0

CooCoo Cancels Texting Service

Posted by
on September 5th, 2014 at 4:45 pm

4 1/2 years ago the Long Island Railroad entered into a pilot partnership with text messaging company CooCoo to provide travel information such as scheduled & plans to cell phones. Shortly thereafter the Metro-North joined in as well.

However the times have changed with many riders using smart devices to use real time apps. With that in mind, CooCoo has decided to end the text messaging service as of September 26. Here is more via the MTA:

Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road riders who request train schedules, real-time track assignments and train status updates via text message to 266266 are being advised to switch to smartphone apps as an alternative.

CooCoo, a company that provides text messaging service free of charge to LIRR and Metro-North customers, is ending the service on Friday, September 26. The company is moving away from the text messaging business and shifting to the development of real-time scheduling and fare payment apps for public transportation riders around the country.

“Due to the changing nature of technology and the rising cost of SMS, CooCoo will focus on providing this service to transit riders through mobile applications,” said CooCoo’s Co-Founder, Ryan Thompson.

LIRR and Metro-North riders who use smartphones can continue to get the same information previously available through text messaging by downloading the MTA’s official Train Time apps for Android and iPhone, or by accessing the apps through the web. LIRR Train Time and Metro-North Train Time apps are free, user-friendly, and have been praised for easy functionality by many users. The apps show when the next trains are due at your station, whether each train is running on time, and which track each one is slated to use.

The apps have been downloaded more than 200,000 times since they debuted in December 2013.

I never got to try CooCoo as I always used some form of an app or accessed the site directly from my device. I doubt the service will be missed.

xoxo Transit Blogger

You might enjoy reading these related entries:
Technology
0

Service Diversions 09-05-14

Posted by
on September 5th, 2014 at 9:41 am

Get a head start on your weekend travel plans as I have just updated the Service Diversions through all of next week.

Make sure to follow @TransitBlogger on Twitter by clicking the button in the sidebar as I am using it more often. Also if you are into indie music make sure to follow @IndMusicReview & @SurgeFM!

Have a great weekend!

xoxo Transit Blogger

You might enjoy reading these related entries:
Service Diversions
0

Bedbug Scare On B44

Posted by
on September 4th, 2014 at 4:02 pm

Once again those pesky bedbugs are making an appearance in the transit news world. This time they decided to use their free transfer & hop the B44 in Brooklyn where an alleged sighting led to passengers fleeing the bus. Pete Donohue of the New York Daily News has more:

THE “B” IN B44 stood for bedbugs — or at least a host of passengers thought it did, and hightailed it off the bus following an alleged sighting.

A B44 bus was taken out of service on Monday after a rider spotted what were believed to be bedbugs crawling on another passenger as that person was boarding, according to a Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman.

“Customers all ran off the bus,” a transit source said on Wednesday.

The bus was sent back to the depot so it could be “treated” by the MTA’s pest-control contractor, but no bedbugs were found in the vehicle, said MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz. He could not say where the Brooklyn bus was along the route, which runs between Williamsburg and Sheepshead Bay, when the frenzy struck.

Click here for the complete story.

This is becoming such a big issue now that I expect many more sightings to happen & lead to buses & trains being taken out of service. What can really be done about this problem though? The MTA can only do so much as it is the riders who are bringing these things into the system.

xoxo Transit Blogger

You might enjoy reading these related entries:
Brooklyn, Buses
0

FASTRACK Returns To G On 9/8/14

Posted by
on September 4th, 2014 at 3:48 pm

G Train train riders take note that FASTRACK will be returning this Monday & last through 5 AM Friday. Here are the complete details:

On Monday, September 8, MTA New York City Transit’s FASTRACK program returns to the G line in Brooklyn. G service will be suspended between Bedford-Nostrand Avs and Church Av from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. for four consecutive weeknights from Monday, September 8 to early Friday morning, September 12. Free shuttle buses, and F trains provide alternate service.

Travel alternatives:

• Free shuttle buses operate between Bedford-Nostrand Avs and the Jay St-MetroTech F station making station stops at Classon Av, Clinton-Washington Avs, Fulton St, and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts.

• Transfer between G trains and free shuttle buses at Bedford-Nostrand Avs.

• Take the F for service between Jay St-MetroTech and Church Av.

• Transfer between free shuttle buses and F trains at Jay St-MetroTech.

• A service is also available between Hoyt-Schermerhorn and Jay St-MetroTech.

xoxo Transit Blogger

You might enjoy reading these related entries:
Service Alerts, Service Diversions, Subway
0

LIRR Services Resumes To Belmont Park

Posted by
on September 4th, 2014 at 3:45 pm

Horse racing fans take note that getting to Belmont will once again be easy as the Long Island Railroad resumes service the historic track as of tomorrow. Here are the details:

The thoroughbreds are back from Saratoga and the MTA Long Island Rail Road’s ‘Belmont Special’ is at the starting gate and ready for the fall racing season at beautiful Belmont Park. The LIRR is partnering with The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) again this year to provide regular train service for racing fans for the start of the Fall Meet Friday, September 5, and continuing through October 26. Through the partnership, NYRA is subsidizing the cost of operating the LIRR Belmont service for racing fans.

Belmont Park is only a half-hour train ride from midtown Manhattan and the LIRR’s “Belmont Special” ticket package entitles LIRR customers to a $1 discount off the regular $3 grandstand admission.

First race post time at Belmont will be 1:05 PM from September 5 through September 21 and 12:50 PM from September 24 through October 26. There is no racing on Mondays and Tuesdays, with the exception of Columbus Day, Monday, October 13 when a full racing program is scheduled. There is also no racing on Wednesday, October 15 nor on Wednesday, October 15.

LIRR Service to Belmont Park:

Trains to and from Belmont Park will run at the following times.

Saturdays & Sundays

Eastbound:

• 11:04 AM train from Penn Station, stopping at Woodside at 11:16 AM and Jamaica at 11:29 AM will arrive at Belmont Park at 11:43 AM.

• 11:57 AM train from Penn Station, stopping at Jamaica at 12:20 PM, will connect with the ‘Belmont Special’ train departing Jamaica at 12:30 PM, arriving Belmont Park at 12:43 PM. A connecting train also departs Woodside at 12:03 PM with a transfer at Jamaica.

Westbound:

• 4:41 PM train from Belmont Park stops at Jamaica at 4:58 PM where transfers are available for trains arriving at Woodside at 5:25 PM, and arriving at Penn Station at 5:36 PM.

• 6:12 PM train from Belmont Park, stopping at Jamaica at 6:28 PM, Woodside at 6:39 PM will arrive at Penn Station at 6:49 PM. (Note: The departure time for this train is approximate, since this train is scheduled to depart 30 minutes after the last race. On Jockey Club Gold Cup Day, Saturday, September 28, the last race is at 6:20 PM.)

Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays (and Monday, Oct. 13)

Eastbound:

• 10:58 AM from Penn Station, stopping at Woodside at 11:10 AM and Jamaica at 11:19 AM will arrive at Belmont Park at 11:33 AM.

• 11:40 AM from Penn Station, stopping at Jamaica 12:01 PM, will connect with the ‘Belmont Special’ train departing Jamaica at 12:20 PM, arriving Belmont Park at 12:33 PM. (A connecting train departs Woodside at 11:51 AM with a transfer at Jamaica)

Westbound:

• 3:42 PM from Belmont Park stops at Jamaica at 3:55 PM where a transfer is available for a train arriving at Woodside at 4:12 PM, and arriving at Penn Station at 4:22 PM.

• 6:25 PM train from Belmont Park, stopping at Jamaica at 6:40 PM and Woodside at 6:57 PM will arrive at Penn Station at 7:07 PM. (Note: The departure time for this train is approximate, since this train is scheduled to depart 30 minutes after the last race.)

Buying LIRR Belmont Package Tickets

Belmont Package Tickets are available at LIRR ticket offices as well as from the gray, blue, and green Touch Screen ticket machines at stations – just press the “Deals & Getaways” button on the first screen; then select “Belmont Park.” Payment can be made with cash, ATM/Debit or Credit Cards (blue machines don’t accept cash). The LIRR ticket office at Belmont Station is closed and there are no ticket machines at Belmont.

Weekly and monthly ticket holders can use their tickets for travel to Jamaica and need only purchase a $11 round-trip package ticket at an LIRR station prior to boarding the ‘Belmont Special’ to cover the fare between Belmont Park and Jamaica. Round-trip tickets are not sold on-board trains. A one-way ticket from Jamaica to Belmont, purchased at an LIRR station to use in conjunction with a monthly or weekly ticket, is $7. One-way tickets for travel between Jamaica and Belmont, sold on trains to use in conjunction with a monthly or weekly ticket, are $12.

Buy Your Ticket Before You Board the Train
To avoid higher on-board fares and save time, customers should purchase round-trip tickets in advance. (Please note: CityTicket is not valid for travel to or from Belmont Park.)

LIRR Train Fares to Belmont Park by Zone:

From New York, Brooklyn, and Woodside:

Purchased at Station: One Way – $8.00 / Round-trip- $14.00

Purchased On-Board Train: One Way- $14.00 / Round-trip – Not sold on train

From Jamaica:

Purchased at Station: One Way – $7.00 / Round-trip- $11.00

Purchased On-Board Train: One Way – $12.00 / Round-trip – Not sold on train

Round-trip fares from Long Island with transfer at Jamaica: (not valid on peak trains)

Zone 3 – $11.00 (Rosedale, St. Albans, Queens Village, Hollis)

Zone 4 – $13.00 (Far Rockaway, Lynbrook, Hempstead, Mineola)

Zone 7 – $15.00 (Long Beach, Massapequa, Hicksville, Oyster Bay)

Zone 9 – $18.00 (Babylon, Deer Park, Huntington, Northport)

Zone 10 – $24.00 (Bay Shore, Sayville, Ronkonkoma, Patchogue, Port Jefferson)

LIRR tickets are good for 60 days from date of sale; refundable within 60 days from date of sale and are subject to a $10 refund processing fee per transaction.

Accessibility

The LIRR’s Belmont Station is not wheelchair accessible, and there are no elevators and only limited escalator service. It is necessary to use a staircase to and from most train platforms at Belmont Station.

xoxo Transit Blogger

You might enjoy reading these related entries:
LIRR