MTA E-Mail & Text Alerts Receive Enhancements
The focus on technological advances by the MTA continues to be the theme around here with this latest news. Just a short time ago, the MTA announced enhancements to its e-mail & text messaging service alerts system. Here are the details from the press release I was just sent:
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced enhancements to the email and text message alerts the agency uses to notify customers of changes to subway, bus and rail service. The agency also said it would survey subscribers next month to ask for their help in further enhancing the alerting system to ensure that it does an even better job of providing timely, useful information to help customers make travel plans.
There are two enhancements to the alerting system.
1) Planned Service Changes: The alerting service now allows subscribers to opt to receive information only about planned service changes. Previously, subscribers who had wanted information on planned service changes also automatically received alerts on delays or other unexpected service disruptions. While alerts on unplanned service disruptions can and do appear 24/7, MTA New York City Transit generally sends out information on weekend planned subway service changes on Thursday afternoons.
Subscribers who wish to receive info only on planned service changes should log into their accounts at mymtaalerts.com to update their settings. The recently created default setting provides users with real-time alerts on unplanned service disruptions only, so customers will need to change their profile settings in order to begin receiving updates on planned service changes. New subscribers are able to opt for planned service change information when they create an account.
2) Vacation Suspension: The enhanced service also now allows subscribers to suspend their subscription for a predetermined or indefinite period of time. When the subscription resumes, all of the settings and preferences will be unchanged.
“We are making a number of changes to improve the way we communicate with our customers, from launching an improved website to providing more real-time information for customers on the go,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Jay H. Walder. “And now we are enhancing our email and text message alerts. You can suspend a newspaper subscription when you go on vacation, why shouldn’t you be able to suspend your MTA email and text alerts?”
To enhance the alerting service further, the MTA plans to send out a survey to its 70,000 email and text message alert subscribers in February to ask for advice on how to improve it. While not every idea for an enhancement to the alerting system may be feasible to implement, the MTA hopes to collect ideas about what enhancements may be desirable or useful to users.
For those customers who are still not subscribers, the service is now better then ever – with more ways to tailor the settings so you receive information matching your exact needs and preferences. Now is the time to sign up!
Sign up today to know before you go. Visit mymtaalerts.com to create an account and begin receiving alerts about your subway, bus and/or rail route today!
xoxo Transit Blogger
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