announcements

An amazing (yet limited-time) offer for NJ Transit riders

An amazing (yet limited-time) offer for NJ Transit riders

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The first 100 people to sign up for our premium service will receive a special back-to-school rate of $2.99 a month (before it returns to $3.99 a month).
(as always: a 30-day free trial…and two months free when you subscribe for the year)
Remember, from now on, you MUST be a member of our premium service to receive…
  • our Labor Day get-away tipsheet
  • advance notification about a BIG event this week which will impact your commute
  • A COOL new feature which means you no longer need to receive your Clever Commute alerts via e-mail
    Imagine: You ONLY see “fresh” alerts…and it faster than e-mail. No more inbox!
    And if that’s not cool enough: you can actually scan/monitor TWO train lines this way!
  • track number history for ALL trains…and advance notification at many other stations
Again – here is the link to sign-up

Tips for a sane/safe commute home tonight

Tips for a sane/safe commute home tonight

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How to get home quickly and safely tonight:

  1. Check the weather at http://weather.newyork.cbslocal.com/US/NY/New_York.html
  2. Remember to share (not ask for) info via the community for your train/bus/ferry line
    That address can be found at the bottom of every mail you get from us
    e.g., you-train-line@clevercommute.com
    Oh, and please put your entire message in the subject line
  3. Browse what is happening on other commuter lines by going here http://m.clevercommute.com
And finally…if you prefer to get your Clever Commute alerts as “Tweets”…we can do that.
All of the “follows” are listed here: https://clevercommute.com/twitter
Thanks,
–Conductor Josh
PS
Do you know people who are NOT Clever Commuters?
Please shoot this mail to them and ask them to go to clevercommute.com/signup (or just send a mail to signup@clevercommute.net) 

Missed your train? Not so fast :)

Missed your train? Not so fast :)

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When we built The Inside Track, we said that we’d listen to you and build new features all the time. Well, here is the first of many:

You can now use The Inside Track to get your track number after the train has been removed from the official departure board.

Here are 2 reasons why this is such a great new feature

1. Trains do not leave at their scheduled departure time.
Read this NY Times article about the one-minute cushion you have between official and actual departure times.

The phantom minute, in place for decades and published only in private timetables for employees, is meant as a grace period for stragglers who need the extra time to scramble off the platform and onto the train.

2. On those nights when there are widespread delays, it may be the case that your train is still in the station…even after it is removed from the departureboard.

So…you can now use our mobile-enabled  website to see where your train is.

Here is a screenshot from Inside Track at 7:06 PM. As you’d expect, the 7:03 train to Trenton is no longer listed on the traditional board (Clever Commute or NJT). However, if you click on Departed Trains, you can find the track (14). How cool is that?

 

 

 

 

 

NJT – We Tweet your track number!

NJT – We Tweet your track number!

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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
  • See this link for Montclar-Boonton 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 https://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)

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

People Helping People Helping People

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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.

 

 

 

Great news for Metro North New Haven Line Riders

Great news for Metro North New Haven Line Riders

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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