May 10 & 11 5pm-9pm
Spring Show 2005
721 Broadway
at Waverly Place
4th Floor
South Elevators
New York, NY 10003
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| SubAlerts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Author(s): | Karen Bonna | |
| Instructor: | Shirky, Clay | |
| Class: | Final Project Seminar | |
| URL: | http://www.subalerts.com | |
| Keywords: | mobile technology, trains, subway, alert, cell phone, sms, text | |
| SubAlerts is a mobile subway alert system designed to help riders use their time more efficiently. | ||
| SubAlerts will alert subway passengers about the status of their subway service using text messaging as a platform. Once a rider tells us what information he or she wants about his or her subway lines— whether service advisories, schedules, or line information— this system will send the requested information the user’s phone within one minute. In a nod to the communal experience that commuting on the subway everyday can be, users can also offer other people within their subway community information about train service, in hopes of helping them avoid the same unplanned train troubles. | ||
| Personal Statement: | Useful information is not always packaged in a way that allows it to be used to its fullest potential. This idea drew me to analyze the current subway communication system because I discovered most people do not think about their commute until they are already in motion, yet the data that could help ease their journeys is only accessible from home or at the subway station. Offering subway riders a chance to obtain such information when they are away from their computers, yet before they arrive at a subway station by pushing content to their mobile phones will give riders an opportunity to use their time more efficiently and make informed decisions about their travels. My goal in building SubAlerts is to help users avoid both scheduled and unexpected delays and inconveniences of riding with the MTA on a daily basis. | |
| Audience: | Passengers of the NYC Subway. | |
| User Scenario: | You\'re sitting at a bar on the Lower East Side on a Thursday night with some friends. You know you want to catch the F train at Delancey street before it gets too late and you feel more comfortable grabbing a cab back to Brooklyn, but you also know you would like to finish your drink. When should you take off for the train? Send a request to SubAlerts to find out if there is time to finish your drink or take off before the trains start arriving every 30 minutes rather than every 8. | |
| Conclusions: | In presenting the concept of a mobile alert system for the New York City subway service throughout the course of this semester, one of the questions that arose from many reviewers, was “Why is New York’s subway so behind? If Milan and London already have systems offering real time information about their train service, why can’t New York?” There are political issues, but more importantly with the subway falling into heightened despair in recent years, the MTA may feel financially bound to fix the train service instead of investing time and money into a mobile project unrelated to the quality of the train service. If the MTA could look past the larger problems at hand for a moment, and review some of the smaller issues they might find that communicating with their passengers about current service conditions, particularly the unexpected problems not issued weekly, could increase their passengers’ patience with the flaws of the current subway service, rather than loosing trust in their public transportation. Making small changes in a system could potentially make a large impact in the overall outcome. The MTA needs to show the commuter that they care about them and that they take pride in the work they do. | |