MNR

Great news for Metro North New Haven Line Riders

Great news for Metro North New Haven Line Riders

by

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

If you are posting the Bar Car info

If you are posting the Bar Car info

by

Just a few things to remember:

  • There is one e-mail address for the trains from GCT and another for the trains to GCT (we’ll make sure you have both addresses).
  • Once you send to that address…our technology will send it to the subscribers…and we’ll also Tweet it
  • Do not “Forward” mails to the e-mail address we use
  • Avoid extra punctuation (sure you can say “5:48″, but don’t put “…” in there)
  • All you need to do is put the the times in your mail (e.g., you don’t need to say “have a bar car tonight”). Recipients know that this is The Bar Car Report…and it is clearly labeled as such
  • Yes…you can send updates at any time in case things change
  • Here is one good way to share the news:

526 548 608 611 807 907 plus 531 614  stamford locals

The Bar Car on Metro North

The Bar Car on Metro North

by

We have a new service which distributes information about which evening trains have bar cars on Metro North’s New Haven line.

This is DIFFERENT from the regular “Clever Commute New Haven Line”alerting service.

Yes…it’s FREE!

Sign up at clevercommute.com (go to “Find your line”…and under “Trains (Alerts)”, you’ll see “Bar Car – New Haven Line”)

NOTE: THIS IS THE BEST PART :

If you use Twitter, then you have even more options:
You can “Follow” @cc_mnr_bar_nh (or @cc_mnr_bar_nh_r for the reverse commute)
That means that you can receive the “bar car” info the same way you receive any Twitter info:
(a) via the web (at twitter.com)
(b) via a Twitter app on your cell phone
(c) AS A TEXT MESSAGE

We have more info about how Clever Commuters can use Twitter here clevercommute.com/twitter

Some great press coverage:

 

 

 

New Haven Line – How are we doing?

New Haven Line – How are we doing?

by

In February 2011, in the middle of an especially rough stretch for the commuters, I asked

(1) message volume – does this service generate “too much” mail for you?
(2) message content
is it helpful to know
– if trains are crowded?
– if the heat is on?

Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback. 40 people wrote back…and I plan to reply to each of you…even if it’s just to say “thanks”
The replies I got were thoughtful and the tone was constructive. I really appreciate it.

The stats are below..but I also want to address a few “themes” / good ideas I also received

  • At least for the next month or so, service on this line will be a challenge…so this is “the new normal”. You should not be surprised if a train is 5-10 minutes late. Certainly, context matters…but always ask yourself “am I sharing something that will help my fellow commuter plan their trip?”
  • More than one person commented that you should NOT send a mail to say things are OK…and I agree. if you’ve never seen our best practices (AKA “rules of the road”), please do…as  this one is a guiding principle for Clever Commute (see https://clevercommute.com/blog/?page_id=22)
  • You want new features (prioritization of messages…make messages more custom to your commute…time of day).
    Believe me, I want to give those to you. But I just do not have the resources to do that now…and I likely can not do that in a free service.
    Message volume systemwide is through the roof…and we pay for that. Yes, advertisers offset some of the expense…but we need more revenue.
    If you have been thinking about donating to Clever Commute…now is a good time.A really good time.
  • Finally, we hear people asking if Clever Commute can take a role in advocating on behalf of the commuters. My reply is to check out the Connecticut Commuter Rail Council (http://www.trainweb.org/ct).
    They are doing great things on your behalf.

The info below is not scientific…but it does imply that we are generally hitting the mark. This should not really be interpreted as a mandate to change anything…but it is a level of transparency…which I think we all appreciate.
It’s also a rather a reminder that we each have different tolerances when it comes to information…and we need to continue to be sensitive to that.

I would advise you to take matters into your own hands and use the tools that you do have.

  • Think about building e-mail filters on “your” side (e.g., mails containing “SRO” can be sent to the trash if you don’t want them).
  • Consider using our mobile app (http://m.clevercommute.com)
  • Check out our Twitter feeds (http://budurl.com/clevertwitter). The feeds need an upgrade…but they WILL be back soon. Sign up now so you are read.

So without further ado:

Volume / Amount of messages
21 said “it’s OK”…at least for now
14 clearly said “we are getting too much mail”
…but 5 did not address it in their replies to us

Crowds / SRO
16 said they like to know about crowds
11 said “do not send SRO mails”
…but 13 did not address it in their replies to us

Heat
15 said they do want to know about heat on the trains
13 said they do NOT want to hear about it
…but 12 did not address it in their replies to us

Monday mornings are killers (T-?)

Believe it (T-?)

Believe it (T-?)

by

A Clever Commuter shared news about this issue…but MTA did not

Clever Commute [7:42  PM] – 7:05 GC to NH moving again. @ least 30mins behind. Train left 125th with 2 people on platform. Unbelievable