Is Countdown usually this confused?
 

I arrived at a bus stop in front of King's Cross station this morning
planning to catch a 45 or 46 to Grays Inn Road. The 63 also calls at the
same stop but my destination was further from Farringdon Road so it seemed
better to stick to the Grays Inn Road routes.

When I arrived the first two buses shown on the Countdown screen were a 45
and a 46 (or vice versa) due in 4 or 5 minutes. Then a 63 appeared on the
screen as "due" and disappeared again. A few minutes later a 63 bus did
appear but wasn't showing on Countdown at all. Then a 45 showed as due and
disappeared without a bus turning up. No 45 or 46 bus came but it showed
several due in the next 5 minutes or so.

Then suddenly the screen changed, just after the 63 had left, with three
45s or 46s due, but only in 12 minutes! Then a 45 appeared after a couple
of minutes with Countdown showing the next bus due in 10 minutes.

?Que?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Is Countdown usually this confused?
 

On Nov 27, 6:38*pm, wrote:
I arrived at a bus stop in front of King's Cross station this morning
planning to catch a 45 or 46 to Grays Inn Road. The 63 also calls at the
same stop but my destination was further from Farringdon Road so it seemed
better to stick to the Grays Inn Road routes.

When I arrived the first two buses shown on the Countdown screen were a 45
and a 46 (or vice versa) due in 4 or 5 minutes. Then a 63 appeared on the
screen as "due" and disappeared again. A few minutes later a 63 bus did
appear but wasn't showing on Countdown at all. Then a 45 showed as due and
disappeared without a bus turning up. No 45 or 46 bus came but it showed
several due in the next 5 minutes or so.

Then suddenly the screen changed, just after the 63 had left, with three
45s or 46s due, but only in 12 minutes! Then a 45 appeared after a couple
of minutes with Countdown showing the next bus due in 10 minutes.

?Que?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Yes.

Is Countdown usually this confused?
 

In article ,
(Paul Corfield) wrote:

On Sat, 27 Nov 2010 12:38:34 -0600,
wrote:

I arrived at a bus stop in front of King's Cross station this morning
planning to catch a 45 or 46 to Grays Inn Road. The 63 also calls at
the same stop but my destination was further from Farringdon Road so it
seemed better to stick to the Grays Inn Road routes.

When I arrived the first two buses shown on the Countdown screen were a
45 and a 46 (or vice versa) due in 4 or 5 minutes. Then a 63 appeared
on the screen as "due" and disappeared again. A few minutes later a 63
bus did appear but wasn't showing on Countdown at all. Then a 45 showed
as due and disappeared without a bus turning up. No 45 or 46 bus came
but it showed several due in the next 5 minutes or so.

Then suddenly the screen changed, just after the 63 had left, with
three 45s or 46s due, but only in 12 minutes! Then a 45 appeared after
a couple of minutes with Countdown showing the next bus due in 10
minutes.

?Que?

Yes it can get confused. My guess is that because the 45 and 63 start
one stop earlier at St Pancras International there is something odd
about how it deals with reality against possibly using a scheduled
departure time (i.e. the timetable). I may, of course, be talking
complete nonsense!

I happened to see that the Countdown displays on Oxford Street outside
John Lewis were all happily displaying bus arrival times even though the
entire street was closed for the VIP event and no bus will turn up for
about another 2 hours!

The Cambridge real time bus information displays do distinguish real time
from timetable information which does reduce the confusion. Minutes to go
mean there is real time data, a clock time means it's just in the
timetable.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Is Countdown usually this confused?
 

On Sat, 27 Nov 2010 19:29:26 +0000, Paul Corfield
wrote:
On Sat, 27 Nov 2010 12:38:34 -0600,
wrote:

I arrived at a bus stop in front of King's Cross station this morning
planning to catch a 45 or 46 to Grays Inn Road. The 63 also calls at the
same stop but my destination was further from Farringdon Road so it seemed
better to stick to the Grays Inn Road routes.

When I arrived the first two buses shown on the Countdown screen were a 45
and a 46 (or vice versa) due in 4 or 5 minutes. Then a 63 appeared on the
screen as "due" and disappeared again. A few minutes later a 63 bus did
appear but wasn't showing on Countdown at all. Then a 45 showed as due and
disappeared without a bus turning up. No 45 or 46 bus came but it showed
several due in the next 5 minutes or so.

Then suddenly the screen changed, just after the 63 had left, with three
45s or 46s due, but only in 12 minutes! Then a 45 appeared after a couple
of minutes with Countdown showing the next bus due in 10 minutes.

?Que?

Yes it can get confused. My guess is that because the 45 and 63 start
one stop earlier at St Pancras International there is something odd
about how it deals with reality against possibly using a scheduled
departure time (i.e. the timetable). I may, of course, be talking
complete nonsense!

Could there have been a diversion? I've experienced similar behaviour
from Countdown in Broad Green, Croydon while waiting for a northbound
60. There was one due within five minutes but disappeared from the
display, as did other routes' buses when their due times dropped to
3-4 mins or so. A 60 arrived about ten minutes later which was
consistent with it 'going the wrong way', and dropping off the radar
near West Croydon station, and its physical reappearance on the
correct route at a junction near me. A travel bulletin on the radio
announced that an earlier shooting had resulted in road closures in
the area.

I happened to see that the Countdown displays on Oxford Street outside
John Lewis were all happily displaying bus arrival times even though the
entire street was closed for the VIP event and no bus will turn up for
about another 2 hours!

Please say there were people queueing, looking at their watches and
tutting!

Is Countdown usually this confused?
 

On Nov 28, 12:03*am, wrote:

In article ,
(Paul Corfield) wrote:
[Countdown]
Yes it can get confused. *My guess is that because the 45 and 63 start
one stop earlier at St Pancras International there is something odd
about how it deals with reality against possibly using a scheduled
departure time (i.e. the timetable). *I may, of course, be talking
complete nonsense!

I happened to see that the Countdown displays on Oxford Street outside
John Lewis were all happily displaying bus arrival times even though the
entire street was closed for the VIP event and no bus will turn up for
about another 2 hours!

The Cambridge real time bus information displays do distinguish real time
from timetable information which does reduce the confusion. Minutes to go
mean there is real time data, a clock time means it's just in the
timetable.

Are some buses just not plugged into the system at all in Cambridge
though?

Is Countdown usually this confused?
 

In message , at 18:03:57
on Sat, 27 Nov 2010, remarked:
I happened to see that the Countdown displays on Oxford Street outside
John Lewis were all happily displaying bus arrival times even though the
entire street was closed for the VIP event and no bus will turn up for
about another 2 hours!

The Cambridge real time bus information displays do distinguish real time
from timetable information which does reduce the confusion. Minutes to go
mean there is real time data, a clock time means it's just in the
timetable.

That's a display convention used all over the country.
--
Roland Perry

Is Countdown usually this confused?
 

In article ,
(Lewis A) wrote:

On Sat, 27 Nov 2010 19:29:26 +0000, Paul Corfield
wrote:
On Sat, 27 Nov 2010 12:38:34 -0600,
wrote:

I arrived at a bus stop in front of King's Cross station this morning
planning to catch a 45 or 46 to Grays Inn Road. The 63 also calls at
the same stop but my destination was further from Farringdon Road so
it seemed better to stick to the Grays Inn Road routes.

When I arrived the first two buses shown on the Countdown screen were
a 45 and a 46 (or vice versa) due in 4 or 5 minutes. Then a 63
appeared on the screen as "due" and disappeared again. A few minutes
later a 63 bus did appear but wasn't showing on Countdown at all. Then
a 45 showed as due and disappeared without a bus turning up. No 45 or
46 bus came but it showed several due in the next 5 minutes or so.

Then suddenly the screen changed, just after the 63 had left, with
three 45s or 46s due, but only in 12 minutes! Then a 45 appeared after
a couple of minutes with Countdown showing the next bus due in 10
minutes.

?Que?

Yes it can get confused. My guess is that because the 45 and 63 start
one stop earlier at St Pancras International there is something odd
about how it deals with reality against possibly using a scheduled
departure time (i.e. the timetable). I may, of course, be talking
complete nonsense!

Could there have been a diversion? I've experienced similar behaviour
from Countdown in Broad Green, Croydon while waiting for a northbound
60. There was one due within five minutes but disappeared from the
display, as did other routes' buses when their due times dropped to
3-4 mins or so. A 60 arrived about ten minutes later which was
consistent with it 'going the wrong way', and dropping off the radar
near West Croydon station, and its physical reappearance on the
correct route at a junction near me. A travel bulletin on the radio
announced that an earlier shooting had resulted in road closures in
the area.

I doubt it, honestly. The routes mainly start at King's Cross and there
were no signs of any on the route.

I happened to see that the Countdown displays on Oxford Street outside
John Lewis were all happily displaying bus arrival times even though
the entire street was closed for the VIP event and no bus will turn up
for about another 2 hours!

Please say there were people queueing, looking at their watches and
tutting!

No. There wasn't more than one other waiting with me. Most people got on
the 63. If you're going to Blackfriars as I more often am at that point,
it's just as good as the 45.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Is Countdown usually this confused?
 

On Nov 28, 10:35*am, wrote:

In article ,
(Lewis A) wrote:

On Sat, 27 Nov 2010 19:29:26 +0000, Paul Corfield
wrote:

I happened to see that the Countdown displays on Oxford Street outside
John Lewis were all happily displaying bus arrival times even though
the entire street was closed for the VIP event and no bus will turn up
for about another 2 hours!

Please say there were people queueing, looking at their watches and
tutting!

No. There wasn't more than one other waiting with me. Most people got on
the 63. If you're going to Blackfriars as I more often am at that point,
it's just as good as the 45.

Or, indeed, south of the river - they run parallel from same route
from under Holborn Viaduct down to Elephant & Castle. They're used by
some commuters as a nifty way of getting to points north from
Southwark tube station.

The top-deck of the 63 provides some good views of the TL works at
Farringdon and also Blackfriars (if you cross the bridge on it).

Is Countdown usually this confused?
 

On Sun, 28 Nov 2010 09:56:13 +0000, Roland Perry
wrote:

That's a display convention used all over the country.

Except Milton Keynes, apparently. Another reason why it's a broken
waste of money.

Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK
To reply put my first name before the at.

Is Countdown usually this confused?
 

In message , at 11:05:26 on
Sun, 28 Nov 2010, Neil Williams
remarked:
That's a display convention used all over the country.

Except Milton Keynes, apparently. Another reason why it's a broken
waste of money.

What's different about Milton Keynes - the only variation that would
qualify as broken is a countdown based on the timetable rather than
actual running.
--
Roland Perry