While we were working on Embark NYC this summer, we took a trip to the city to get a better sense of how people use mass transit. We rode the subway everywhere, and talked to as many riders as we could. Over and over again, we heard the same thing:

“I hate getting all the way down into a station, only to see one of those paper advisories telling me that my train isn’t actually coming.”

For those of you unfamiliar with such warnings, imagine seeing something like this on your way to work:

(via arvindgrover on Flickr)

As the week went on, it became clear that the system for sharing service changes was broken. And after an infamous 2am encounter with a Q line closure, we immediately set to work on building a better way to share these types of advisories with riders.

Our solution was a push notification system, and it’s currently available in New York, London, and Chicago (Metra). The idea is simple: you tell us which routes you care about, and we’ll let you know when a service change happens on that line.

To turn ON push notifications, first visit the Advisories page by tapping the ‘Advisory’ icon in the bottom right hand corner of the home screen:

Once in Advisories, select “Notification Options” from menu:

To receive push notifications for a particular line, simply turn notifications ON, then select the line you care about by tapping its name. A blue checkmark will appear when you have successfully “subscribed” to that line.

And that’s it! When a new service change is issued on your line, we’ll send you a push notification to let you know. (Note: Currently, advisories are only pushed during commute hours M-F, 7-10 am and 4-7 pm)

We would love to hear your feedback about how our notification system is working for you.

Send us an email!

Happy travels,