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MTA E-Mail & Text Alerts Receive Enhancements

Posted by
on January 26th, 2010 at 2:11 pm

The focus on technological advances by the MTA continues to be the theme around here with this latest news. Just a short time ago, the MTA announced enhancements to its e-mail & text messaging service alerts system. Here are the details from the press release I was just sent:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced enhancements to the email and text message alerts the agency uses to notify customers of changes to subway, bus and rail service. The agency also said it would survey subscribers next month to ask for their help in further enhancing the alerting system to ensure that it does an even better job of providing timely, useful information to help customers make travel plans.

There are two enhancements to the alerting system.

1) Planned Service Changes: The alerting service now allows subscribers to opt to receive information only about planned service changes. Previously, subscribers who had wanted information on planned service changes also automatically received alerts on delays or other unexpected service disruptions. While alerts on unplanned service disruptions can and do appear 24/7, MTA New York City Transit generally sends out information on weekend planned subway service changes on Thursday afternoons.

Subscribers who wish to receive info only on planned service changes should log into their accounts at mymtaalerts.com to update their settings. The recently created default setting provides users with real-time alerts on unplanned service disruptions only, so customers will need to change their profile settings in order to begin receiving updates on planned service changes. New subscribers are able to opt for planned service change information when they create an account.

2) Vacation Suspension: The enhanced service also now allows subscribers to suspend their subscription for a predetermined or indefinite period of time. When the subscription resumes, all of the settings and preferences will be unchanged.

“We are making a number of changes to improve the way we communicate with our customers, from launching an improved website to providing more real-time information for customers on the go,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Jay H. Walder. “And now we are enhancing our email and text message alerts. You can suspend a newspaper subscription when you go on vacation, why shouldn’t you be able to suspend your MTA email and text alerts?”

To enhance the alerting service further, the MTA plans to send out a survey to its 70,000 email and text message alert subscribers in February to ask for advice on how to improve it. While not every idea for an enhancement to the alerting system may be feasible to implement, the MTA hopes to collect ideas about what enhancements may be desirable or useful to users.

For those customers who are still not subscribers, the service is now better then ever – with more ways to tailor the settings so you receive information matching your exact needs and preferences. Now is the time to sign up!

Sign up today to know before you go. Visit mymtaalerts.com to create an account and begin receiving alerts about your subway, bus and/or rail route today!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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No 7 Service For 9 Consecutive Weekends

Posted by
on January 26th, 2010 at 1:51 am

12 days ago, I posted an entry which listed the planned service diversions for the rest of January. One of the biggest planned service diversions involved the 7 train which will have service suspended on the line between Manhattan & Long Island City for 9 consecutive weekends. MTA NYC Transit sent out a reminder press release about the diversion which begins this weekend:

Beginning this coming weekend (January 29-Feb 1) and running for nine consecutive weekends, MTA NYC Transit announces that 7 trains will operate between Main Street-Flushing and Queensboro Plaza only. There will be no 7 train service between Grand Central in Manhattan and Long Island City. Fare-free shuttle buses will operate between Queensboro Plaza and Vernon Blvd.-Jackson Avenue stations making stops at 45th Road-Court House Square and Hunters Point Avenue. Q service is extended to Astoria-Ditmars Blvd. to accommodate 7 line customers and the Grand Central-Times Square Shuttle S will run all night.

During these nine weekends, we will be installing new tracks between Hunters Point and Court House Square, replacing an 80-year old switch at Hunters Point, replacing track on the curve leaving Vernon-Jackson, and renewing rail at 5th Avenue. In addition, contractors will be installing steel for a new transfer facility between 7 and G at Court Square. There are several other smaller jobs that will be done while this part of the line is out of service, including electrical and communications cable work and grouting projects.

NYC Transit apologizes for the inconvenience to our customers. These service upgrades are essential to operating a safe and efficient service. The 7 line presents a special challenge in that we have a short window of opportunity to perform this work, essentially between late September and April. In this way we avoid interfering with subway service generated by the crowds headed to Mets games, U.S. Tennis Open and other major events in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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3

MTA LIRR Partners With CooCoo

Posted by
on January 26th, 2010 at 1:36 am

I must say the title of this entry might be the most eye catching in awhile or in the opinion of some, a way to describe the agency. All jokes aside, the MTA Long Island Rail Road has announced it will be undergoing a pilot partnership with the Long Island based text engine messaging company CooCoo.

The pilot partnership will enable LIRR riders to get travel information sent directly to their cell phone. Here are the complete details courtesy of a press release I received from the LIRR:

MTA Long Island Rail Road customers can now get train schedules and specific travel plans sent to their cell phones as part of a pilot partnership with CooCoo, the Long Island-based text engine company that provides data via text message for standard text fees.

A LIRR customer can use any cell phone to text a travel request – simply text CooCoo
or 266266 (which spells CooCoo) and get an immediate response.

“New ideas like this are revolutionizing the way that our customers can get schedule information,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Jay H. Walder. “By partnering with the tech development community, we can create new ways for our customers to access information at no cost to the MTA, and often at no cost to our customers. This is the type of innovation we must pursue to continue improving service even as we attack the MTA’s cost structure.”

LIRR President Helena Williams added: “This is another step in our efforts to harness new technology to keep customers informed. CooCoo is providing a great customer service.”

Many LIRR customers are already getting travel information via the Internet by signing up for LIRR Email Service Alerts or going to the LIRR website www.mta.info/lirr to get information about trains, planned service work, schedule changes and delays. But text-based CooCoo opens a whole new avenue of communication. A text message, such as “Penn to Huntington” sent to CooCoo or 266266 gets train schedules instantly.

“CooCoo is carrier and device independent and will work on all cell phones without using the internet” said John Tunney, Co-Founder of the company. “We applaud the MTA and LIRR for being forward thinkers in offering this service to their riders.”

Since CooCoo’s pilot partnership with the LIRR began on January 13, the firm has been handling hundreds of requests for LIRR train information every day, according to Tunney.

For more information about CooCoo and its LIRR service go the MTA’s home page, www.mta.info/coocoo

CooCoo represents yet another in a series of enhanced LIRR customer communication efforts including the establishment of the LIRR’s Public Information Office providing free, real-time customer E-Alerts on train delays and service disruptions, and the posting of the service notices on large message boards installed at Penn Station, Atlantic Terminal and Jamaica Station.

Customers can sign up for the LIRR’s free E-Alerts by visiting our website at www.mta.info/lirr and clicking on the link titled: “Sign Up for E-mail and Text message Alerts.”

As someone who uses the LIRR, I can appreciate any form of helping customers get important information while on the move. Hopefully this pilot goes well & can turn into a long lasting relationship benefiting all companies & riders alike.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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MTA Reveals New Service Cuts

Posted by
on January 22nd, 2010 at 6:27 pm

Earlier this afternoon, I wrote a quick entry highlighting the 8 public hearings scheduled by the MTA to discuss the proposed service cuts in the budget they were obligated to pass last month. A short time ago, the MTA officially revealed what the new service cuts would be & have broken them down by agency. Here is a quick note about the changes & public hearings from their website:

In December, the MTA was forced to set out a series of service reductions to close a nearly $400 million budget shortfall due to State cuts and loss of revenue. Over the past month, MTA Chairman Jay Walder has reviewed these changes to find ways to limit their impact on customers. An unprecedented level of detail is now available here on how the changes were chosen and the impacts they will have, well in advance of public hearings to be held around the region in early March.

Below you will find detailed information about each agency’s proposed service changes, as well as hearing dates and locations for each of the eight public hearings.

New York City Transit, MTA Bus and LI Bus information is presented as reports containing an introduction, including summary tables for the proposed changes followed by a more detailed description of each change. Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad information is in the form of memoranda from the railroad presidents to their Board Committees containing the details of the proposed changes for both railroads. It is important to note in the railroad memoranda that a number of reductions are not subject to public hearing but are presented as information with implementation to proceed in 2010 on the dates indicated.

The public hearings will be officially noticed in early February, at which time online registration will be available for people interested in speaking at the hearings. Comments will also be accepted by email and regular mail.

Now here are the proposed service cuts broken down by agency in individual .pdf files:

  • New York City Transit
  • Long Island Rail Road
  • Long Island Bus
  • Metro-North Railroad
  • MTA Bus Company
  • Access-A-Ride
  • Able-Ride

    • Over the weekend, I plan on reading each .pdf thoroughly & offering my analysis in individual entries. I hope to have all of this done by Monday. In the meantime, you are welcome to share your opinions on the proposed service cuts which are a pretty much a certainty unless their budget woes are fixed.

    I fully expect the same group of elected officials to “rally the public” in criticizing the MTA while faiiling to acknowledge the government’s huge role in the problem. I am a realist & will tell you know that these service cuts are almost as a sure thing as death & taxes.

    xoxo Transit Blogger

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    Service Diversions 01-22-10

    Posted by
    on January 22nd, 2010 at 5:58 pm

    I just updated the “Service Diversions” page with the latest plans scheduled for this weekend & following week (beyond in some cases). For customers who plan on using the LIRR’s Long Beach Branch, don’t forget to read this post with important information about service disruptions & changes.

    If you are interested in reading what diversions are planned for the remaining weekends in January, click here. Lastly I suggest you print out a copy to carry with you or access the page directly from your portable device while out traveling.

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