announcements

Nice press is nice (MainStreet.com)

“Too much e-mail”?…Not from us ;)

“Too much e-mail”?…Not from us ;)

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A few weeks back, we told you about a new feature that would actively seek to find and eliminate duplicate messages in the Clever Commute system.

We continue to phase it in…but in case you are interested, here is an example from today’s commute (on NJ Transit Northeast Corridor Line – the largest commuter rail line in North America)

6:55 AM
HAMLTN 6:36 to NYP is now 14 minutes late. NJT says 18 minutes due to mech failure. Empty train blew by the station 3 minutes ago.

6:56 AM
646 out of PJ 18 minutes late

As you’d expect…the 6:55 message was sent along to the Clever Commuters…and the 6:56 message was suppressed.

Just one more example of how we are continually working to make Clever Commute better.

How we manage duplicate messages

How we manage duplicate messages

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Here is how it works:

If user A tries to Send an alert which is similar to a previous messge from user B” the app will pop-up a message with details of B’s message to expain that they are potentially sending a duplicate.

User A then has 3 choices

  1. Edit their message…and therefore differentiate it from the one sent by user B
    (an then re-send)
  2. Cancel their message…since the one sent by user B suffices
  3. Send the message as-is

Our intent here is to fully leverage the wisdom of the crowd…while also being sensitive to the amount of data you get.

We certainly don’t mean to frustrate anyone….or fail to share relevant information.

But also want you to understand that it is very difficult for technology to determine true duplicates. Our approach will never be perfect. However, as time goes by, we “tune the dials” to improve the features and richness of this algorithm.

A quick note re: “Too much mail”

A quick note re: “Too much mail”

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Some Clever Commute communities are experiencing what we call “a good problem” as follows: when there is an issue, we may see several mails which effectively share the same update.

Here at Clever Commute, we’ve anticipated this challenge…and have a solution at the ready. We’ll be rolling it out in the next week or so, but here is an overview:

Our technology will seek to screen out redundant messages sent within a pre-defined timeframe. If YOUR message does not get sent to your fellow commuters…we’ll let you know that. Don’t despair! If (after seeing posts from your fellow commuters) you feel that you STILL have something unique to add, we’ll have a way for that to happen

We’ll be sharing more info soon…but we just wanted to let you know that we saw this day coming…and we are “on the case”

An update on Track Number Announcements

An update on Track Number Announcements

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Yes! It works…or should I say “they work” (“they” = “the commuters”). This is soooo cool: the riders actually read the board to see which track the train is on…and then they share it. Here is a post I did with the detail.

Tonight, they successfully announced these track assignments

6431 – the 5:18
6647 – the 5:20
6651 – the 5:47
6653 – the 6:09

Yet ANOTHER free service – Track Number Announcements

Yet ANOTHER free service – Track Number Announcements

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The idea: “What track is my train on?” delivered to your inbox! (for NJ Transit Trains from Penn Station and Metro North Trains from Grand Central)

More info

  • How to sign up:
    a. Go to https://clevercommute.com
    b. Click on “Find your line”
    c. Change “Select provider type” to “Trains (track numbers)”
    d. Select your carrier and line
    e. Fill in the required info…and you should be all set once we OK your request.
    f. Sign up for as many as you’d like
  • It’s “beta”. We have given a lot of thought and time to the idea and the programming, but you should definitely verify that you are on the right train 😉 We will listen to your feedback and do our best to enhance it based on what you say

A video that explains it