Now we have talking buses - like the
Transdev's H98. This not only announces the next bus stop, but also
stupid requests such as don't forget to take all your belongings with
you, etc. Its almost as bad as the FGW buses stating the obvious such
as 'the doors are now opening/closing.' It makes me want to turn my
Walkman up really loud to stop hearing these inane and nanny state
announcements. CJB.

What a stupid comment to make.

As any fool knows, the biggest inherant flaw that has always existed on bus
travel is that someone travelling to a destination they have not been to
before has no idea when or where the stop they require is, and relying on
the driver to remember to tell you is unreasonable.

Example: I know that a bus route passes a road that I want to go to, but on
the bus I have no idea where it is other then, perhaps, a timetabled time.
And if I ever did notice my destination, by the time I pressed the bell I
would probably have missed it.

The stupid announcements you may have a point with, but next stop
announcements makes far more sense to have on Buses then on trains.

Best Wishes,
LEWIS

On Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:13:03 -0800 (PST), Mr Thant
wrote:

On 17 Dec, 17:31, (Neil Williams)
wrote:
The version I've seen (on the 73 and 168) doesn't have any such
announcements - its vocabulary is just a list of stops, the number and
the destination. I do hope the rolled-out version doesn't have all
the rubbish added.

I've not heard any nagging either (on the 123).

Oh a fellow 123 user.

I have heard a range of announcements but only used sparingly. I know
some people have been on buses where it seems a never ending stream of
messages was allowed to run. I might not have the exact text correct
below but they give the right flavour.

The helpful extra messages on the 123 have been :-

"Passengers cannot alight at the next stop as the stop is closed" - this
was correct as the stop was oos due to roadworks.

"Please move right down inside the bus" - this at a stop where the bus
is often overloaded.

"There are seats available on the upper deck" - played after the message
just above as an encouragement for people to make space.

"The Victoria Line service is suspended. Please choose an alternative
route" - the line was suspended so this was good real time information.
I was quite shocked to see a Tube reference on a bus.

"Please do not play your music loudly" - this was out of context as the
bus was silent at the time!

"This bus is now being diverted" - used when the bus route was subject
to a long diversion due to a traffic accident.

I actually don't have an issue with these messages being used in
context. They are helpful in terms of showing the driver is "managing"
his bus or to help passengers cope with disruption on the transport
system.

I understand why people are fed up with lots of noise but I think the
I-Bus concept is very good and will be a genuine aid to people given
that the stop names tie up directly with names on bus stop flags and in
the TfL Journey Planner. Once people can tie the three elements
together to help them get about London then I think it will be seen as a
boon. Now if only it was a bit more reliable - that's the problem with
being the first garage (Tottenham) to trial the system.

--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

The version I've seen (on the 73 and 168) doesn't have any such
announcements - its vocabulary is just a list of stops, the number and
the destination. I do hope the rolled-out version doesn't have all
the rubbish added.


For the most part the announcements are good, and helpful to find a
destination, and I'm all in favour of it. What bugs me is the "73
pause to pause Victoria" which is unnecessary (I wouldn't have got
on if I didn't think it was a 73, and neither would a partially
sighted person, surely), and also, shockingly badly done with the huge
pauses. If it was one flowing statement, then it would be far less
annoying.

It's still far better than when someone presses the stop button, as
well as the bing and the Stopping sign lighting up, getting "BUS
stopping at NEXT bus stop, please stand well clear OF doors".
Completely superfluous, and sounds as if it's putting together the
statement from all the separate words in its system rather than having
one phrase.

At 19:31:06 on Mon, 17 Dec 2007 Paul Corfield opined:-

On Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:13:03 -0800 (PST), Mr Thant
wrote:

On 17 Dec, 17:31, (Neil Williams)
wrote:
The version I've seen (on the 73 and 168) doesn't have any such
announcements - its vocabulary is just a list of stops, the number and
the destination. I do hope the rolled-out version doesn't have all
the rubbish added.

I've not heard any nagging either (on the 123).

Oh a fellow 123 user.

I have heard a range of announcements but only used sparingly. I know
some people have been on buses where it seems a never ending stream of
messages was allowed to run. I might not have the exact text correct
below but they give the right flavour.

The helpful extra messages on the 123 have been :-

"Passengers cannot alight at the next stop as the stop is closed" - this
was correct as the stop was oos due to roadworks.

"Please move right down inside the bus" - this at a stop where the bus
is often overloaded.

"There are seats available on the upper deck" - played after the message
just above as an encouragement for people to make space.

"The Victoria Line service is suspended. Please choose an alternative
route" - the line was suspended so this was good real time information.
I was quite shocked to see a Tube reference on a bus.

"Please do not play your music loudly" - this was out of context as the
bus was silent at the time!

"This bus is now being diverted" - used when the bus route was subject
to a long diversion due to a traffic accident.

I actually don't have an issue with these messages being used in
context. They are helpful in terms of showing the driver is "managing"
his bus or to help passengers cope with disruption on the transport
system.

I understand why people are fed up with lots of noise but I think the
I-Bus concept is very good and will be a genuine aid to people given
that the stop names tie up directly with names on bus stop flags and in
the TfL Journey Planner. Once people can tie the three elements
together to help them get about London then I think it will be seen as a
boon. Now if only it was a bit more reliable - that's the problem with
being the first garage (Tottenham) to trial the system.

How does the speech system work? On the 65s the spoken text was also
displayed on a screen. Are they pre-recorded announcements, or is the
text typed in and then processed by text-to-speech software?
--
Thoss

On Mon, 17 Dec 2007 19:31:06 +0000, Paul Corfield
wrote:

"The Victoria Line service is suspended. Please choose an alternative
route" - the line was suspended so this was good real time information.
I was quite shocked to see a Tube reference on a bus.

Now that is good.

Perhaps an even better improvement for the future (which I've not seen
on buses anywhere, but the Hamburg U-Bahn does have the feature) would
be to allow the control room to take control of the PA of all or
selected buses, and thus to announce connectional information like
that? Presumably the information was sent to the driver via the radio
then he pressed the button, but why not take out the middle man?

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

On Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:44:09 -0800 (PST), SamB
wrote:

For the most part the announcements are good, and helpful to find a
destination, and I'm all in favour of it. What bugs me is the "73
pause to pause Victoria" which is unnecessary (I wouldn't have got
on if I didn't think it was a 73, and neither would a partially
sighted person, surely), and also, shockingly badly done with the huge
pauses. If it was one flowing statement, then it would be far less
annoying.

If you wanted to benefit partially-sighted people, it might make sense
for a speaker to be fitted to the outside of the bus so they can hear
it before they board.

It's still far better than when someone presses the stop button, as
well as the bing and the Stopping sign lighting up, getting "BUS
stopping at NEXT bus stop, please stand well clear OF doors".
Completely superfluous, and sounds as if it's putting together the
statement from all the separate words in its system rather than having
one phrase.

And a piece of information, like the repetitive references to the
doors on the Tube, that is quite easily summed up in one sound -
"ding".

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

In message , Neil Williams
writes
On Mon, 17 Dec 2007 19:31:06 +0000, Paul Corfield
wrote:

"The Victoria Line service is suspended. Please choose an alternative
route" - the line was suspended so this was good real time information.
I was quite shocked to see a Tube reference on a bus.

Now that is good.

Perhaps an even better improvement for the future (which I've not seen
on buses anywhere, but the Hamburg U-Bahn does have the feature) would
be to allow the control room to take control of the PA of all or
selected buses, and thus to announce connectional information like
that? Presumably the information was sent to the driver via the radio
then he pressed the button, but why not take out the middle man?

That system has been in place on the Tyne & Wear Metro since its
inception (thought I've seldom heard it used and haven't travelled on it
for a long time now). It's also used on the so-called C-Train in
Calgary.......where I once heard it used to announce a local hockey
team's win!
--
Ian Jelf, MITG
Birmingham, UK

Registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London and the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk

On Mon, 17 Dec 2007 21:45:56 GMT, (Neil
Williams) wrote:

On Mon, 17 Dec 2007 19:31:06 +0000, Paul Corfield
wrote:

"The Victoria Line service is suspended. Please choose an alternative
route" - the line was suspended so this was good real time information.
I was quite shocked to see a Tube reference on a bus.

Now that is good.

Perhaps an even better improvement for the future (which I've not seen
on buses anywhere, but the Hamburg U-Bahn does have the feature) would
be to allow the control room to take control of the PA of all or
selected buses, and thus to announce connectional information like
that? Presumably the information was sent to the driver via the radio
then he pressed the button, but why not take out the middle man?

We had had a PA announcement from the driver at Blackhorse Road as well.
The 123 is typically overrun if the tube is off but the top section was
running as far as Seven Sisters so we weren't besieged.

I suspect they may not want to take over the system remotely in case
they frightened drivers half to death by suddenly making an impromptu
announcement over the system - just a guess and possibly not very
logical given they make radio announcements although there is usually a
beep or similar to warn the driver one is about to be made.

I think the controllers can intervene from the garage which is
monitoring the route - they can certainly issue a curtailment
instruction via the driver's panel. The panel also shows whether the bus
is on time, early or late - I've only seen it close up on a 192 bus
before but it was very neat.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

On Mon, 17 Dec 2007 17:31:53 GMT, (Neil
Williams) wrote:

The version I've seen (on the 73 and 168) doesn't have any such
announcements - its vocabulary is just a list of stops, the number and
the destination. I do hope the rolled-out version doesn't have all
the rubbish added.

The 65 (Transdev) and number 9 (presumably also Transdev) are the
same.

The only things that irritates me about that one are a couple of
unsuitable intonations and the fact that she announces the number 9 as
just the "9". Am I the only person in London who is anal about the
pronunciation of bus numbers?

On Mon, 17 Dec 2007 19:31:06 +0000, Paul Corfield
wrote:

I understand why people are fed up with lots of noise but I think the
I-Bus concept is very good and will be a genuine aid to people given
that the stop names tie up directly with names on bus stop flags and in
the TfL Journey Planner.

Mostly.

The TfL Journey Planner (at least the WAP one) calls the Tiffin Girls
School stop (just outside Kingston on the 65) "Tiffin School for
Girls" -- which isn't what the bus stop or, indeed, the school are
called! I'm sure that's not the only anomaly around...