Rob's Rants

Update: 4/30/11

About three weeks ago, Parkmobile finally released an update to this app which fixed the Android connectivity issues. So I’ve been able to use it to pay for parking again. That is a big improvement. The Android interface is still cludgy, but it works. The iPhone version seems to be a generation ahead now and it has some additional features that I hope will be trickling down to Android soon. But at least this app works now.

Below is my original post ….

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After trying the Android version of their app this morning I am now beginning to hate them. The iPhone version was always quirky and clunky – but the Android version positively sucks. This morning it won’t load and keeps telling me I’m not connected to the Internet. Which I plainly am since I was reading the newspaper and typing this on the WordPress app just fine.

I even rebooted my phone. Thankfully I had my work iPhone so I used the app on that to pay. But after trying the Android version a dozen or more times today I am willing to declare the Android Parkmobile app: Worst. App. Ever.

The main problem – it works fine on a Wi-Fi connection. But absolutely won’t connect on a mobile data connection. 3G or 4G. And this is not a new problem. Here’s a sample of recent reviews on Absolutely Android:

By: AizikS
I am excited about this app, however it fails to communicate with the network. Tmobile G2, cyanogen 6.1

By: David
Cannot login, even with good 3G signal, it says connection too slow. Therefore, completely useless until they fix.

By: Jay
Not able to login, connection times out even on full bars. Pointless waste of time. Samsung vibrant (galaxy).

By: jefbags
Doesn’t work at all on Android 2.2. Pretty disappointing…

Seriously – it’s a mobile app so connections will be spotty. You have to do better than spinning with no status indicator and then telling the user they aren’t connected when they plainly are.

Total. Fail. And to think, I praised Parkmobile when the MBTA first switched. Shame on me.

Update: 1/13/11
This app still won’t work over a cellular data connection, but I was able to turn on Wi-Fi on the train and complete a parking transaction. And unbelievably, this app is clunkier than the iPhone version. So, bottom line, right now, even if you can get it to work, it’s not pretty. Daily Parkmobile users should use the iPhone version or pay via SMS. This app doesn’t add much value to the process.

Back on July 23^rd the MBTA finally delivered on one of its promises to Commuter Rail riders and instituted an electronic parking payment system. Called ParkMobile, the system is provided by a company called ParkMobile USA based in Atlanta. Using either an iPhone app, a text message, or a phone call, a user can pay for parking over the phone without having to fold a bunch of dollar bills or find a handful of coins to shove through the slots in Commuter Rail parking lots. I wrote about what a pain in the ass this is several months ago and even suggested a business opportunity for someone to alleviate this pain for commuters.

But it looks like the ParkMobile system goes a long way towards fixing the problem. I signed up and started using it the first day it was available, though not without some learning curve. What you need to do is tell them the license plate number of your car, the lot (they call it the zone), and the space number of your car each day. Then they deduct the $4 for parking and that’s it.

My basic review and impressions after two weeks are this: the iPhone app is pretty bad but usable, the customer service is responsive, and the system as a whole is much easier and more convenient than the old manual way.

I’ve used only the iPhone app, so I can’t comment about the text messaging or the phone methods. The app is pretty crude as far as apps go, and it’s slow as a dog, because it appears to need constant communication with the home server for every screen refresh. But, it eventually does what it needs to do. The one major bug I found is that the app doesn’t allow you to remove old license plate numbers once they’re saved, which caused me my first problem using the system (you can remove it via the website, but that’s not the easiest process either). When I first set up the app, I accidentally put a 7 in my license plate number where a 2 should have been. I couldn’t delete the incorrect plate, so I simply entered the correct version too. The next morning, I set up my parking with, you guessed it, the wrong plate number. I realized this almost immediately and then realized a major flaw in the system – you can’t undo a parking transaction either. So, I created another transaction with the correct plate number, and the same space number. When I got to work, I went to the ParkMobile website and sent an e-mail to their support address (there was no phone number). I received a response within a couple of hours and after a little information exchange, they issued a credit, though they said they needed to send it to my house. Strange that they couldn’t credit the credit card that the parking is charged to. But they were responsive nonetheless.

One benefit occurred to me on a day when I was rushing and put down the wrong space number for my car (I entered 48 when my car was actually in 49). I realized this while I was on the train, but decided to take my chances. And when I got back to the station – no fine envelope. My guess is that the parking police get a list of license plates and were able to figure out that I paid and just screwed up the space number. That’s an advantage over the old system for sure. If you put your bills in the wrong slot, you’re out of luck and you’ll get a fine.

So overall I’m very happy that the MBTA finally did something about their 19^th century parking system and gave us a modern option. I for one won’t be using the slots again – ever.

Thanks MBTA. It’s about time!

Last October I wrote about the time I was an idiot and left an expensive jacket with my house and car keys in the pocket on a Commuter Rail train and how MBTA Customer Service handled my problem very efficiently and I ultimately got my stuff back in just a couple of days.

Last week something else worked, so I figured I’d let the world know.

Payment Box (photo from http://www.innismir.net/article/159)

I ride the Commuter Rail most every day and parking is a real pain. Such a pain in fact that I think there is an opportunity for a business  that relieves the misery for daily commuters. For those not familiar with the system, you park your car in a numbered space and then walk to a little payment box where you are supposed to stuff your $4 into a tiny little slot so small that only two bills at a time fit if they’ve been folded in half three times. Then, ideally, you shove the money all the way in using a little metal pusher, but the pusher is usually missing since they are constantly ripped off the little attachment cable by kids with nothing better to do. If you fail to pay, the lot attendant puts a little collection envelope under your wiper and you owe $5, which you need to leave in a special fine box.

Anyway, I usually park in the same row every morning, and because most other daily riders follow their own routines pretty closely, I usually get one of about a half-dozen spaces between #48 and #54. Last Friday morning I got #50. On the way to the little payment box, I reached into my pocket and realized that I didn’t have four $1.00 bills. The best I could come up with was a wrinkled old $5.00 bill. So I figured I’d have to pay $5.00 anyway if I skipped the payment and I put the $5.00 bill in slot #50 and happily boarded my train.

When I returned that evening (in the rain), I found a little fine envelope under my wiper. And I was immediately pissed off. I was absolutely certain that I had put $5 in the box and pretty sure that I put it in the correct slot. And there was no way in hell that I was going to pay a $5 fin on top of the $5 I already paid. No Commuter Rail parking space is worth $10 a day! I checked the receipt (which was soaked from being in the rain) and it had space #50 and my license plate on it. Man was I pissed.

There’s a telephone number on the receipt and I called it first thing Monday morning. I navigated the voicemail to the complaint section, where it transferred me to a guy’s mailbox and instructed me to leave my name, license plate number, and a phone number and they would call me back. I left the message.

The next day: nothing. Not a word from them.

On Wednesday I was really angry. At lunch I was contemplating how I was going to escalate this outrageous injustice! I would call again, but I would start using Google Voice to record every call. And I would keep a log of calls on Google Voice too. Maybe write to my State Rep and Senator. This would not stand!

Around 1:30 my phone rang.

Me: “Hello.”

Caller: “Mr. Havasy, this is [name] from Central Parking. I’m calling regarding the non-payment fine you received last Friday. I’ve looked at our system and can tell that you did pay. Our operators sometimes make mistakes. I’m sorry.”

I was thinking to myself … what? No fights? No arguments? And the guy apologized…

Me: “You can tell I paid.”

Caller: “Yes. Because operators sometimes make mistakes, we have them take a digital picture of the back of the collection box door as soon as they open it. The bins are clear so we can see the contents of each. I can see a payment in slot 50, so you’re all set.”

Me: “Wow. Who knew. I remember because I didn’t have dollar bills that morning …”

Caller: “Yes. If I zoom … hold on … I can see a single $5 bill.”

Me: “Thanks. How can I be sure the ticket is cancelled to I don’t get towed or something.”

Caller: “I have the record on the screen in front of me and I have just cancelled it.”

Me: “Thanks.”

Caller: “You’re welcome. Have a nice day.”

And that was it.

See … sometimes the MBTA does something right. That’s twice in two years now. They’re really improving…

I got stuck at South Station this evening as my train sat on the tracks not moving for twenty minutes past its scheduled departure time. It seemed that the MBCR couldn’t tell me why. My guess is that it had something to with President Obama’s unannounced visit to the MEMA Bunker in Framingham. The T-alert’s e-mail said the delay was because of a Police Action. If that’s the case then there is one seriously paranoid security idiot in charge, because by my calculation the tracks pass only within 2 miles of the bunker and it’s not like someone is going to divert the train. Plus, IT’S A HARDENED NUCLEAR BUNKER. But I’m missing my main point.

This incident got me thinking about how the T handles incidents like this and commuting in general. And they are really bad. So I thought I’d clearly lay out several demands. I thought about declaring this a T-rider’s Bill of Rights, but that seemed a little too extreme. So I guess this my list of minimally reasonable expectations.

The MBTA/MBCR Rider’s List of Reasonable Expectations

1. I expect to be told the reason for a delayed train. Someone knows the reason, and the crew has radios. Put the two together and the result is informed passengers.
2. I expect immediate compensation for a severely delayed train. The current system of filling out a form and waiting for some arbitrary decision to get a tiny little ticket for a free ride is unacceptable. And it doesn’t do a thing for people who travel on a pass every month. When a train is late by more than fifteen minutes the crew should immediately issue refunds to all passengers. Not ride vouchers, not free tickets. Real cash refunds for people who just bought tickets and a convertible-to-cash voucher for people with monthly or 12-ride passes.
3. I expect to be able to change my plans when informed of a delay. This means you open the doors and let me off, even if I’m on a subway. Yes that’s right. There was the story of a Red Line train stopped on the bridge just after the Charles/MGH stop. People sat on the train for 40 minutes. Unacceptable. And I don’t want to hear about any safety issues either, because if you can’t evacuate me safely from a broken train then you can’t do it from a burning one either, and that is a serious problem. If any train is stuck for more than 15 minutes at any point in the system I demand the choice of evacuation so I can walk to where I need to be if necessary.
4. I expect to exit my train at the closest door. Not the closest door you’ve arbitrarily decided to staff today, but the closest door. Open all the doors at all the stops, period. If you have a staffing problem, fix it. Bust your union if you need to or fix your pension problem … but staff the train and open the doors.
5. I expect to board my train when it’s ready, not at some arbitrary time. It is simply ridiculous that passengers are forced to stand in a giant herd at South Station for ten or more minutes until some designated time comes, only to board a train which has been sitting in front of them the whole time. Do us all a favor and just post the track number as soon as the train is empty from the previous run.

Five simple steps to competent service. Post your ideas in the comments.

In case anyone was wondering,the Wi-Fi on the Worcester still sucks. This morning I decided to give it a try again and my connection was dropped three times between Wellesley Hills and Back Bay. What a joke. Perhaps the MBCR should have put the money towards some new equipment. I’ll bet on time trains would attract more new riders than shitty wi-fi. Just a thought.

Getting to know your fellow commuters ...

What the hell is happening on the Worcester-Framingham commuter line these days? Since the holidays ended, I’d swear they’re running some rush hour trains at least a car shorter than before the holiday. I routinely take the P529, 6:15 Worcester train home (and have for over 15 months now) and for the last two weeks at least the damn train is packed to overflowing nearly every night. It was not like this before the holiday season. I have no empirical evidence — I didn’t routinely count the cars in the train every night, but I swear something has changed. Perhaps lot’s of people have made a New Year’s resolution to take the train more. Or perhaps it’s a symptom of the broken-down MBCR/MBTA and the result of too many cars in the shop.

Whatever the reason, it sure makes for a crappy commute.

Like most commuters, I’m pretty hard on the MBTA. So I figured I should write about an incident resulting from my own stupidity and incompenence, where the MBTA’s systems worked well and saved me a bunch of hassle and money.

Basically, a few weeks ago, on one of the first cold days this fall, I grabbed a jacket as I headed out for work. This was the first day of the year that I needed a jacket… I’d like to think this contributed to my boneheaded move on the way home.

I caught the normal Commuter Rail train to Worcester in the afternoon and sat in my normal place in the vestibule of a double-decker car. I threw my jacket on the overhead rack above my head and rode all the way to Grafton. We were 20 minutes late BTW … Anyway, when we stopped a young man who clearly hadn’t ridden the train before slid open the door to the stairs and then looked back at me in a panic – the stairs leading down led only to the chain link fence in between tracks – we had been switched to a different track than normal and the conductor hadn’t adjusted the stairs in our car. So I pointed to the far end of the car where people were getting off and we walked all the way down and made it off the train. I bet you see where this is going … As the train started ro roll out I realized that my jacket was still on the overhead rack. Great.

As I reached the top of the stairs to the parking lot I also realized that my house and car keys were in the pocket of the jacket. Shit.

I called my wife and she agreed to strap our 4 1/2 year-old into the car seat and come rescue me with a spare key to my car. And I started down an MBTA Customer Support odessy that actually worked. Here’s what happened:

1. I got on my cellphone web browser and searched MBTA Customer Service. I found an 800 number and called. (This was at 7:45 PM BTW). I navigated the voicemail and got to “lost items.” A nice woman answered the phone (at almost 8 PM — a real person) and I explained my situation. Good thing #1: real people answered the phone at night.
2. The woman explained that items left on the train, if turned in or found by a conductor would be taken to Lost and Found at South Station. I didn’t believe this, thinking that they must check the train at Worcester, but it turns out that she was absolutely right. She also gave me the phone number and said that if I called and left them a description they would call me back if it was turned in. Good thing #2: the late night Customer Support person gave me correct information immediately.
3. I called the Lost and Found number the woman gave me and left a message as the recording instructed. But I didn’t believe I’d ever see my keys again.
4. Not believing the woman, I got the new keys from my wife and drove to Union Station to see if it might end up there. The night security guy said, “No — all that stuff goes to South Station. And the train already turned and went back to Boston.” So, basically, if I had just waited on the platform in Grafton, the train on which I left the jacket would have come back and I probably could have boarded and grabbed it — but anyway …
5. I went to Lost and Found the next morning at South Station. A very nice young lady helped me and looked to see if anything was turned in to match my description. It wasn’t. But she checked the “log” and lo and behold, my information from the message the previous night was logged. Good thing #3: the information was correct and the voicemail system worked as I was told. The woman also said that it wasn’t uncommon for something found on late night runs by the crew to be turned in late the following day — they often put the stuff in their lockers since Lost & Found was closed at night and turned it in when starting their shift the following day.
6. I didn’t hear from them all day and figured I’d never see my jacket again. On the way home I checked in person and was told that crews might have a day off and it would very likely turn up.
7. Still not hearing anything the next morning, I went and bought a new jacket. Now you know what’s coming right … the next morning I got a call from Lost and Found at South Station. My jacket and keys were turned in. Good thing #4: the honest people at the MBTA actually followed the system and I got my stuff back.

It turns out that the train had been 20 minutes late due to mechanical problems, so when the train made it back to South Station it was taken out of service. The delay in finding my jacket was because it was a maintenance worker who found my jacket after the repairs were done and who turned it in.

So there you go — something at the MBTA worked well. Everyone I spoke to was kind and courteous and gave me correct information. And the system worked to get me my stuff back. See — it’s not all bad!

Taking Advantage of the MBTA’s Terrible Commuter Rail Parking

Here’s an opportunity for an enterprising young (or old) person to make a little money for what doesn’t seem like much effort. Take the idea and run with it … I certainly don’t have time to implement it.

The Premise

The MBTA currently charges $4 per space at Commuter Rail lots (at least at the suburban ones — some close to Boston are more). The payment system is a terrible pain for most people. They currently use payment boxes and numbered spaces — you insert your money into a little slot corresponding to the space you parked in. Of course the slots were designed for the $0.50 fee charged long ago. Now, you need to feed four dollar bills folded tightly into the slot, or four dollar coins, or some combination of coins and bills to reach $4. And that’s where the business comes in.

You see, many people riding the commuter rail aren’t doing it for cost savings, they’re doing it for convenience. And even if there is a savings over parking in the city, the savings is on the order of $10 to $30 a day, so I think people would be willing to give up a little in exchange for some convenience. That’s where the idea comes in.

More Convenient Parking

As much of a pain as it is to stuff four bills or up to 16 quarters into a little slot in the morning, the bigger pain is getting the bills or coins in the first place. Most people with jobs and families don’t have time to go to the bank and get $80 in bills or coins for each month, so we hope that we have enough one dollar bills or quarters around each night to pay the next day. Or we have to bug our spouse or kids to get some change. This is the real pain of the system. Getting the damn change to pay with. And herein lies the opportunity.

The Opportunity

You will sell the service of Commuter Rail Valet. With the proper setup, you will allow people to buy a parking subscription, ideally via Pay Pal to cut down your overhead. Each month my account with you gets topped up, and every morning that I park, I identify my space to you somehow and you take care of putting the fee in the slot. You simply charge a small transaction fee for the service, like $0.50 per day. With a little creativity, the service can be set up so that I don’t even need to deal with parking payments at all each morning — you’ll identify the customers parking in the lot and deposit the payment without need for a check-in or anything. I simply drive to the station and get on the train knowing that you’ve taken care of it.

The Details

To make it lucrative, you’ll only work the three busiest morning times, so you’ll put in no more than three or four hours a day. The current system allows a user not to pay and the fine is essentially $1 – you need to put $5 into the “fine” envelope in the evening. Getting the correct change is such a pain that I watch three or four people a day simply walk past the parking boxes knowing they will pay $5 later. That’s an indication that there is demand for a convenient system.

So, here are some points on how I think this could work:

• Users sign up and agree to a PayPal subscription for monthly parking fees.
• A convenience or service charge is applied to each monthly subscription (I think 25 to 50 cents a day would work).
• Each user is given a sticker for their car.
• Each day after the last busy train but before the parking fee collectors arrive, you will walk the lot and note the customers parked via their stickers.
• You deposit money in the corresponding slot.
• You can offer a fall-back plan as well — let’s say the car with the sticker is in the shop. If a member text messages you before a pre-determined time you can still take care of it.
• Potential Value-Add Service: On a day when it snows, for $5 you can clean their car prior to the evening train! Make it opt-in and print a snowflake or something on their sticker as a reminder.

Customer Benefits (The Sales Pitch)

1. Convenience! No more digging for change or going to the bank. You handle it all.
2. Peace of Mind — late for the train? Hear the wistle blow while you’re still in the lot? No problem — run to the train knowing that parking is all taken care of.
3. Comprehensive Accounting: Provide a year-end receipt of all parking fees paid.
4. Winter Ease — now, when it’s snowing in the morning, people have to either dig to find their space numbers or hope the parking people declare a snow emergency and let them put $4 in the envelope. You can offer to find the number for them!

I think you’d need to offer some kind of money back guarantee — that’s where PayPal comes in. No one (well almost no one) is going to trust you with $120 a month until you’re really established. PayPal gives people some control and guarantee. This way you don’t have to extend credit and they have a dispute resolution mechanism.

My guess is that you could find between 20 and 50 people at a given train station who would sign up for this. With 20 people at $0.50 per day, you should end up with $50 per week in gross profit. Not bad for maybe five hours work during the week and another couple hours on the weekend.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

I’ve decided to move this post to its own page.

It’s hard to know how many MBTA commuters on the Framingham-Worcester line signed up for Clever Commute when it was first launched in Boston. But I think the service could definitely give better information — or at least faster information — when something goes wrong than the MBTA notification system. So I’m challenging myself to actually post when things go wrong for the next 6 months, to see if others pick up on it.

Here’s a case in point:

On 9/10/2009 the P529 6:15pm Worcester train was 12 minutes late arriving in South Station. It didn’t get in until 6:27pm. And then boarding took another 13 minutes, so it left for Back Bay at 6:30pm. During that time, I was able to quickly send three updates on what was happening. How many did the MBTA system send? Zero. Her’s the proof from my mobile inbox:

Clever Commute Beats the MBTA Notification System

The three messages I sent were received back in my inbox at 6:08pm, 6:23pm, and 6:32pm.

So if you were standing on the Back Bay platform wondering what was going on — if you used Clever Commute you would have known. And so would anyone waiting at your station to pick you up.

Let’s see if we can make this work for the next 6 months … Please join and give it a try. Just click the picture above.