CorridorCommute Blog

This morning, I’d like to introduce CorridorSpeed, a derivative of CorridorCommute.  CorridorSpeed is a special feed with updates specifically tailored with information about speed traps and automated ticketing areas.  Like CorridorCommute, all content is created by users in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, and surrounding communities.

CorridorSpeed is available today on Twitter, and will soon also be available at speed.corridorcommute.com.  Support will also be included in the recently announced iPhone app.

Over the past year, CorridorCommute.com and its Twitter feed have seen great growth in followers and popularity.  It has been exciting to see how the community has embraced the service, and how local media groups have helped expand its audience.  While observing how the community has shaped the service, it became clear there was a special need for speed-related news and updates.  These updates are similar to others found on CorridorCommute, but may be more frequent and target different audiences, which made creating CorridorSpeed a logical next step.

Contribution (#csu)

Today, all current CorridorCommute contributors are also contributors on CorridorSpeed. Similar to how CorridorCommute uses a magic hashtag (#ccu) for flagging tweets as for-CorridorCommute, CorridorSpeed employs a similar mechanism.  Users who would like a tweet to be captured by CorridorSpeed should include #csu (“CorridorSpeed Update”) at the end of the message.  For more details on how the hashtag capture process works, please check out this blog post.

If you’d like to start contributing to CorridorSpeed, please  send an email to corridorcommute -at- gmail -dot- com.  Currently, contributions are only possible through Twitter, so please include your Twitter username.

As always, I’d appreciate any and all feedback.  Please send questions / comments to the previously mentioned email address.

Things have been quiet for the past year or so on this blog, so it’s time to change that.  I’ve been working on some updates for CorridorCommute that I hope you will all enjoy.

Twitter Contribution

The biggest change is how Twitter users contribute to CorridorCommute.  In the past, users had to “mention” CorridorCommute by including “@CorridorCommute” in their tweets.  Now, users simply include “#ccu” in their tweets.  The following tweet will be reposted to CorridorCommute:

Traffic on 380 NB near Quaker Oats at a standstill #ccu

Mentioning @CorridorCommute no longer causes a CorridorCommute update. The following tweet will not be posted to the CorridorCommute account:

If you drive in the Cedar Rapids or Iowa City areas, you should check out @CorridorCommute

This change makes it possible to share @CorridorCommute without having your tweet rebroadcast to all of CorridorCommute (as demonstrated above).

Theses changes for Twitter users are now in effect.

Other Upcoming Changes

• iPhone Application – this app will allow you to submit updates, check the latest updates, and even receive push notifications when new updates are posted.
• GPS-enabled posts – when users post updates and include GPS coordinates, those will be included in all update distributions.

The iPhone and GPS-enabled posts are in the works. Updates will be posted here and on the Twitter feed when they’re available.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to get in contact with me: corridorcommute@gmail.com.