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The last few weeks have seen a slow but steady flow of new net-based services for frustrated commuters. First came TTCupdates (TTCu for short), created by former Torontoist contributor Brian Gilham, which takes service alerts from the Toronto Transit Commission's RSS feed and posts them to Twitter. The TTC itself followed suit yesterday, albeit in a slightly more old-fashioned way, with the launch of its e-alert service. Now comes TTCupdates Community Edition, which takes the basic idea behind TTCu and gives it a democratized twist.
Instead of relying on information from the TTC, TTCu Community Edition lets commuters get service alerts straight from their fellow passengers—and share their own information on disruptions as well. To send in an update, simply post the information to your Twitter account and include the #ttcu hashtag in your tweet. TTCu compiles all tweets with the #ttcu tag every five minutes and posts them to the Community Edition page on Twitter.
"The biggest flaw with TTCu used to be that it relied on official word from the TTC," says Gilham. "Now, every transit user in Toronto can help everyone get around a little easier." So far there are only a few subscribers to the new service. But as more frustrated commuters start tweeting disruption details to TTCu Community Edition, Gilham says, the better it will get.
To subscribe to TTCupdates Community Edition, visit twitter.com/ttcu_community.
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Thanks for shining a light on TTCu Community Edition, Jerad, I appreciate it! I really hope that it will become a valuable resource for everyone who relies on the TTC in Toronto.
It's a super idea... the whole hashtag twitter idea... and thanks Brian for implementing it... it's too bad that twitter has suspended receiving sms alerts in canada (we can still send them) - which means we can all text about what's going on with the ttc through our cellphones, but we can't use our phones to gather the info. :(
I know, it's really unfortunate. I'm working on a few different solutions for that particular problem, but I'm waiting to see if they pan out before announcing anything. Hopefully, for now, people can make due with the site and the Twitter account.
I appreciate the kind words!
I'm just waiting for an idiot to come along and send some sort of junk, profanity, or spam as a "service alert".
That is, if this is completely automated.
Of course, that's a concern with any automated system like this. I monitor the feed, and can block any abusive Twitter account from posting to it.
It's also the reason there's a disclaimer at the top of the community page -- people have to realize that an "open-to-all" system could, unfortunately, mean the idiots as well. They have to be ready for that. In my mind, blindly following alerts from strangers is as beneficial as having no alerts at all. But, used as a guide combined with a liberal dose of common sense, they can be helpful.
Of course, that's a concern with any automated system like this. I monitor the feed, and can block any abusive Twitter account from posting to it.
It's also the reason there's a disclaimer at the top of the community page -- people have to realize that an "open-to-all" system could, unfortunately, mean the idiots as well. They have to be ready for that. In my mind, blindly following alerts from strangers is as beneficial as having no alerts at all. But, used as a guide combined with a liberal dose of common sense, they can be helpful.