MARC riders who have signedup for the e-mail alerts say that far too often, the information is delayed so long that it is not helpful. These alerts are supposed to notify subscribing riders when there are delays or cancellations to a given train or line. Officials at the MTA admit that the system tends to develop a “logjam” when multiple messages are sent out in sequence and say this is what seems to create the delays. The sad thing is that this is the third software program that MARC has used, and it still isn’t right.

Virginia Railway Express also has an e-mail alert system, and it seems to work pretty well — so much so that MARC officials are planning on talking to them about it in hopes that it will solve their problems.