Need T info? Try TXT
Pilot program sends text messages, e-mails on delays to commuters
BOSTON. Commuters fed up with rushing to make their trains and arriving to find they are actually delayed, have a new tool to make their lives more convenient.
Beginning this week, the MBTA is launching a pilot program that will allow riders to subscribe online to a service that offers real-time text messages and e-mails about subway, train, bus and ferry delays.
The MBTA is one of the first transit agencies in the country to launch this subscription-based service; the New York transit system announced earlier this month they were implementing a similar service.
“A lot of customers go to our Web site before they leave to go home, but if they’re out and about they don’t know of delays,” said MBTA General Manager Daniel Grabauskas. “Even if you are running an errand after work or dropping the kids off at school and then heading to the train, this will give you real-time information on any delay greater than 15 minutes.”
The alerts can be sent to an e-mail address, cell phone, pager or personal digital assistant (PDA).
On Wednesday, the first 3,000 people who subscribe on the T’s Web site will be part of the pilot program, which is expected to last a few weeks. Then, after hearing commuter feedback through the Web site, the service will be launched system wide, Grabauskas said. It can accommodate hundreds of thousands of users, he said.
The T entered into the $86,000, two-year contract with a California-based company a few months ago, and has been testing the system internally.
The service offers subscribers the opportunity to receive information on three different lines, and on escalator and elevator interruptions along those lines. When subscribing, the user can choose what hours of the day they want the notifications so they aren’t inundated with messages that aren’t useful, said Grabauskas.
The service will be free, but people who are signing up for text messages will be charged from their cell-phone provider the normal text message rate.
