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One suggestion I was thinking about is has P11 ever considered setting up a text messaging service with a number people can text incidents and complaints to as well as sending updates and so on to commuters? For many people this would be easier and more practical than emailing P11 or posting messages to the board as they are on the go when a lot of this garbage happens
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I like the idea of this, or at least the principle of it.
Now, I know 5???? numbers cost a fortune (though if there was enough demand for it, a number that charged 50c per text, with the proceeds going to P11 coffers would be a nice idea), so I think we can rule that out for the moment.
However most phones these days support both text-to-email and WAP. If we could encourage people to store a P11 email address in their phone and send a message to it whenever they got stuck on a train, and have it automatically appear on a web page.
Alternatively, how about a WAP site that tracked real time incidents. How often have you been stuck on a train with no information? Wouldn't it be great if you could check on your phone and see if there are lots of other reports on the same line, or if the problem is isolated to your train, or if other travellers have received better information than you. I think people would be more willing to post incidents if they could do it as it was happening rather than after the event, and it would really put IE's reporting to shame.
It would also allow more helpful collection of data through a pre-canned form (which would also help minimise the amount of typing on a phone keypad). You have people select things like the line they were on, direction they were travelling, nearest station, time delayed and explanation for delay from lists and only require a short text description.
It would also be a great way to get publicity for P11. As far as I know, you can send a hyperlink in a text message, so commuters could be encouraged to pass on the address to their commuting friends.
Of course it would require some development time, but at least it's using easy and cheap web technology.
Sorry if this idea is too off the wall, but I think it's worth thinking about.
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fire an XSL transform at IE's web page to turn it into WML , then add P11 updates as needed.
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A nice idea, except that the information on IE's website thends to be rubbish I think we would get a much better response from the travelling public.