On 11 Nov, 18:43, "Andrew Heenan" wrote:
"Paul Weaver" wrote...
Constant, loud, intrusive and unnecessary recorded announcements
blasted
out every 15-20 seconds and no escape from it, even with earphones in
to
attempt to drown out the background hell...
Do what the regulars do - ignore it.
After the first few trips, you won't even notice, and they are useful for
tourists and others.
I don't know which route you take, but on the many routes I travel, they
are
not as frequent as you state.
Or get an iPod?
Did you even read the text you quoted?

Yes, thanks - but when I respond to the ramblings of an idiot, I try to take
events in the real world into consideration.

I repeat:
Do what the regulars do - ignore it.
After the first few trips, you won't even notice.
[added: unless you choose to make a mission out of it]
They are not as frequent as you state.

I dont state any frequencies, buses are a distress purchase, however
the OP has already stated that earphones don't work. The problem is
with your suggestion that spending £200 on a fashion accessory will
somehow make them work.

On 11 Nov, 21:39, Paul Weaver wrote:
[...] buses are a distress purchase [...]

Disagree most strongly in the case of London, although absolutely
acknowledge that fellow fellow passengers are capable of making
journeys distressing.

"Paul Weaver" wrote :
I dont state any frequencies, buses are a distress purchase,
however the OP has already stated that earphones don't work.
The problem is with your suggestion that spending £200
on a fashion accessory will somehow make them work.

Sure, he did state that headphones don't work; he must have weird hearing
or - more likely - he's making it up as he goes along. If an iPhone costs so
much (I wouldn't know - I don't buy fashion accessories), then a standard
MP3 player or a cassette player at £9 or less will suffice. Batteries not
included.

Or a good book.

Alternatively, he could stop foaming at the mouth and exaggerating both
noise level and frequency of announcements and get a life. Sadly, however,
we have to live with the fact that there's no cure for rabies.
--

Andrew

On Tue, Nov 11, 2008 at 10:01:43AM +0000, Stephen Furley wrote:

'The next bus stop is closed'

That one *really* needs to be automated so that drivers can't forget to
tell passengers.

--
David Cantrell | Nth greatest programmer in the world

If you have received this email in error, please add some nutmeg
and egg whites, whisk, and place in a warm oven for 40 minutes.

On Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:07:59 -0000, "Q" ..@.. wrote:

And the LED displays are much clearer than the paper blinds

Disagree. The one thing I hate about the D stock refurb is that the
destination is much harder to read from a distance.

On Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:30:40 +0000, David Cantrell
wrote:

On Sun, Nov 09, 2008 at 05:15:08PM +0000, Neil Williams wrote:

Yes. It's very useful to those who don't use buses frequently, aren't
familiar with the route or aren't paying attention to where they are
and reading the paper. Or, for that matter, those who are blind.

The only thing I'd change about it is to have the route announcement
either removed or only announced every few stops, as it's that (not
the stop announcements) that does grate a bit.

I'd make several changes.

1) instead of saying "Foo Street" say "the next stop is Foo Street"

I would agree, except that you know it would go "the next stop is big
pause Foo Street"...

2) instead of saying "the destination of this bus has changed" say "the
destination of this bus has changed to Foo"

Absolutely. The one time that happened to me I had to ask the driver
because we were stuck in traffic and hence weren't going to reach a
stop for a while.

3) instead of saying "Denmark Street" say "Denmark Street, Charing Cross
Road" (and similar for other stops which aren't actually on the
street they're named after, or which are named for a nearby
building).

The announcements match the name of the stop as displayed on the flag.
There are some two-part stop names; if you have suggestions for
renaming of particular stops to avoid confusion in those cases, I'm
sure TfL would consider them.

and get rid of the ones telling you what route you're on and where it's
going entirely. You already know that before you get on the bus.

True. What I would do is add an external speaker to announce the route
umber and destination to passengers waiting to board. That would help
blind passengers, and possibly others. OTOH, it might **** off
residents...

Someone I mentioned number 3 to a few weeks ago said it would be
confusing. Well, if it is, then I suppose that Dean St, Chinatown and
Green Park, Constitution Hill need changing. No doubt there are others.

I have to say, I love iBus. When I travel somewhere for the first
time, I get the stop name I need to get off at, and just wait for it
to be announced. What it is doesn't necessarily matter.

On Tue, 11 Nov 2008 03:21:12 -0800 (PST), MIG
wrote:


I anecdoted in the past that [...]

You're verbing!

Verbing weirds language...

On Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:01:43 +0000, Stephen Furley
wrote:

Does anybody have a full list of the announcements available, other than the
route, destination and next stop?

I've heard:

'Bus will wait here whilst drivers are changed'

'Bus will wait here for a few minutes in order to help regulate the service'

'The next bus stop is closed'

And a couple of others that I can't remember.

Seats are available on the upper deck (as someone else mentioned).

No standing on the upper deck or stairs.

I think I'v heard no smoking and cctv messages too, though I could be
confused with something else.

What there needs to be is a "no playing music out loud" - I was driven
off the upper deck of a 65 the other week by an antisocial *******
playing tinny music on a mobile (who was utterly unaware of why I was
glaring at him!) - I asked the driver if he had such a message to play
but he denied it.

On Thu, 13 Nov 2008 08:45:36 +0000, James Farrar
wrote:

I would agree, except that you know it would go "the next stop is big
pause Foo Street"...

And "the next stop" would get annoying. Originally, they used to say
"Route NN to XX", and the "Route" was dropped, presumably for that
reason.

I have to say, I love iBus. When I travel somewhere for the first
time, I get the stop name I need to get off at, and just wait for it
to be announced. What it is doesn't necessarily matter.

I like it as well. It's one of the best things you can do to buses to
make them accessible to blind people, people who don't know the route
and people who just want to read the paper and not look out of the
window. A massive leap for passenger-friendliness, though admittedly
well behind the rest of Europe who've had it for years.

Neil

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

On 10 Nov, 21:48, wrote:

BTW, why is there a pause on some of the bendibusses between when you push
the button and hearing the bell and seeing the acknowledge sign light up?
That was not the case in earlier days and it is currently not the case on
all bendibus lines.

I *think* it's because the bell pushes aren't connected to a relay
like they are in a traditional bus, but instead are multiplexed. It
might even be iBus that controls it, but I'm not sure.

It's also the case on the Enviros that do the 135 to Canary Wharf (by
far the most civilised way of getting there that you don't have to pay
extra for).

Neil