Posts Tagged ‘apps’

Happy New Year, it has already started with much activities for those who Commute Greener!
In dedicated communities, with Facebook connections, with Iphone, Google Play or in other directions to the right way, with more and more real-life rewards
www.CommuteGreener.com

Join, share and enjoy!
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We have all been there. It is cold, wet, dark and the clock is ticking. Got to get to work in time. Where the heck is that bus!

Isn’t it annoying not to know when the public transportation option of your choice will arrive? Trains are somewhat more on time then buses because they don’t get stuck in traffic, but they can still run late. Accurate information of when transportation will arrive can save a LOT of complaining and irritation as well as making public transportation a bit more attractive.

Gothemburg and many other cities around the world have solved that with real time information screens at the transit points. And guess what, it helps a lot in planning ones journeys. But with the introduction of hand held computers with so many uses and applications that you often forget you can actually call people with them, aka smart-phones, comes new possibilities. The Norwegians have started using QR-codes read by a camera mobile that give you arrival times as well as departure times and other goodies by scanning a strip of paper (much like scanning an items code in the store). Quick and effective. Quite well covered to, with over 1000 stops in the system… Talk about a big project for a small country.

You can also find apps of all kinds for planning your public transportation journey nowadays. In other words, if you have a smartphone, not knowing where and how to take the bus is no good reason to drive short distances any more! Not only that, but think of how much easier this could make moving around in a new city. I know I would have loved a journey planner inmy cellphone when I moved to the big city;)

It will be exciting to see how the public transportation companies around the world can adopt to our modern hi-tech IT society. Do you have any tips of good journey planner apps? Come on, don’t be shy, tell us about it, either here or at facebook

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Fredrik

So, you have decided to pick up on yesterdays advise, to try commuting by bus. Hopefully you have already done your homework and know a bit about the pay system and which routes that are the fastest. You get up in the morning.  And quickly realize a couple of things.

1. You have to plan your mornings to get to the bus stop in time.
2. While on the bus, you have some 20+ minutes of downtime.

This scenario isn’t uncommon. I mean, of course you aren’t used to downtime when driving to work every day. Driving a car require constant attention if nothing else. Listening to music or making a phone call can kill the time in long ques.

But on the bus, or commuter train/rail you just sit there. Therefore it quickly gets boring. Right?

I am amazed of how crafty transit-commuters are when it comes to occupying themselves. My favorite things to do on the commute include reading, listening to music, work, chatting with the passenger next to me or maybe doing a bit of surfing the net. I think it’s time to update the “what to do on the commute” list from way back. So without further delays;

1. Play with your smartphone. There are so many apps, games and opportunities. You decide what you like best. A tip from Magnus (managing director of Commute Greener!) is this one. And this is no surprise either I hope:)
2. Read a book. I don’t know how many hours and books my commute have devoured. May I recommend the millennium series by Stieg Larsson (the books “the girl with the dragon tatu” movie is based upon)
3. Catch up on the news. Yea, let’s move on.
4. Eat breakfast or get the morning coffee. Only if it is allowed though.
5. For all the ladies out there who like to put some makeup on in the morning; why not save some time in the morning and do it during the commute? Quite common, and I’m amazed with how the ladies here parry the bumping bus all the time.
6. Facebook or twitter the time away. Most people have a phone that can take it, so why not? Just don’t miss your stop.
7. Get to know people. Many are quite friendly, so why not discuss the news, or sports? If you commute with co-workers, why not getting to know them better?
8. Watch some youtube-clips, if you have a laptop or phone that can manage it. Hey if we have to drag all this technology along, why not use it.
9. Count cars with a single occupant, and feel smug when you glide by long car lanes in the bus lane.
10. Get some work done. Yea, it is boring but it passes time and may let you get home a bit earlier. I have never heard anyone complain about that.

Basic stuff. I bet you can find hundreds of things to do to use all that free-time. So Once again get to it. Keep commuting greener!

Fredrik