Administrator

Metro North Didn’t tell you your train was canceled…but Clever Commute did

Monday Monday – Disabled train in tunnel (T- 14)

Clever Subway Beta – Welcome!

Clever Subway Beta – Welcome!

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Fueled by demand from our riders, we have launched Clever Commute for the NYC subway.
We think that if you look at the available info on www.clevercommute.com, you should have all you need to get up-and-running and start getting value from the system.

Here are a few points:

1. Put us in your address book so you have the address handy
(the “send-to” address was on your “Welcome” mail…and if you don’t have that…just let us know)

2. Sure, you sometimes will not have connectivity underground…but that’s OK.
All we are saying here is when your line is _so_ badly messed up that it forced you up to the street…then that’s a great time to send a message letting your fellow passengers know.

3. Our system is powered by…YOU. The more folks we have…the more power we have.
Please take a minute to tell 10 friends to sign up.
Remember to keep Clever Commute in mind when there are problems.

4. Let’s experiment and see what comes of this.
We’ve been doing Clever Commute on the commuter rail for over 3 years now…and it works great.
We have these guidelines – https://clevercommute.com/blog/page-rules-of-the-road/
But…if we need to adopt them for use on mass transit…then we’re open to exploring that.

Thanks again and welcome aboard!

Switch or Signal? Either way…we knew first (T-42)

Switch or Signal? Either way…we knew first (T-42)

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Our folks shared the news 42 minutes before NJ Transit

Clever Commute [5:53 PM] – 540 hob to glad stuck – switch problem

NJ Transit [6:35 PM] – Morris & Essex Line trains are subject to 20-25 minute delays westbound only due to a signal problem.
Sent: 6:31 PM.

Can social networking beat back the recession?

Can social networking beat back the recession?

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Earlier today, I heard from an old friend from high school…yes, via Facebook. He called his idea “simple”…but it’s beautiful: “Each person who chooses to participate needs to simply write a note about what types of clients they are looking for…Tag everyone on your FaceBook network”

And then he went on to tell me more about his business (www.billbradyphotography.com) and the type of help he is looking for. It sparked a few ideas with me…and I’m thrilled that I can help a fellow entrepreneur.

So…what does Clever Commute need?

1. Growth in membership. Clever Commute is well-positioned to run at 10x its current size…but we need help getting there.
We KNOW based on experience that stories in the press drive massive amounts of rider sign-ups.

Anyone out there from WSJ? Time? Newsweek? WIRED? Business Week? Entrepreneur? Fortune? Forbes? Local / regional paper…especially in Metro-North country…but anywhere around NY/Boston is great. Even Chicago
2. Advertisers. Did you know we are a GREAT advertising platform?
Think about it: Metro North tells me that the average commuter is a 40 year old male with $173K salary.

Anyone out there at Starbucks corporate? Dunkin Donuts Heineken? Wine? Cigars? Cars? Skiis?  Health clubs?
Do you work for “a brand”? Do you work at an agency…a media-buying company?
3. B2B subscribers – Did you know that 1/2 of our business model is in licensing the actual content about the commute to news organizations and health-and-safety organizations?

Does your company have a “disaster recovery” team that would like to get our feed of the real scoop? Do you work for channel 2,4,5,7,9 or 11 and want to be able _really_ know what to tell your audience about the commute? A radio station? A state/federal agency?

…and overall: we have endless capacity to engage people looking to get involved with something truly innovative. If you or someone you know is “inbetween” and looking to do some pro-bono work…or if you are a student looking to see how a real start-up works…then let us know. We’ll take short-term consultants…we’ll take interns…but unfortunately we can’t pay…yet 😉

I’ll end on a bright note: it’s been 3 years of Clever Commute…and “it’s all been validated”. We have culture, scale, a business model, network-caliber clients, revenue, profitability and growth. We just need more of many of these!

LIRR debris fire in East River Tunnel (T-7)

LIRR debris fire in East River Tunnel (T-7)

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Our folks shared the news 7 minutes before MTA

Clever Commute [6:28 PM] – 6:24 cancelled; 6;42 to go local to PW

MTA [6:35 PM] – The 6:24 PM train from Penn Station, due in Port Washington at 7:04 PM, is canceled due to a debris fire in the East River Tunnel.  Customers will be accommodated by the 6:42 PM train from Penn Station, due in Great Neck at 7:17 PM, which will make all local stops to Port Washington.