Talking Buses
 

Im sure they have them in other places.
But in Yorkshire some of Arriva's buses announce the name of the next
stop in an audio annoucement and a visual supply. I think this is such
a good idea. Especially if travelling to somewhere your not sure where
your go. But surely in London with the high number of visitors who may
know where they are going but not sure when they get there. Surely
with all the brand new buses being introduced no-one thought to
introduce that?
I was on one bus. Im not sure of the number. But was travelling from
Liverpool Street via City to Picadilly area and they have a screen
showing news and a program about underwater life. Surely this could be
used to display the next stop before you get there?

Talking Buses
 

On 16 Feb 2004 09:20:51 -0800,
CJG Now Thankfully Living In The North
wrote in :
Im sure they have them in other places.
But in Yorkshire some of Arriva's buses announce the name of the next
stop in an audio annoucement and a visual supply. I think this is such
a good idea. Especially if travelling to somewhere your not sure where
your go. But surely in London with the high number of visitors who may
know where they are going but not sure when they get there. Surely
with all the brand new buses being introduced no-one thought to
introduce that?

Some of the buses in Geneva do this; I'm not sure how many, but the
Number 9 out to Meyrin/CERN/etc certainly does. I haven't seen them confused
very often, unlike the Northern Line trains that sometimes display stations
as if they were heading in the other direction or along another branch...

--
Ivan Reid, Electronic & Computer Engineering, ___ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Room 40-1-B12, CERN
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".

Talking Buses
 

"Dr Ivan D. Reid" wrote in message
...
On 16 Feb 2004 09:20:51 -0800,
CJG Now Thankfully Living In The North
wrote in :
Im sure they have them in other places.
But in Yorkshire some of Arriva's buses announce the name of the next
stop in an audio annoucement and a visual supply. I think this is such
a good idea. Especially if travelling to somewhere your not sure where
your go. But surely in London with the high number of visitors who may
know where they are going but not sure when they get there. Surely
with all the brand new buses being introduced no-one thought to
introduce that?

Some of the buses in Geneva do this; I'm not sure how many, but the
Number 9 out to Meyrin/CERN/etc certainly does. I haven't seen them
confused
very often, unlike the Northern Line trains that sometimes display
stations
as if they were heading in the other direction or along another branch...

A lot of Japanese buses do this, plus a display of the stop name. In Kyoto
routes which go to tourist spots also repeat in English.

Talking Buses
 

On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 17:51:16 +0000, Orienteer wrote:

A lot of Japanese buses do this, plus a display of the stop name. In Kyoto
routes which go to tourist spots also repeat in English.

As do the newer ones in Hamburg, with most being retrofitted.

AFAIAC, this should be a requirement for all new buses, together
with front, side and rear blinds of sufficient size (and preferably orange
LED). It helps no end for those who are not familiar with the route -
especially in London, where many passengers are not "locals". It can be
done reasonably well without expensive technology like GPS by interlocking
with the ticket machines.

To reduce complexity, we could have the driver announce the stop name by
means of a hands-free microphone, and save the technology for the display.

Neil

Talking Buses
 

On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 17:31:33 +0000, Dr Ivan D. Reid wrote:


Some of the buses in Geneva do this; I'm not sure how many, but the
Number 9 out to Meyrin/CERN/etc certainly does. I haven't seen them confused
very often, unlike the Northern Line trains that sometimes display stations
as if they were heading in the other direction or along another branch...

I know that bus well.
I wonder if it is a simple case of the driver pressing a button at each
stop?

Also look at the small TV monitors which show the door entrances to the
driver - they cut out when the bus is moving.

Talking Buses
 

Orienteer wrote:

A lot of Japanese buses do this, plus a display of the stop name. In Kyoto
routes which go to tourist spots also repeat in English.

Really?
I was in Kyoto about one year ago and, as far as I recall, English
announcements and displays were only on the subway. Inside the buses
only Kanji signs were displayed, and the drivers' calls were a bit hard
to understand. Was there a recent improvement, btw?

Over here in Germany, city buses displaying or announcing the next stop
have become quite common over the last few years, too, and it's working
quite well.
I suppose that getting out-of-sync problem will be resolved when
GPS-based telematic systems are introduced more widely.

Talking Buses
 

On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 19:39:31 +0000, John Hearns
wrote in :
On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 17:31:33 +0000, Dr Ivan D. Reid wrote:

Some of the buses in Geneva do this; I'm not sure how many, but the
Number 9 out to Meyrin/CERN/etc certainly does. I haven't seen them confused
very often, unlike the Northern Line trains that sometimes display stations
as if they were heading in the other direction or along another branch...

I know that bus well.
I wonder if it is a simple case of the driver pressing a button at each
stop?

I thought it was somehow automated, but I forget which snippet
of observation led to that conclusion.

Also look at the small TV monitors which show the door entrances to the
driver - they cut out when the bus is moving.

Yes, I'd noticed them. It's also noticeable that, except for a
couple of very minor request-only stops (Maisonnex, Pommeries), the bus
pauses at every stop regardless of whether or not passengers are waiting or
alighting. Then there's the curious fact of the timestamp on the tickets
always being a couple of minutes early...

--
Ivan Reid, Electronic & Computer Engineering, ___ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Room 40-1-B12, CERN

Talking Buses
 

Talking Buses
 

Talking Buses
 

"Joachim Harter" wrote in message
...
Orienteer wrote:

A lot of Japanese buses do this, plus a display of the stop name. In
Kyoto
routes which go to tourist spots also repeat in English.

Really?
I was in Kyoto about one year ago and, as far as I recall, English
announcements and displays were only on the subway. Inside the buses
only Kanji signs were displayed, and the drivers' calls were a bit hard
to understand. Was there a recent improvement, btw?

No, they've had it for some time, at least three years. And the clear
announcements are recorded in a woman's voice, not made by the driver. What
is new is the introduction of low floor buses, and some semi-automatic and
fully automatic transmissions. While the customer service is relatively
advanced, with electro-mechanical displays of when the next bus is coming on
most bus stops, the bus technology itself is way behind Europe's, it seems.