Wednesday, March 19, 2008

By DAN PROCHILO
of The Montclair Times

Five commuters who ride trains on the Montclair-Boonton Line made this pact two years ago: if any of them had trouble getting to or from work, then they’d send the others a succinct e-mail describing what they’re experiencing, so the other four might be spared the same fate.

Today, the group is about 600 strong on the Montclair-Boonton Line alone, and there are similar collectives of commuters across the nation, trying to make one another’s routine journeys to the workplace easier.

The movement was the brainchild of Montclair’s Josh Crandall. At his Web site, Clever Commute, mass-transit riders can connect with other commuters who may have been sitting near them on the bus or train for years, but who they never knew, for the purpose of making the commute less of a headache.

Via the Web site, Clever Commute communities have sprung up throughout New Jersey and the rest of the New York metro area, as well as in Baltimore, Md.; Washington, D.C.; Boston, Mass.; Chicago, Ill.; and in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area.

Here’s how it works: commuters visit the Web site, clevercommute.com, and punch in information about themselves, including which mass transit line or lines they utilize.

They’re then given a single address that, when e-mailed, sends duplicates of that one message to all the other subscribers to the alerts for that particular line.

Crandall, the vice president of information technology for an investment bank in Manhattan, rides the New York-bound 6:56 a.m. train from the Watchung Avenue Station and comes home on either the 6:18 or 6:40 p.m. trains. He said the idea started off “very small, very humbly,” after he looked around the platform one day and realized virtually everybody was peering down at cell phones, BlackBerrys or other hand-held gadgets with Internet connections.

Shortly thereafter, he and a small group of fellow commuters, some who were close friends of his and others who were acquaintances who resided near Crandall or attended church with him, exchanged e-mails and made the aforementioned informal pact.

The e-mail chain remained a close-knit, exclusively Montclair effort until one of Crandall’s contacts in Manhattan mentioned it to a friend of his, a resident of Short Hills who rides NJ Transit’s Gladstone-Morristown Line. The friend then suggested Crandall launch a version of the service for riders in his area. At that point, Crandall realized the model was “portable,” and his concept had potential.

NJ Transit has a somewhat similar e-mail alert system, but there are important distinctions, Crandall said. NJ Transit’s e-mail alerts are only sent out when there are disruptions to the agency’s service, he said. Whatever the issue might be, it must result in a known 15-minute delay before NJ Transit will fire off an e-mail blast alerting passengers to get comfortable.

Crandall’s service doesn’t have to play by those rules. Users can send out a text about anything directly or indirectly related to their commutes.

For example, on one occasion a member broadcast a message after spotting a parked car with its lights left turned on at a train station. Users send out lost-and-found messages, too. A woman once sent an e-mail entirely consisting of this subject line: “Lost guitar on train 6:18 to bloomfield - if you see it in the overhead compartment please give to conductor.”

Crandall said his main role in the upkeep of the service is troubleshooting, assisting people who are having technical issues and whose messages aren’t being sent. Users are doing most of the work themselves.

But the service is starting to cost him thousands of dollars, since he’s been working with attorneys to incorporate the business and patent the idea. He’s starting to rethink his business model and seek a way to generate revenue.

One option that’s not on the table is charging subscribers, he said. Alternatively, Crandall is considering trying to pull in advertising dollars to offset his expenses.

This notion of forming Internet communities of people involved in similar situations or pursuits could go beyond commuting, Crandall said. A similar service, for example, could connect boaters who frequent Lake Hopatcong in Sussex and Morris counties, so they could keep one other up-to-speed on water conditions, hazards and so on.

For people struggling to get to work in the wee hours, or pining to get home after a stressful day, the alerts are a refreshing act of civility, courtesy and concern for others amongst individuals living at an intensely fast pace.

“We’re a community,” said Crandall. “We’re neighbors. This is not the subway in New York.

“As a commuter, if you’re using this service, it’s really too late for you,” he said. “If you’re contributing, you wish you had known already, and you’re helping others with the hope they’ll help you in the future.”

Contact Dan Prochilo at prochilo@montclairtimes.com.



16884