Administrator

NY’s snowy Tuesday – 3 things for all to note

NY’s snowy Tuesday – 3 things for all to note

by

(1) Regarding how “From” works for several of our older, larger Clever communities

  • This week, we changed the way it works (this may not have impacted you)
  • The unintended consequence was that this also allows “out-of-office” autoreplies to sneak through. For larger lists…this is a real inconvenience. I’m still evaluating options…but don’t be surprised if we revert back to the old way.
  • For more on this…you can read this link (see “#1 – Back to the future’)

(2) Please help Clever Commute grow.

We are committed to continuing to providing this as a free service to riders. We’ve got lots of room to grow. Sure…some NJ Transit train lines are fairly well-represented…but far from saturated. Did you know…we also service:

  • LIRR, Metro-North, PATH, Staten Island Ferry, other ferries, several buses
  • Boston (MBTA)
  • Chicago (Metra)
  • San Francisco (BART, CalTrain, Muni, VTA)
  • Los Angeles (MetroLink)
  • Baltimore / DC (VRE and MARC)
  • Even Portland Oregon (TriMet Max and Streetcar) and London (Southern Railway)!

** Please share the news of Clever Commute with people you know.

(3) For those of us in the NY area…were the transit providers too quiet?
Tuesday was/is a messy commute home. As far as I know, the only alerts sent to the riders (by the providers) were from NJ Transit (no mails from LIRR or Metro North?)

(a) Sent: 06:28 PM (but received at 6:37)
Due to Amtrak switch problem, trains subject to 10-15 minute delays in/out of New York.
(b) Sent: 07:31 PM (but received at 7:52)
Rail Update we are operating on/close in/out of New York.

Started smoothly…ended badly

Started smoothly…ended badly

by

My trip in the AM started well. I actually took the 7:44 from Watchung.

At 8:20, I heard (from a Clever Commuter on waiting for a later train) that the 8:14 will be 13 min late. It begins…

In all honesty, I think my train made it to NYP more-or-less on time (8:30-ish)…but then at 8:41, I get the news that “814 from Upper Mtc to NY Penn canceled”

Two minutes later, I get notification of “1010wins ‘indefinite delays’ from montclair…Due to train stuck at MSU (in addition to the other delays).”

8:56, another commuter adds: “also reporting general 15 minutes delays due to earlier portal drawbridge.”
At 9:22, I got the only message of the day from NJT:

“Eastbound trains into New York are now operating on or close to schedule
Sent: 09:17 AM”

Tough sledding on the Babylon Line (LIRR)

Tough sledding on the Babylon Line (LIRR)

by

Feb 5, 2008

There were 8 short (but helpful) messages from fellow commuters.

6:06 PM – advises people to “Expect delays and track changes out of Penn, smoke condition in one of
the tunnels”
6:30 PM – another person shared “633 canceled Babylon”
6:34 PM – the advice was “Avoid Penn if you can”

6:31 PM – LIRR sent this…(which I received at 6:35)
“Scattered 10 to 15 minute delays out of Penn Station because of an earlier debris strike in one of the East River tunnels.  Some trains are being cancelled and combined”

So tonight, the rider community was 25 minutes ahead of LIRR in sharing data. When our data was shared…it was good and helpful.

This week’s PATH example

This week’s PATH example

by

Clever Commute [5:48 AM] WABC radio just reported service is suspended between Newark and Harrison

.
PATH Alerts: [6:36] PATH SERVICE BETWEEN NEWARK AND JOURNAL SQUARE IS SUSPENDED. PASSENGERS ARE ADVISED TO STAY ON NJ TRANSIT AND AMTRAK TRAINS INTO AND OUT OF NEW YORK.

This week’s NJ Transit example

This week’s NJ Transit example

by

Clever Commute [5:58 PM] 4:50 Dover from Penn lost power at Chatham.
The train was pushed to the station by a rescue train…and it arrive 50 minutes late
New Jersey Transit Did not send out ANY communication on this

Back to work…with delays for NJT out of NYP

Back to work…with delays for NJT out of NYP

by

Another example…

It turned out to be a very bad evening commute…with problems across  virtually all NYP trains. To be clear, I do not subscribe to every NJT alert (just the ones for my lines)

(1) The first signs of trouble: 

Clever Commute [5:01 PM] 4:39 from Penn stopped. Overhead wire issues

New Jersey Transit [5:12 PM] Trains in/out of New York Penn Station subject to 20-30 minute delays due to Amtrak signal problem. Sent: 05:10 PM
(2) The only other e-mail communication I received from NJT was regarding the canceling of the 7:37
Clever Commute [7:29 PM] 7:37 from Penn canceled!

New Jersey Transit [7:34 PM] MBNTN-MID #6291 the 7:37pm departure from NYP is cancelled passengers to 6663, transfer to train 1015 at Broad St. Newark
Sent: 07:33 PM