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Watch this space (and be amazed)

Watch this space (and be amazed)

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In the Summer of 2012, as a member of NJ Transit’s Developer program, Clever Commute built an app which gave commuters track number information in advance of being announced by NJT.

The information Clever Commute shared came directly from a NJT datafeed…and was delivered to the commuters in compliance with the NJT/Clever Commute partnership agreement.  Both sides openly acknowledged that the advance-track-number information was not 100% accurate/complete. However, Clever Commuters raved about this service.

NJT expressed displeasure with the fact that we were indeed using one of the data fields that they included in the field provided to us (and to all developers). Details of NJT/Clever Commute story can be found in this Wall Street Journal story.
To make a long story short: NJT stopped sharing that particular data feed with all developers.

However, Clever  Commute used this series of events as a catalyst to build an amazing suite of premium services which meets the needs to today’s commuters. We spent two years working / building / designing. After putting in over 1,200 enhancements, we are announcing the next version of The Inside Track – a portfolio of amazing features which empowers the commuters and gives them control over the data they need.

Today’s big news: Early-notice track numbers are coming back. In many ways our new approach makes “Round 2” better than before. 

Please follow this link to see all the details.

 

 

 

Looking for data and metrics? This is the place

Looking for data and metrics? This is the place

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Savvy commuters know and love our passenger-focused offerings. But we also offer solutions for transportation and media professionals.

Our existing B2B product is called Clever Commute Professional. It combines aggregated real-time data feeds with advisory services form Clever Commute package of real-time  More info can be found here.

In addition, Clever Commute also maintains a data warehouse of metrics which can be made available to support your research or story.  Among the information we can provide*

  • Details of alerts before/during/after a commuter event/issue (e.g., a derailment)
  • Historical commuter alerts (with transit provider name, route name, date, time…and reason/cause <=NEW)
  • Track-number information for trains at major stations (e.g. which tracks are used [and which are not],  length of pre-notification announcement for track numbers)
  • Train incident information for departures and on-going travel (cancellations, delays)

* depth and breadth of the data varies by variables such as transit provider and terminal

 

Bad Commute on September 5, 2013 – chronology

Bad Commute on September 5, 2013 – chronology

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Signal problems were the stated cause of a bad commute on both NJ Transit and LIRR.

Oldest entries at the bottom [see “Published on” for the as-of time of this post]

Carrier Route Timestamp Comment
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-09-05 18:37:02 The late 545 left penn approx 620 we just got to secaucus seats available (06:37 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Gladstone & Morristown Lines 2013-09-05 18:36:08 No problems at hoboken (06:36 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Main & Bergen County Lines 2013-09-05 18:35:19 629 still at sec. At 633. No word how long were waiting here (06:35 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-09-05 18:29:08 601 from NWK left at 628. Seats available. (06:29 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Main & Bergen County Lines 2013-09-05 18:20:09 Hoboken not crowded. Seems best bet for main/Bergen riders (06:20 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Montclair-Boonton Line 2013-09-05 18:19:03 6.08 from NYP left at 6.15. NYP is packed, phone networks overloaded (06:19 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Montclair-Boonton Line 2013-09-05 18:16:03 Just got on the 6:27 from Hobokem. No cross-honoring on. PATH. (06:16 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Gladstone & Morristown Lines 2013-09-05 18:14:29 5:50 MTD Dover packed, still in station, no announcements (06:14 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-09-05 18:14:08 5:41 NEC left about 30 mins late. Just arrived at sec (6:14 (06:14 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Montclair-Boonton Line 2013-09-05 18:14:02 Decamp cross honoring (06:14 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-09-05 18:10:06 Trn 3171 NYP NEW BRUNSWICK track 10 (06:10 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) North Jersey Coast Line 2013-09-05 18:08:25 NEC rider validates what njt website says – delays of 20-30 out of NYP. Trains exiting Hoboken are fine. (06:08 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-09-05 18:05:19 3867 semi express to Trenton still boarding at Nwk (6:04), has stop signal from east bound amtrak (06:05 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-09-05 18:03:05 Apparent Signal prob in newark. All trains westbound stopped. (06:03 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-09-05 17:59:02 5:23 south amboy just getting to newark (05:59 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Raritan Valley Line 2013-09-05 17:55:39 update-continued NYP is crowded with delayed trains. Hoboken is fine. Avoid trains which transfer at Newark due to crowds there (05:55 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) North Jersey Coast Line 2013-09-05 17:49:06 Signal problems, mechanical problems causing delays (05:49 PM)
DeCamp 33 & 66 2013-09-05 17:48:10 5:35 66x just arrived (05:48 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-09-05 17:45:29 5:12 from NY just boarded. Doors closed. Train hasn’t left Penn. Its 5:39 (05:45 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) North Jersey Coast Line 2013-09-05 17:38:09 Chaos at Newark Penn Station (05:38 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Gladstone & Morristown Lines 2013-09-05 17:34:07 NJT Alerts says bus is xhonoring but buses in PABT aren’t. Say they haven’t heard from NJT (05:34 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-09-05 17:33:03 4:54 to JA just reached Newark no seats available (05:33 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Babylon Branch 2013-09-05 17:23:07 LIRR website says up to 20 min delays, all lines (05:23 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Main & Bergen County Lines 2013-09-05 17:18:07 Trains in hoboken are on schedule (05:18 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Port Jefferson Branch 2013-09-05 16:59:08 Many cancellations and track changes at NYP (04:59 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Port Jefferson Branch 2013-09-05 16:55:27 Major delays and cancellations – Signal problems on the Queens side of the tunnels (04:55 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Ronkonkoma Branch 2013-09-05 16:50:24 Track changes at Penn. Looks like no 13 or 14 (04:50 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Pascack Valley Line 2013-09-05 16:33:23 Reconsider using NYP tonight. The next 5 trains on the board (NEC/NJCL) are all cancelled or delayed.  (04:33 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Ronkonkoma Branch 2013-09-05 16:28:12 Eastbound LIRR delays this PM – signal issues on the Queens side of the East River. MTA estimates complete repairs by approx 6:15 PM (04:28 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Ronkonkoma Branch 2013-09-05 16:20:26 Repairs will take 2 hours (04:20 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Gladstone & Morristown Lines 2013-09-05 16:13:10 LIRR has signal problems. NJT departureboard shows some delays/Standby.  (04:13 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-09-05 16:13:03 Delays at NYP (04:13 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Gladstone & Morristown Lines 2013-09-05 16:03:10 All trains at Penn Station on standby due to signal problems between Sunnyside Yard Queens and Penn St. Major crowding starting. (04:03 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Port Washington Branch 2013-09-05 16:03:09 UPDATE: PW line WESTBOUND has the problem. No reported issue with EASTBOUND (04:03 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Ronkonkoma Branch 2013-09-05 16:01:03 Problems brewing service suspended in and out of pen (04:01 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Montauk Branch 2013-09-05 16:00:44 Problems brewing service suspended in and out of pen (04:00 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Ronkonkoma Branch 2013-09-05 15:57:16 Service suspended between Jam and NYP – signal problems. Also suspended between Woodside and Penn on the Port Washington Branch (03:57 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Babylon Branch 2013-09-05 15:54:08 Get ready for a crazy commute. Service suspended between Penn and Jamaica (03:54 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Ronkonkoma Branch 2013-09-05 15:53:09 Lirr reporting Penn to Jamaica is suspended (03:53 PM)

July 17 – Chronology of events

July 17 – Chronology of events

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Here is the chronology of issues tonight…as reported by the commuters.
These alerts are grouped by carrier (although we combined the buses which use Port Authority)…and then sorted by time (with the oldest listed first).
It is interesting to note that NJ Transit appears to have not shared any system-wide information throughout the entire incident (NEC riders did get news from NJT…but others did not).

Service Provider Route Timestamp Message (with clock time)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Ronkonkoma Branch 2013-07-17 16:19:13 Track changes at penn (04:19 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Ronkonkoma Branch 2013-07-17 16:26:09 4:34 Babylon train cancelled. Track changes all over the place. (04:26 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Port Washington Branch 2013-07-17 16:30:28 422 to port Washington on track 15 still in station at 430 (04:30 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Ronkonkoma Branch 2013-07-17 16:30:29 Amtrak track problem in east river tunnel. Track changes and cancellations. Check the boards (04:30 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Babylon Branch 2013-07-17 16:38:06 437 listed trk 21 but no where in sight crowded platform (04:38 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Port Jefferson Branch 2013-07-17 16:38:07 443 Penn to Great Neck cxl (04:38 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Port Jefferson Branch 2013-07-17 16:39:07 No far rock or Hempstead trains out of Penn go to Atlantic (04:39 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Port Jefferson Branch 2013-07-17 16:48:12 Delays and cancellations at NYP and track changes (04:48 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Port Jefferson Branch 2013-07-17 17:00:53 449 Penn to pJ on time and extra hicks stop. Cops bringing out barricades (05:00 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Babylon Branch 2013-07-17 17:02:05 452 babykon cancelled (05:02 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Ronkonkoma Branch 2013-07-17 17:05:37 424 penn to ronk will be late at bethpage. Stopped and waited for 419 pt jeff train to cross in front, now crawling behind it (05:05 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Port Jefferson Branch 2013-07-17 17:32:13 Track changes at Penn Careful (05:32 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Babylon Branch 2013-07-17 17:32:15 Delays and cancellations across the board at penn due to tunnel out of service (05:32 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Port Washington Branch 2013-07-17 17:43:12 529 now local to PW. Express trains likely getting cancelled (05:43 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Ronkonkoma Branch 2013-07-17 17:59:17 5:53 is standing room only. Just left Penn “on time” (05:59 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Ronkonkoma Branch 2013-07-17 18:06:20 Complete caos at Penn – use Brooklyn or Hunterspoint stations Eastbound (06:06 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Ronkonkoma Branch 2013-07-17 18:23:02 Whoever said 553 is SRO there are plenty of seats in the back (06:23 PM)
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Port Washington Branch 2013-07-17 19:10:52 701 penn to port canx – now 714 local on track 15 (07:10 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-07-17 15:48:13 Wire down at Linden (03:48 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-07-17 16:20:19 NJT says all NEC trains subject to “indefinite delays” due to wire problems (04:20 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-07-17 16:22:07 Correction: all Westbound (TTN trains) service subject to delay (04:22 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-07-17 16:54:11 431 exp nwk-ttn left on time. Moving slow nwk to linden, but moving thus far. Only 2 eastbound tracks being used so expect delays. (04:54 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Montclair-Boonton Line 2013-07-17 17:05:28 “Overhead power issues” at NYP. Penn Station NY is PACKED with people. (05:05 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Gladstone & Morristown Lines 2013-07-17 17:18:04 5:19 still on standby (05:18 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-07-17 17:24:11 4:54 to JA left on time but crawling through Secaucus (05:24 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-07-17 17:27:03 5:17 TTN Express departing at 5:20pm (05:27 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-07-17 17:33:07 WNBC-TV “Chopper 4” blames sagging power lines for NEC delays (05:33 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Main & Bergen County Lines 2013-07-17 17:35:28 5:20 out of Hoboken being held at Secaucus (05:35 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-07-17 17:37:09 NJT spokesman says all NEC service resumed; subject to delay up to 60 min (05:37 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Main & Bergen County Lines 2013-07-17 17:43:11 5:20 train from Hoboken/5:30 from Secaucus now leaving Secaucus (05:43 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Gladstone & Morristown Lines 2013-07-17 17:49:11 5:41 Stand By, 5:43 Stand By, 5:45 Cancelled 5:50 Standby (05:49 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-07-17 17:54:17 541 out nyp still standby at 553 (05:54 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) North Jersey Coast Line 2013-07-17 17:55:33 5:43 to long branch just leaving newark. (05:55 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Gladstone & Morristown Lines 2013-07-17 17:59:18 485 MTD Summit, Track 1 Long Branch, Track 2, MTD Dover (1st stop Mplwd) Track 11 (05:59 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-07-17 17:59:36 4:54 NYP to JA at Metro Park running 30 min late so far (05:59 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Montclair-Boonton Line 2013-07-17 18:04:23 Penn’s a zoo (06:04 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-07-17 18:04:37 485 5:01 from NYP crawling west of New Brun but moving. (06:04 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-07-17 18:10:29 9 of next 10 trains are delayed (06:10 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Montclair-Boonton Line 2013-07-17 18:10:40 No cross-honoring on PATH as of 5:45 pm (06:10 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Gladstone & Morristown Lines 2013-07-17 18:16:00 NY Penn Station totally packed. All Trains on Standby as of 6:15 (06:16 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Montclair-Boonton Line 2013-07-17 18:18:11 6:08 leaving Penn Station NYC now 6:17 (06:18 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-07-17 18:22:05 5:54 now boarding (trk 11) (06:22 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) North Jersey Coast Line 2013-07-17 18:23:04 6:17pm from NYP now on NYP Track 3 (06:23 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Main & Bergen County Lines 2013-07-17 18:25:09 Please ask conductors to hold 628 main line from sec. Train on way from Penn (06:25 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Gladstone & Morristown Lines 2013-07-17 18:27:05 NYP an absolute zoo. NE Corridor wire problems creating delays. (06:27 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Montclair-Boonton Line 2013-07-17 18:37:03 PATH and Hoboken are working just fine – no crowds or delays (at least as of the 6:27) (06:37 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Montclair-Boonton Line 2013-07-17 18:42:04 6:41 from NY Penn to MSU on “Stand by” (06:42 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-07-17 18:44:13 6:37 departed NYPenn at 6:40. Not crowded. (06:44 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Montclair-Boonton Line 2013-07-17 18:44:24 6:41 from NY Penn to MSU boarding (late) on track 7. (06:44 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Gladstone & Morristown Lines 2013-07-17 18:56:02 649 MTD still not posted at 652 (06:56 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Montclair-Boonton Line 2013-07-17 19:05:46 6:41 leaves penn at 6:52 (07:05 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Gladstone & Morristown Lines 2013-07-17 19:09:09 6:51 Dover still in NYP at 6:54, no announcements (07:09 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) North Jersey Coast Line 2013-07-17 19:12:04 6:44 traon to bayjeadat long branch. police activity. (07:12 PM)
NJ Transit Train (NJTT) Northeast Corridor Line 2013-07-17 19:14:13 #3957 fr:NYPS to TTN was on time most of the way but sluggish approaching PJCT. Will be about 15mins late. (07:14 PM)
NJ Transit Bus (NJTB) (167) Dumont – Harrington Park 2013-07-17 16:39:05 Q bus….actually all buses….sitting in front of the tunnel…no movement for 15 minutes. (04:39 PM)
NJ Transit Bus (NJTB) (167) Dumont – Harrington Park 2013-07-17 17:03:21 [Message From Port Authority] The disabled vehicle has been removed from the North tube of the Lincoln Tunne. (05:03 PM)
DeCamp Bus Lines 33 & 66 2013-07-17 17:46:02 Limited AC and growing lines on the 4th floor of the PABT (05:46 PM)
DeCamp Bus Lines 33 & 66 2013-07-17 17:51:03 Gate 410 backed up to 404 at 5:50. Also no AC Ugh (05:51 PM)
DeCamp Bus Lines 33 & 66 2013-07-17 18:03:21 Long lines, NO AC and no DC buses. No lines for NJT. (06:03 PM)
DeCamp Bus Lines 33 & 66 2013-07-17 18:34:03 6:10 #66 leaves at 6:32. Some congestion going into tunnel but moving. (06:34 PM)
DeCamp Bus Lines 33 & 66 2013-07-17 18:50:23 Trains no better; 6:41 just started boarding (06:50 PM)

 

Metro North Derailment

Metro North Derailment

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Tonight, a Metro North train derailed near Fairfield. The cronology below shows what information was shared…and by whom.

The blue timestamps show the info that Metro North shared via their e-mail alerting system
The red timestamps show data that was created and shared via the Clever Commute network of passengers on the New haven line

For media inquiries, please use the contact us feature of the website.

(7:22 PM – Metro North) Service is suspended between South Norwalk and New Haven. Westbound service will originate out of South Norwalk making all stops to Grand Central Terminal. Eastbound service will make all stops to South Norwalk due to a derailment in the vicinity of Bridgeport …
(6:59 PM – Clever Commute) 5;57 gct to s norwalk terminating stamford. Collision confirmed in bridgeport.
(6:57 PM – Clever Commute) Derailment and injuries is accurate. No service tonight.
(6:54 PM – Metro North) Upper New Haven Line Service: At this time no Westbound service is being provided beyond Bridgeport due to a train incident in the vicinity of Bridgeport. Eastbound service will run to South Norwalk …
(6:38 PM – Clever Commute) No trains going further then South Norwalk.
(6:34 PM – Clever Commute) 505 from gct stopped at Westport passengers off train waiting for buses. Nothing moving north through Fairfield metro
(6:33 PM – Clever Commute) Major train collision and derailment Fairfield Bridgeport line. Many injuries
(6:32 PM – Metro North)  Upper New Haven Line Customers traveling through the vicinity of South Norwalk and New Haven should anticipate delays …

Maplewood, South Orange, Morristown…some helpful news for for commuters

Maplewood, South Orange, Morristown…some helpful news for for commuters

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We created 3 new Clever bus communities. Please join whichever one(s) you like. If you have never used Clever Commute for the bus…then this might be a good opportunity to start.
(More info about Clever Commute here)

  • Lakeland bus Route 78 (Summit)
  • NJ Transit bus Route 107 (South Orange)
  • Coach USA Route 77 (Morristown)

To sign up: go to clevercommute.com/signup and change “Select provider type” to “Bus Alerts”.
(there is no easy way to simply “add” these to your current subscription…so you need to re-sign up for each. Sorry)
A few other caveats:

  • If you are new to Clever Commute, it may take a few days until you can _send_ messages…but you will be able to _receive_ as soon as you get your “Welcome” e-mail
    (after you confirm…and we approve you)
  • When you get the mail asking you to confirm, please use the “Click this link” option. If you use the “reply to this mail to confirm”…you’ll see it does not yet work yet.
  • The e-mail address that you need for each community is found in the “Welcome” mail you receive after we approve/add you.
  • We are still working on the Twitter feeds for each of these new communities.
  • And of course: the content comes from YOU. Please lead by example and share whatever it is you think your fellow commuters want to know.

We pulled these together quickly…so there are some rough edges. Please be patient as we put the finishing touches on.
If you have any questions or comments, please use the Contact Us feature of our web site