MNR

Official Info regarding transit ticket refunds

March 13, 2020 by Administrator

Clever Commute is not affiliated with any transit agency.
We provide this info as a courtesy to our community.

Deeplink to MTA info (LIRR & Metro North)

Deeplink to NJ Transit info (with more info below)

Digital Tickets

To refund a monthly or weekly pass:

Select the pass in your All Tickets menu
Swipe the pass to the left
Select refund

See also: MyTix App Frequently Asked Questions Ticket Purchase screen.

Date/Timing	You Will Receive
Prior to the first business day of the calendar month/week	a full refund
After the start of the month/week if the refund is requested immediately following the purchase	a full refund
All other	the cost of two one-way tickets will be deducted from the refund amount for each business day you had the pass

MyTix Support: 973-491-8810 (Monday through Friday 7:30 AM – 4:30 PM)

Paper Ticket

Submit a refund request by mailing in your monthly pass or take it to a ticket agent or a customer service office and they will process a refund request.

The date of the refund request will be deemed to be the postmark date on the envelope used to request the refund. Weekly and monthly passes submitted before the start of the validity period will be refunded at the purchase price. Weekly and monthly passes submitted after the start of the validity period will have two full one-way fares deducted from the purchase price for each business day from the start of the validity period to the date of the refund request.

If you wish to mail in your refund request you are able to send it to the below address:

Rail Refund Department
NJ TRANSIT
One Penn Plaza East
Newark, NJ 07105-2246

A (official) ‘heads up’ before you commute

October 5, 2019 by Administrator

This page explains one or more of the dozens of amazing features found in Clever Commute Premium.

At the start of your commute, this feature sends an alert (per your notification options) to let you if your provider says things are On or Close (transit lingo for "no reported problems") .

This matches what you see at Service Status at your (train) provider's website. E.g., http://mta.info or www.njtransit.com

Example:

Of course, if the official info does not match what you see, your fellow commuters would appreciate it if you'd share the real status with them.

You're In Control:

Usage notes:

Adjust your My Commute times (via Settings => My Commute) to reflect your travel times
You will receive one notification for each commute time you have selected

Turn this feature on/off via Settings => Comms and Config => Alerts/Bots/Probes

More info about controlling these notifications: Blog post

Feb 17 – Metro North Power Issue – Chronology of events

February 17, 2015 by Administrator

The good news is that the problem was resolved relatively quickly.
The bad news is that this issue pretty much could not have happened at a worse time of day.

Metro North’s area for improvement: Communications. There was a one-hour-and-fifteen-minute stretch of silence from Metro North…at the height of rush hour (5:08 PM to 6:23 PM).
In this window, there were no e-mail alerts sent by Metro North.

The good news: Clever Commuters stepped up and filled the information void.

Here is a color-coded breakdown of how the news flowed during this evening’s incident.
Color key:
Red – Information from Clever Commute
Blue – Information from Metro North

[4:39 PM] Hudson, Harlem and New Haven Line Service is temporarily delayed into and out of Grand Central Terminal due to power issues. As more information becomes available we will notify you as soon as possible. Please listen for announcements at your station.

[5:08 PM] Hudson, Harlem and New Haven Line Service is currently experiencing delays of 30 to 40 minutes into and out of Grand Central Terminal due to earlier power issues. Please listen for announcements at your station.

[5:14 PM] No northbound trains since 4:30

[5:24 PM] Track numbers are only posted for 2 trains. The rest of New Haven line is standing around waiting for a track number

[5:45 PM] 536 Grand Central to Croton tried to leave at 540 but now stalled 50 yards along platform.

[6:23 PM] Hudson Line Service is currently experiencing delays of up to 25 minutes due to earlier power issues in Grand Central Terminal. Please listen for announcements at your station.

[6:25 PM] 536 Grand Central to Croton took 20 mins to clear Park Ave tunnel…but moving full speed since

[6:27 PM] Harlem Line Service is currently experiencing delays of up to 35 minutes due to earlier power issues in Grand Central Terminal. Please listen for announcements at your station.

[6:31 PM] New Haven Line Service is currently experiencing delays of up to 35 minutes due to earlier power issues in Grand Central Terminal. Please listen for announcements at your station.

[6:33 PM] 6:13 Stamford to Bridgeport was 19 mins late departing

Regarding Air Conditioning on trains

July 11, 2014 by Administrator

But this is really applicable to a lot of things on Clever Commute

We know it stinks when the commute is bad. Heck, that is why we built Clever Commute. But there are 3 questions to ask yourself before you send an “alert” to the group:

“Does the message I am about to send contain actionable information
1. … that people can use in order to plan their commute?
2. … with tone and content that you would find on a radio/TV traffic report?
3. … that is an objective statement (e.g., not a rant…not a question…even a rhetorical one)?
If it’s NOT yes-yes-yes…then you may just be venting. If that’s the case, then you should check out clevercommute.com/vent (yes…that’s a real thing).
Other notes:

Clever Commute is not affiliated with the transit providers. According to Clever Commute terms and conditions, they do not receive / read these messages.
Do NOT initiate any call-to-action or other advocacy on Clever Commute (e.g., direct commuters to “call the governor” etc.)
Please remember to use the “Was this alert helpful?” found at the bottom of every mail we send you.

Monday Morning MNR train breakdown

June 30, 2014 by Administrator

Here is a color-coded breakdown of how the news flowed during this morning’s incident.
Color key:
Red – Information form Clever Commute
Blue – Information from Metro North

The incident began at approx 8:05 AM…and was immediately reported by the commuters.
The first e-mail from Metro North comes almost 40 minutes later.

8:05 AM – 641 cannondale to gct is broken down in the bronx with engine failure – and no ac – expect backups behind us
8:21 AM – 741 cannondale to gct still broken down after 20 minutes – outbound train just stopped with mechanical forces – expect major delays
8:22 AM – 7:07 SoNo to GCT is disabled for 15 mins now. E of Fordham
8:30 AM – Rescue train will take disabled train to 125 where we can tranfser – engine overheated and low oil pressure – already 30 minutes late – first day of a hot week

8:43 AM – New Haven Line Customers should anticipate delays of 5 to 10 minutes traveling into Grand Central Terminal due to a disabled train in the vicinity of Fordham. Please listen for announcements at your station.

8:48 AM – Disabled train waiting for rescue engine after being stopped fo 50 minutes – and metro no just sent an email blast – delays will be much longer than the 5 to 10 minutes they claim
9:13 AM – Disabled train moving with rescue engine after 75 minute breakdown

9:18 AM – New Haven Line Service is now operating on or close to schedule. We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced as result of this incident.

Suspicious package on MNR today…timeline

June 20, 2014 by Administrator

Here is a color-coded breakdown of how the news flowed during this morning’s incident.
Color key:
Red – Information form Clever Commute
Blue – Information from Metro North
Green – Comments

—

The chronology. Metro-North spokesman Aaron Donovan said the suspension started at about 6:15 a.m

o Note that the first e-mail from Metro North comes almost 40 minutes after the suspension (and the first Tweet from Metro North was about 10 minutes after that).
o The commuters had been sharing info for almost a half-hour before MNR made any public announcements.

6:30 AM – 602 new haven going backwards near Bridgeport. Police activity. Going back to Stratford
6:35 AM – Suspicious package on bridge over Fairfield RR station. All service halted
6:38 AM – All four tracks involved in police activity in Fairfield indefinite delays in both directions
6:45 AM – 6:34 wpt to GCT 10mins late so far and no announcements yet.

6:56 AM – New Haven Line service is temporarily delayed for trains traveling through the vicinity of Fairfield station due to Police Activity. More information will be provided as it becomes available. Please listen for announcements at your station

6:58 AM – 6:51 Grns Farms to GCT delayed due to Police Activity @ FFLD

7:12 AM – New Haven Line service is temporarily delayed for trains traveling through Fairfield station. Trains are restricted from traveling through this area while Police are investigating a suspicious package. We expect delays of 30 – 60 minutes at this time. Please listen for announcements at your station.

During the crucial 7:12 AM to 8:03 AM period, Metro North did not share ANY information via e-mail…but the commuters did.

7:17 AM – No service below ffld. Suspicious package found
7:25 AM – East bound train at Southport turning around and GCT bound
7:36 AM – 7:44 Train next to arrive at SONO to GCT all stops to Stamford
7:45 AM – Announcement: Get on the 7:44 because we don’t know when the next train will be

8:03 AM – New Haven Line service continues to be temporarily delayed for trains traveling through Fairfield station. Police Special Units are on site investigating a suspicious package. We expect delays of 1 to 2 hours at this time. Please listen for announcements at your station.

During this 22 minute stretch (8:03 AM to 8:25 AM), there is no news from MNR…but Clever Commuters fill the information void

8:07 AM – Train departing Darien towards NY 804am. No announcements at Station, not even on electronic signs

8:25 AM – New Haven Line service has resumed through Fairfield station. Police have completed their investigation. Residual delays of 1 to 2 hours can be expected. Please listen for announcements at your station. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by this incident.

MNR goes silent until 9:41 AM. Their next mail is effectively a re-post of the earlier message (saying New Haven Line Customers continue to experience residual delays of 1-2 hours due to earlier police activity in the vicinity of Fairfield)
During this time, there were more alerts from Clever Commute regarding the ad-hoc schedule, and conditions on board the trains

8:26 AM – Conductor said train just left Bridgeport towards Stamford
8:29 AM – 8:24 Rye-GCT running local. Already SRO
8:45 AM – 843 from southport all local stops to Stamford then express to 125th