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.

Talking Buses
 

"CJG Now Thankfully Living In The North" wrote in
message om...
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?


More and more buses in London have recorded announcements, unfortunately.

Is it just me or do other people find "Bus stopping at next bus stop, stand
wall cleah of doahs" intensely bloody irritating? I've travelled on the
entire 188 route between North Greenwich and Russell Square and been
subjected to this wannabe Slaoane's voice every few hundered yards. How the
drivers can stand listening to these announcements all day long is beyond me
(though it would explain why so many drivers are grumpy buggers!).

Absolute nightmare, total noise pollution. I have to put the old headphones
on to drown out the irritating Sloane. Aaarrrggghhh!!! :o(

Talking Buses
 

A H wrote:

"CJG Now Thankfully Living In The North" wrote in
message om...
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?

More and more buses in London have recorded announcements, unfortunately.

Is it just me or do other people find "Bus stopping at next bus stop, stand
wall cleah of doahs" intensely bloody irritating?

Oh, you mean the "bah-stah-pin-gat-neks-bah-stap
plee-stan-wew-clee-rev-dawz" one?

Yes, it's bloody annoying (345 route).

Amazed nobody has mentioned this one before!

Absolute nightmare, total noise pollution. I have to put the old headphones
on to drown out the irritating Sloane. Aaarrrggghhh!!! :o(

If she said which stop it was, I would be more than happy. I live here,
but even I occasionally take buses to places I don't know.

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.

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.

The buses in Prague also have at least the audio announcement.

Noticable about at least both Prague and the Geneva 9 out to CERN
though is that the bus stops are much further apart than those in
London - I suspect the bus can easily know the next stop just from the
odometer. I guess this also means the locals have a bit more
motivation to get such systems working as it's not just a hundred-yard
walk if they miss the stop.

More to the point, though, I suspect it's a lot more obvious to
everybody what the name of the bus stop should be. I've no idea what
the offical names for most of the stops I use are, beyond it's often
not the "landmark" I'd have chosen. Automated announcements only help
if the person giving you directions knew the name of the bus stop...

There's also the small matter of being driven round the bend by the
steady stream of announcements, which in London will no doubt be
supplemented by a host of "for the comfort and convenience of
customers" messages reminding us not to smoke, take all our bags, yap,
yap, yap, aargh!

Henry

Talking Buses
 

Joachim Harter wrote in message ...
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.

GPS doesn't work very well if at all in built up city centres. I can't see
how it would help.

B2003

Talking Buses
 

On 19 Feb 2004, Boltar wrote:

Joachim Harter wrote in message ...

I suppose that getting out-of-sync problem will be resolved when
GPS-based telematic systems are introduced more widely.

GPS doesn't work very well if at all in built up city centres. I can't
see how it would help.

How do in-car navigation systems work? However it is, one would assume it
would also work in buses.

tom

--
Who would you help in a fight, Peter van der Linden or Bill Gates?

Talking Buses
 

On 18 Feb 2004, Henry Nebrensky wrote:

More to the point, though, I suspect it's a lot more obvious to
everybody what the name of the bus stop should be. I've no idea what the
offical names for most of the stops I use are, beyond it's often not the
"landmark" I'd have chosen. Automated announcements only help if the
person giving you directions knew the name of the bus stop...

To be fair, the names are on the bus maps. Also, if the names were read
out constantly, people would learn them pretty quickly.

tom

--
Who would you help in a fight, Peter van der Linden or Bill Gates?

Talking Buses
 

"Gareth Davis" wrote in message
om...
(CJG Now Thankfully Living In The North) wrote
in message . com...

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?

Service RV1 (Tower Gateway to Covent Garden via Southwark) displays
illustrated details of the next stop including transport interchanges
and tourist attractions on several LCD panels throughout the bus,
albeit in a silent fashion.

I've no idea how it works, but it does seem to do the job very well.

--
Gareth Davis


Yes - I was most impressed when I used the RV1 for the first time a few
weeks ago.

My Dutch friend was less impressed - she had seen them before somewhere. But
it was useful as I wasn't sure of the precise route it was going to take so
could work out the best place to jump off.

Colin

Talking Buses
 

Tom Anderson wrote:
On 18 Feb 2004, Henry Nebrensky wrote:

More to the point, though, I suspect it's a lot more obvious to
everybody what the name of the bus stop should be. I've no idea what
the offical names for most of the stops I use are, beyond it's often
not the "landmark" I'd have chosen. Automated announcements only
help if the person giving you directions knew the name of the bus
stop...

To be fair, the names are on the bus maps.

No, they're not. I think you meant the bus *stops*.

--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

Talking Buses
 

On Thu, 19 Feb 2004 22:27:57 GMT, Richard J.
wrote in :
Tom Anderson wrote:
On 18 Feb 2004, Henry Nebrensky wrote:

More to the point, though, I suspect it's a lot more obvious to
everybody what the name of the bus stop should be. I've no idea what
the offical names for most of the stops I use are, beyond it's often
not the "landmark" I'd have chosen. Automated announcements only
help if the person giving you directions knew the name of the bus
stop...

To be fair, the names are on the bus maps.

No, they're not. I think you meant the bus *stops*.

They are on the "regional" "spider" maps for each major centre,
e.g http://www.londontransport.co.uk/bus...f/uxbridge.pdf

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

Talking Buses
 

"Richard J." wrote in message ...
Tom Anderson wrote:
On 18 Feb 2004, Henry Nebrensky wrote:

More to the point, though, I suspect it's a lot more obvious to
everybody what the name of the bus stop should be. I've no idea what
the offical names for most of the stops I use are, beyond it's often
not the "landmark" I'd have chosen. Automated announcements only
help if the person giving you directions knew the name of the bus
stop...

To be fair, the names are on the bus maps.

No, they're not. I think you meant the bus *stops*.

They have 'em on all stops in a mile or so radius on the spider maps!

I was surprised that this wasn't introduced with the new buses. It's
standard almost everywhere else in the world (at least anywhere that
invests in its public transport......)