Modern day mobile technology has allowed commuters to grab hold of some old-fashioned phone-treeing.
A little start-up called Clever Commute allows riders to e-mail one another when their trains are delayed.
USA Today brings us the story of New Jersey’s Jim Connors, who “checks his BlackBerry to see whether his train home is on schedule. If not, maybe he’ll take the bus or stay in the city for dinner.”
According to the newspaper, Clever Commute was developed in 2006 by Joshua Crandall, who used to commute from New Jersey into Manhattan each day and grew frustrated that nearly everyone was peering into their Internet-enabled phones yet not communicating with one another.
He got five fellow riders to share their e-mail addresses with him and their observations on traffic.
The system could be coming to Chicago soon, joining potential programs in Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
It could also grow to mean more than trains; buses, ferries, subways and some highways are in the mix to be included.