MIG wrote:
wrote:
It got me thinking, wouldn't it be a good investment by TFL to
replace all those whiteboards with centrally controlled electronic
signboards that do not rely on chinese whispers for the
information to get to the station staff, and do not rely on staff,
who are probably overworked by this stage answering questions from
desparate commuters, having the time to keep them up to date? I
have seen some electronic versions so maybe this is already
happening, but I'm not sure if they're centrally controlled.
Absolutely not, sorry. If information is provided by a person,
with a whiteboard marker or whatever, at least it's information.
The garbage spewed out by bug-ridden computer systems is not
information. It's just mindless response to various inputs whose
complexities and implications are not adequately predicted in the
programs.
"Centrally controlled" doesn't have to mean that the information is
computer-generated. The current system relies on someone centrally
generating information (e.g. that SWT trains had started running again
from Waterloo, in this example) and passing it out by whatever means to
stations, whose staff then update whiteboards etc. If the transmission
could be direct to electronic displays in the stations, it would be more
up-to-date.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)