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New Year’s resolutions

New Year’s resolutions

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This will be sent by mail to all subscribers.
As always, please send any replies to “clevercommute at emailworld-dot-org”

This is a long-ish message…so the “one-liners” here are (1) on certain commuter lines, we are reverting to the original Clever Commute approach by showing your whole name (2) we are exploring new business models…none of which compromise your privacy and (3) good news on growth. Please read on…

(1) Back to the future: For some of our commuter-train/bus lists, the messages sent have their “From” e-mail address automatically changed to something generic like “Clever-Yourline” (instead of showing the name of the person who sent it). In the next few weeks, we’ll move to a consistent model that no longer “masks” the sender. Note that mass-transit communities are not affected (El, PATH, BART, etc)

How to think about this: For starters, this approach gives all of us the ability to recognize our colleagues who provide the most-helpful information. This is crucial in an on-line community. Here is more food for thought:

  • The vast majority of messages sent come from just a handful of people (80/20 is an understatement). Statistically speaking, there is no impact to most people.
  • This pending “change” to how messages are handled is actually a return to the way things used to be for all Clever Commute routes. Most of our commuter lines are already configured in this “new” approach.
  • Many e-mails sent to the group today have an e-mail “signature” or footer which usually does a decent job of identifying the sender to the list anyway.
  • …and of course the fact that each list consists of neighbors helping each other, so the benefits of anonymizing are quite muted

For those of you that do post messages: if you do feel the desire to make a change, you do have flexibility here. You may use Clever Commute with an e-mail address of your choosing…and that includes your cell phone.

We plan to phase in this change throughout January, so please let us know if you want to make a update your “posting” address.

(2) New Year brings new models: Clever Commute turns 2 years old next month. The growth has been fantastic…and we thank each of your for being a part of it. I’m sure you’d agree that running Clever Commute as a business means we need to continue to explore new models to offset the growing costs of running this system. To that end, we’ll be exploring several new business models in 2008.
We plan to keep it free to use…and will continue to protect your interests…as well as your privacy. As you can imagine, many outlets (e.g., transit providers, traffic-info providers, and new/traditional media companies) are covetous of the wisdom and demographics of this crowd. They want to leverage the insight we provide…as well as connect with you on offers which we feel would be of interest to you. To be clear: what Clever Commute won’t do with your information:

  • Share any personally-identifiable information about you
  • Attribute your name to any info you shared with your commuting community
  • Give (sell, lend, etc) your e-mail address to a third party

Again – it’s still early stages…and the models are still evolving. But, I think it’s important to be upfront with you that there will be changes…and they are reflected in the Terms and Conditions as posted at the website.
(3) Hello Boston, Chicago, San Fran, DC…: Lots of growth and innovation. We are now live in Boston, and are making progress on deployments in Washington DC, Chicago, San Francisco and London. Feel free to Google us to see some of the great press we’ve been getting. Also, please help share the news about Clever Commute if you know people in those cities.
Finally, we’re building up our presence on communities such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Would love to connect with you there. Feel free to search us out.
My in-box is always open…and I hope that your 2008 is a great year…

– Conductor Josh

Hello Boston: Santa brought us (more) good press coverage and lots of new members

Hello Boston: Santa brought us (more) good press coverage and lots of new members

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If you joined after reading about Clever Commute in Boston Now or on WBZ-TV…then all we’d like to share is the fact that there is still a lot of room to grow. Most of the NY-area Clever Commute communities are much bigger…and are functioning very well. So, please ask friends and colleagues to sign-up

But for those that found us via the Boston Globe coverage…or from a friend, here is a “Welcome” to you.

The one-liner here is that you have joined a community that gives you the ability to help (and receive help from) your fellow passengers. All of the “alerts” and “advisories” will come from YOU…and are sent directly to your fellow commuters (on your line).
More info

  • Your should have received a “Welcome” mail…and the only thing you really need to note is the one e-mail address you need for the train line your ride
    (You can always reach CleverCommute staff via the website)
  • As thousands of NY-area commuters know, this service is all about people-helping-each-other…and the other people on your list are your neighbors. Please make your messages to the group (1) constructive and (2) actionable.
    The recent media attention has indeed caused a “growth spurt” in our membership…so there will be some growing pains I’m sure…but we’ll get through it together.
  • Ask friends and fellow commuters to sign up. Speaking from my own experience, each community can (and should) grow much larger than they are now
  • Follow this link to a few bullet points based on our experiences in the NY area. Maybe the Boston-area dynamics will be reason to tweak these…but I think this is a good starting point

Thanks to all in Boston-area for making this happen. Let’s hope for a smooth commute.

-Conductor Josh

The wisdom of this crowd

The wisdom of this crowd

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I’m going to start posting examples of instances where this community is providing information that is especially valuable. Examples might be instances when the info shared was quicker or more detailed than that from the transit providers. Let’s see how this develops.

Tonight: LIRR sends alert advising people of 15 to 20 minute delays due to a train striking a person on the tracks . Sent at 10:01:04PM. Hits my inbox at 10:02
(Affects Huntington, Port Jefferson, Ronkonkoma and Oyster Bay Branch trains)

At 9:49 PM, a PJ line Clever Commuter writes that there is a “Report of an accident ahead of us. We have been sitting…for 15 mins”

That same commuter wrote (at 10:09): ” Just started to move again after 20 min stop”

NJT – Some news for NJCL (and others) on get-away Friday

NJT – Some news for NJCL (and others) on get-away Friday

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Just a quick heads up in case you are not commuting this AM…or following this thread.

The portal bridge was open this AM…and it caused delays.
Montclair-line riders knew about an issue at 6:48 AM (but NJ Transit sent their first alert at 7:02…which did indeed identify the Portal Bridge as the root cause)

Some ideas and feedback for you:

  • I’m looking at ways to cross-share the news I see about delays (because “Clever Commute” receives the mails from all lines).
  • You should all sign up for NJT alerts (go www.njtransit.com for more info). I give people advice to not simply re-forward those NJT alerts to this group…as there is strong risk of those being simply redundant or stale by the time they gets to us
  • Encourage your fellow commuters to sign up for Clever Commute.
    The Montclair line has 4-5x as many people as this community. Don’t worry – it’s not chatty…but it’s a great network
  • Lead by example when it comes to sending alerts
    I’m sure a lot of you are reading this mail from the comfort of your homes today. But, the point remains that the info FOR this group comes FROM this group…so it’s up to you to share and help each other. Some days, you may feel like the you are the only one sending mails…but take it from me: people appreciate it
  • We are working on ways to recognize the people on each line that have helped the most. Like many places on the web/internet, experts can emerge and be “rewarded”…and we are looking at such models here on Clever Commute.

My in-box is always open to the wisdom of this crowd…as I am a just another commuter.

Have a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year.

Welcome Boston!

Welcome Boston!

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The one-liner here is that you have joined a community that gives you the ability to help (and receive help from) your fellow passengers.
All of the “alerts” and “advisories” will come from YOU…and are sent directly to your fellow commuters (on your line).
Here’s more of what you need to prepare for “Day 1”

  • Your should have received a “Welcome” mail…and the only thing you really need to note is the one e-mail address you need for the train line your ride
    (You can always reach CleverCommute staff via the website)
  • As thousands of NY-area commuters know, this service is all about people-helping-each-other…and the other people on your list are your neighbors. Please make your messages to the group (1) constructive and (2) actionable.
    The recent media attention has indeed caused a “growth spurt” in our membership…so there will be some growing pains I’m sure…but we’ll get through it together.
  • Ask friends and fellow commuters to sign up. Speaking from my own experience, each community can (and should) grow much larger than they are now
  • Follow this link to a few bullet points based on our experiences in the NY area. Maybe the Boston-area dynamics will be reason to tweak these…but I think this is a good starting point

Some Boston-area commuters have most definitely had rough commutes lately. Additionally, there is wintry weather on its way. So…

  • Please help each other out
  • Encourage others to join. I will process any sign-ups that come to us before 11:00 PM tonight (and of course throughout the day tomorrow)

Thanks again to everyone for making it an exciting day.Welcome aboard.

What you said: Should we share news of 5-minute-lateness? [yes]

What you said: Should we share news of 5-minute-lateness? [yes]

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Recently, we asked the Montclair line riders: “is there value in having clever commuters share ‘the-train-is-5-min-late’ messages?
…If they are broadcast over the PA at the stations?
…If they are not?

36 people replied…and here is what we heard from them:

  • 24 people clearly in favor
  • 5 people clearly against
  • For 7 others, it was not clear to me what their position was…or the were writing to say they did not feel strongly.

So…This should not really be interpreted as a mandate to write more alerts…but rather a reminder that we each have different tolerance for information…and to simply be sensitive to that.

Here are some of the quotes from the feedback we received:

Pro (in favor of sharing [and receiving] this info)

  • I think it’s of value – it’s great to know you have a community out there supporting you.
  • no harm is done
  • I see commuting as a game (and a necessary evil)…any advantage you have to winning the game (ie making your commute as painless as possible) is worth it.
  • I believe the usefulness of knowing that you have a “5 minutes late” cushion outweighs the nuisance of deleting many emails.
  • If the emails are sent out promptly it helps. I was able to stop running to catch the train. It was awesome.
  • I think they are very helpful – particularly from the origination or up-line stations – when you are running late, it gives you hope.
  • If you’re not running late, you tune out. If you are, five minutes of hope can spur you forward.
  • Any lateness info is helpful to me.
  • I don’t mind the extra info as long as it’s on point
  • If I am so tight for time that five minutes helps
  • I like those messages and do not believe that they are overkill.
  • I think that if people were posting that the train is 2 minutes late, it would be ridiculous, but five minute late warnings are extremely useful. Honestly, I think this is a huge non-issue.
  • I can’t say it really bothers me or that I would miss it them they weren’t posted. As a recent convert to the train from the 44/88 DeCamp bus, the delays with NJT appear trivial – probably jinxing myself now! 😉
  • I would prefer to see these late notices even if they are announced by NJT. Sometimes the announcements are made before I get to the platform and they are also not always crystal clear coming over the platform speakers.
  • I’d rather get the extra notifications and address it when it becomes a bigger issue.
  • Anything a commuter says is probably more valuable on the ground information and I appreciate knowing if I have an extra 5 minutes, any day.
  • I think that there is value in these kind of messages in giving us an overall picture of what is going on out there. That’s what makes these lists so great for those of us who decide between various commuting options daily.
  • I think the amount of messages isn’t so great that this is a problem and yes, getting those warnings is helpful for those of us who run to catch the train at night.
  • I think it’s valuable.
  • Information is king. Any nugget of accurate intel can be of use and importance to one of us, but please reiterate the need for smart,judicious info.
  • Yes, please. When you are racing across town, cutting it tight, and the lights aren’t going your way, it is very helpful to know if you still stand a chance…
  • There’s no telling when you need this info. So I say YES pls tell me when a train is late.
  • I’m a fan of those messages during peak rush times. I wholeheartedly agree with your point – those 5 minutes are like an eternity in the morning.
  • I think it’s of value – it’s great to know you have a community out there supporting you.

Con

  • I believe +/- 5 minutes is a fact of life and that too many e:Mails devalues the system
  • For me a message that a train is running 5 minutes late is not very helpful — if I am running late myself, the chances that I would see that message in time for it to make a difference for me are pretty slim. I also agree that +/- 5 minutes is just a part of life and is not really worth noting.
  • The email service works well, but I actually find these emails about minor delays quite annoying.
  • I do not need to know if a train is running a few minutes late, nor do I care about lost articles of clothing, how traffic is doing at noon, train has yet to be posted, etc
  • There is no value in 5 minutes late for train whether on inbound or outbound trains. As most get to the station within that time period to see if passengers remain on the platform

In between

  • I can’t say it really bothers me or that I would miss it them they weren’t posted. As a recent convert to the train from the 44/88 DeCamp bus, the delays with NJT appear trivial – probably jinxing myself now! 😉
  • The train is 5 mins late is very valuable for me going home. don’t really care about it in AM. Bottom line is those emails don’t bother me.
  • To me, the 5-minutes-late messages are very valuable in the evening when I am rushing to catch my train, but not valuable at all in the morning when I am already standing on the platform in Montclair .
  • On outbound it may help if a person is running late and can make the station in time for a train but otherwise, it is senseless because it is such a small period of time.
  • I don’t think these messages are useful in the morning. It is occassionally useful to know this type of info in the evening at NYPenn.
  • I find that the “6:18 is running 10 minutes late” is  very helpful in the evening when approaching Penn Station. If I am running late, I choose between walk, subway or cab. It does not matter to me in the morning, as I get to the station the same way regardless of time or lateness.
  • Notification from riders on delays when NJ Transit does not broadcast them are probably slightly more valuable.
  • Maybe I’ve been doing this too long, but I don’t consider + 5 min to be late.