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Understanding the economics of Clever Commute

Understanding the economics of Clever Commute

January 19, 2020 by Administrator

 

Summary: I try to be fair. I love running Clever. It’s passion of mine…but I need your help covering the costs.

If you are having second thoughts about the actual dollar cost of subscribing to the Premium version of Clever Commute, please read this and consider upgrading by using the Premium feature of the free app.
More info: Overview and Feature List

The Clever Commute guy is an everyday NJT rider, who has been running this service for 14 years, using his own funds. See the table below to understand the costs to design, build and maintain a scalable app/service such as this.

Back-of-the-envelop math will show you that simply selling the app for $1.99 (or $2.99, or even more) is not a tenable model…especially when you remember that Apple/Google keep 30% of that right off the top.

Regarding banner ads: I have previously said they are a way to make nickles and dimes. Trust me: that statement is only a slight exaggeration. Therefore, a subscription model is the only way to build and maintain a scalable robust solution. I’ve been doing this since 2006. Yes, I am in this for the long haul 🙂

Summing it up: I am a 5-day-a-week commuter. I have a full-time job in NYC. I run Clever as a passion project.
Your financial support helps to defray the costs of running this service. I really appreciate each and every subscriber.

—-

Start by recognizing that the App Stores take 30% of revenue right off the top.

But with all that being said, here are other things to think about

  • I personally spend over $400 a month on my commute. How about you?
    The $3.33 for Premium won’t “move the needle” on that monthly cost we all have …but it will help you and reduce your stress.
    Click here to see what other commuters say.
  • We give you 30 days of Premium when you first sign up. That’s a promotion.
    But we also give you another month free when you convert to Premium.
    (Note that any grace period for other apps is rarely a full month. Most do 7 days…maybe 14)
  • We give away free memberships as a matter of practice
    (our policy covers the unemployed, students, recent grads, people returning to the workforce, military, senior citizens, people who are disabled, pregnant or have any kind of mobility or material health issue)
  • We regularly donate Clever Commute subscriptions to charity
  • We take down our paywall as needed to ensure all commuters have a safe trip home
    (e.g., due to weather and other emergencies)

My point: I try to be fair. I’m OK to run Clever as a public service…so I need your help covering the costs. Please consider upgrading by using the Premium feature of the free app. Overview and Feature List.

Look at the ComplexityUnderstand the Dollar Costs
Technical integration with at least 5 transit providers

We provide solutions for iOS as well as Android

We offer paid as well as free versions

We support 5 categories of data (not just crowdsourced)

Maintaining a presence for the app in 2 app stores

Our app communicates/publishes via e-mail, push notifications, SMS/text, web, and Twitter.

We also manage a presence on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

It starts with the cost to build and maintain all these features. But it also includes the cost of vendors/providers I pay for …

  • Sending mails
  • Sending texts/SMS
  • Sending push notifications
  • Web/App Hosting
  • Backups
  • Data storage
  • Geolocation/Mapping license
  • Security tools
  • App Store-related APIs
  • Automation/Scheduling
  • Uptime monitoring

 

Filed Under: announcements, premium Tagged With: premium

Managing the “Good News” alerts at the start of your commute

Managing the “Good News” alerts at the start of your commute

November 28, 2019 by Administrator

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

The Heads-Up feature sends Premium users the official view of their commute at the user’s stated travel time.

Some riders want to suppress those alerts. To accomplish that, they may use another Premium feature: the ability to stop notifications from any given user. How to:

  1. When you see such a message in Recent Alerts, tap on the actual Reported By: name
  2. On the subsequent screen, tap on Stop notifications

A longer (and older) video about this feature is here

The implemenation (and pros/cons) varies by provider per the table below

ProviderNicknameNote
LIRROfficial_LIRRThis will also stop notifications for intraday official LIRR alerts
Metro-NorthOfficial_MNROther intraday notifications come from Official_MetroNorth…so user can decide to suppress one or both
NJ Transit TrainsOfficial_NJTOther intraday notifications come from line-specific accounts…so user can decide to suppress one or both

 

 

Filed Under: announcements, Feature, premium

“Service Status” Reader

“Service Status” Reader

April 6, 2019 by Administrator

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

Our robots scan the Service Status info published by your transit provider.

Clever Commute algorithms will identify “status” patterns with an intention of identifying you before trouble strikes!

Premium users can opt-in to being notified via Settings => Comms and And Config
See notification options under Alerts/Bots/Probes.

We will also publish such alerts to the News you Need section of the app.

 

Filed Under: Feature, premium

The 6 hour snooze button

The 6 hour snooze button

July 22, 2018 by Administrator

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

This gives you the ability to quickly and easily snooze your alerts for the next 6 hours. It’s functionally the same as going into Settings => Comms and Config and pressing the “6” where it says Snooze all alerts

Clearly, you can do it right from the Recent Alerts page

We chose 6 hours because that will keep your device quiet thoughout the upcoming/in-progress commute. However, you’ll be ready for the next commute.

So if you are going to work after the morning rush…or perhaps having dinner in the city, you can tap that icon to avoid any of the notifications. It will show the bell with a slash through it to show that snooze is “on”

You can tap it again at any time to clear the snooze…or simply let it expire on its own.

See picture below:

 

Filed Under: Feature, premium Tagged With: featue, premium

Migrate from Inside Track (web) to Clever Commute Premium (app)

Migrate from Inside Track (web) to Clever Commute Premium (app)

August 25, 2017 by Administrator

When we first rolled out The Inside Track, (approx 2014) it was a unique and powerful tool.

Since that time, we moved all its functionality (and more) to its successor: Clever Commute Premium (CCP).

Therefore, The Inside Track is no longer supported.

CCP is app based, so please go to your app store (iOS or Android) and get the Clever Commute app today.

There is an in-app purchase option for CCP.

More info about CCP here: https://clevercommute.com/premium

 

 

Filed Under: premium

Migrating from the legacy Inside Track to the Premium app

Migrating from the legacy Inside Track to the Premium app

December 3, 2016 by Administrator

What’s changing?

User ExperienceHow to Subscribe Payments Handled By
Old Mobile webClever Commute Web sitePayPal
NewSmartphone App In-App purchaseApple and Google

 

Since subscribers pre-pay, we arranged a migration which ensures

  • it’s not a hassle for our client
  • we tip the scale in the client’s favor

On the day you are next billed, WE do 3 things:  

  1. Refund the payment you just made
  2. Halt all future PayPal payments to us
  3. Set your Inside Track account to Expired

YOUR NEXT STEPS:  Visit the free app and use the “Premium” menu option to upgrade

Cool: Your first 30 days of the app-based premium service are free!

Filed Under: admin, premium

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