [Port Authority] – DeCamp bus rider shared these this: long lines for all Decamp gates.
3:12 PM – we received these messages

SRO with people still at the gate
410/411 backed up to 402

…and so it went for most of the afternoon.

Commuter Tax benefit

Administrator — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:08:42 +0000

Here is something to keep your eyes o.

The commuter tax benefit, the tax break provision in the stimulus bill in 2009 by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), is set to end at the end of this year.

Read up on it at sites like this one.

6 Interesting ways to get to NYC when the Montclair-Boonton train line is not running

Administrator — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 18:32:36 +0000

Wow! You folks are creative! Earlier today, we asked “Since no trains are running, how did you get to NYC today?”

Now…what you might not know is that NJT always does some degree of cross-honoring. Your train pass may be valid for a bus (or light rail) that can get you home.
For more info, go here http://www.njtransit.com/ti/ti_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=RailTicketsTo and click on Travel Flexibility

Here is what 6 others said…in no particular order. Sorry if there are still questions about these details…as we did not have time to review each one. You can add more in the “comments”

Something tells me you might want to bookmark this page…;)

(1) Drove to Sec. Junction. Parked. Took any available train into Penn. Already have a monthly so only extra cost was parking for the day. Very easy.

(2) I live in Verona, and work in lower Manhattan. So, today I took the 29 express bus to Newark Penn Station. When I Got there, I took the Path train to the World Trade Center. The bus was cross-honoring my train pass, so that didn’t cost extra. I got to work a little earlier than usual, in fact.

(3) LAZ Parking at 138 Magnolia, Jersey City connects underground to the JOURNAL SQUARE PATH. The cost is 10 bucks for 12 hours.

(4) To reach Newark City Subway:
Ride the #28 bus or drive to Grove Street Station Park N Ride via Bloomfield Avenue or Franklin Avenue.
Drive south toward Newark, passing under the Garden State Parkway overpass, and continue to Watsessing Avenue.
From Bloomfield Avenue, continue one more block and turn left on Grove Street.
From Franklin, turn right on Watsessing and bear right on Grove. Park and Ride parking machine is located near the entrance to the Light Rail Station ticket kiosks.
(Map of station location http://tinyurl.com/4ypmw92 )
Monthly train pass holders do NOT need to purchase a ticket to ride the light rail. For others, a one-way ticket is $1.35.
Ride to Newark Broad Street if connecting train lines are running, or to Penn Station to connect with PATH service and other NJ Transit trains that may be in service.

(5) I drove from Glen Ridge to Harrison this morning. Traffic on the GSP was about usual volume although Rte. 280 was jammed up due to an accident on the west side about ¼ mile west of the train station. Plenty of parking in Harrison. Trip took about 25 – 30 minutes. The Path train to Exchange Place was very crowded.

(6) From Glen Ridge:
1.) Took Bus (a special NJT train that was running when I got to the bus stop) to the Bloomfield light rail station.
2.) Took Light Rail to Newark Penn Station
3.) Took NJT train to New York Penn Station
Actually didn’t take much longer than my actual commute.

Great news for Metro North New Haven Line Riders

Administrator — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 02:10:15 +0000

You asked…we listened (did I really just write that?)

In addition to sending/receiving messages from the broader community for the New Haven line, commuters can now also sign up for Clever communities for each of the 3 branches which feed the main line.

New Canaan
Danbury
Waterbury

How? First, you need to sign up: Just as you did when you first joined Clever Commute, go to our sign-up page and check the box next to the sub-routes you want to add (yes…go through the sign-up process again [sorry]).

Once we add you, we’ll share the e-mail address which you are to use to send branch-specific alerts.

Please note that this means you’ll need to be a bit more thoughtful when sharing info with your fellow passengers.

If you have something to share which will impact all riders on the New Haven line…then send it to the “New Haven Line” community
However, if it is only of interest to “your” branch, then send it to the branch-specific community

Other notes:

It’s up to you to “add” the new community by signing up (we can’t add you)
Yes…you can receive these messages as Tweets. See clevercommute.com/twitter for more info

Draft ‘Pledge’ outlines LIRR commitment for timely and accurate customer information and procedures during emergencies

Administrator — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 02:29:31 +0000

So…what do you think?

http://www.mta.info/supplemental/lirr/LIRRDraftCustomerPledge.htm

Simplifying the “on-boarding” process ;)

Administrator — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 13:40:13 +0000

No one knows better than the commuters that it’s a mobile world.

We’re in tune with that…and are rolling out a new feature: the ability to sign-up via your smartphone!

All you need to do is send an e-mail to:

We’ll continue to work on creating a smooth experience for all end-users. For now, iPhone users are raving.

This is a start…and of course your feedback is welcome.