Mrs Redboots wrote:
The other day, I was in a car being driven northbound past Euston
station, and happened to catch sight of a bus whose destination
blind read "Short journey; ask driver!"

We pondered this for awhile and assumed it would mean that the bus
in question was stopping somewhere its destination blind didn't
say, which is fair enough. But this sparked a discussion as to why
modern buses don't have electronic destination blinds. I know the
system was tried - I used to see the odd 35 with them - but
presumably it was too prone to failure? On the other hand, if they
can have electronic destination blinds on trains (which they not
only can, but do), why don't they have them on buses?

I have yet to see an electronic destination indicator on the front of a
bus or train with the same legibility as London bus blinds (Johnston Bus
or Underground typeface, yellow on black).
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 15:50:14 GMT, "Richard J."
wrote:

Mrs Redboots wrote:
The other day, I was in a car being driven northbound past Euston
station, and happened to catch sight of a bus whose destination
blind read "Short journey; ask driver!"

We pondered this for awhile and assumed it would mean that the bus
in question was stopping somewhere its destination blind didn't
say, which is fair enough. But this sparked a discussion as to why
modern buses don't have electronic destination blinds. I know the
system was tried - I used to see the odd 35 with them - but
presumably it was too prone to failure? On the other hand, if they
can have electronic destination blinds on trains (which they not
only can, but do), why don't they have them on buses?

I have yet to see an electronic destination indicator on the front of a
bus or train with the same legibility as London bus blinds (Johnston Bus
or Underground typeface, yellow on black).

Go to the bottom of page:
http://www.trolleybus.net/tramlink.htm
and have fun "turning" the blind.

A further example is on the bottom of page:
http://www.trolleybus.net/654.htm

In both cases wait until the whole page has been loaded.

David Bradley

David Bradley wrote to uk.transport.london on Wed, 10 Nov 2004:

Go to the bottom of page:
http://www.trolleybus.net/tramlink.htm
and have fun "turning" the blind.

At least yours doesn't have "Short journey; ask driver!" on it. What
surprised us was that it was a printed destination, not scrawled!
--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/
Website updated 6 November 2004 with new photos

Richard J. wrote:

I have yet to see an electronic destination indicator on the front of a
bus or train with the same legibility as London bus blinds (Johnston Bus
or Underground typeface, yellow on black).

I personally find the very new high-intensity amber LED displays to be far
more readable from a distance - but only those, not any other kind of
electronic display, and certainly not any of the front-illuminated kind of
mechanical dot matrix displays which are awful.

Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK
To reply use neil at the above domain.

I recall there were a couple of T's (Titan's) as you mention trialed on the
35 and 45??

Some of the former London Buses sent off to sister companies such as
Stagecoach etc converted their London style blinds to the electronic style
ones.

Examples:

DMS/NV's from London General/Central going to Go Ahead North East
Various Stagecoach vehicles including the earlier discarded TA's (Tridents)
going to Stagecoach Hull, Cambridge. Southcoast and Manchester, Devon kept
the London style blinds;
VA's from London United/VN's going to First Leeds (though Potteries have not
gone electronic)

As mentioned Oxford, some First buses in Edinburgh/Glasgow have the
electronic displays

"Mrs Redboots" wrote in message
...
The other day, I was in a car being driven northbound past Euston
station, and happened to catch sight of a bus whose destination blind
read "Short journey; ask driver!"

We pondered this for awhile and assumed it would mean that the bus in
question was stopping somewhere its destination blind didn't say, which
is fair enough. But this sparked a discussion as to why modern buses
don't have electronic destination blinds. I know the system was tried -
I used to see the odd 35 with them - but presumably it was too prone to
failure? On the other hand, if they can have electronic destination
blinds on trains (which they not only can, but do), why don't they have
them on buses? Inside the bus, too, would be helpful - how often have I
had to ask the driver what number bus I've actually boarded......
--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/
Website updated 6 November 2004 with new photos

Tim Scott wrote to uk.transport.london on Wed, 10 Nov 2004:

I recall there were a couple of T's (Titan's) as you mention trialed on the
35 and 45??

Yes, I think that's what they were - it was so long ago I can't
remember. But why did they decide not to keep electronic signs in
London, when they seem to be successful in the rest of the country?
--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/
Website updated 6 November 2004 with new photos

"Tim Scott" wrote in message ...
I recall there were a couple of T's (Titan's) as you mention trialed on the
35 and 45??

Some of the former London Buses sent off to sister companies such as
Stagecoach etc converted their London style blinds to the electronic style
ones.

Examples:

DMS/NV's from London General/Central going to Go Ahead North East
Various Stagecoach vehicles including the earlier discarded TA's (Tridents)
going to Stagecoach Hull, Cambridge. Southcoast and Manchester, Devon kept
the London style blinds;
VA's from London United/VN's going to First Leeds (though Potteries have not
gone electronic)

As mentioned Oxford, some First buses in Edinburgh/Glasgow have the
electronic displays

And Stageecoach in Cambridge. The blinds tend to alternate
automatically between 'Citi [route no.], then 'City Centre' and '&
[destination]'.

In article ,
(Dr. Sunil) wrote:

"Tim Scott" wrote in message
...
I recall there were a couple of T's (Titan's) as you mention trialed
on the 35 and 45??

Some of the former London Buses sent off to sister companies such as
Stagecoach etc converted their London style blinds to the electronic
style ones.

Examples:

DMS/NV's from London General/Central going to Go Ahead North East
Various Stagecoach vehicles including the earlier discarded TA's
(Tridents) going to Stagecoach Hull, Cambridge. Southcoast and
Manchester, Devon kept the London style blinds; VA's from London
United/VN's going to First Leeds (though Potteries have not gone
electronic)

As mentioned Oxford, some First buses in Edinburgh/Glasgow have the
electronic displays

And Stageecoach in Cambridge. The blinds tend to alternate
automatically between 'Citi [route no.], then 'City Centre' and '&
[destination]'.

And First in York, where they cycle through three sets of info, route
number and colour, destination, and "PARK & RIDE" where relevant.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 13:14:40 +0000, Mrs Redboots
wrote:
We pondered this for awhile and assumed it would mean that the bus in
question was stopping somewhere its destination blind didn't say, which
is fair enough. But this sparked a discussion as to why modern buses
don't have electronic destination blinds. I know the system was tried -
I used to see the odd 35 with them - but presumably it was too prone to
failure? [...]

I believe that TfL still specify the old-style displays. I think that
they are still more readable, anyway, until a higher resolution can be
achieved on the electronic ones. Elsewhere in the country where
there's no one to care about such things apart from the operators
themselves, standards are really variable with many unreadable dot
matrix displays. New LED displays are very readable and presumably
very reliable. Perhaps we'll see a change in policy, at least for
side and rear displays.

Unless I've just made it up, the buses on the 35 were used as spares
to replace any broken night buses, so had to have more destinations
than would fit on a blind. I can't find any evidence for that at the
moment...

Richard.

"Mrs Redboots" wrote in message
...
The other day, I was in a car being driven northbound past Euston
station, and happened to catch sight of a bus whose destination blind
read "Short journey; ask driver!"

We pondered this for awhile and assumed it would mean that the bus in
question was stopping somewhere its destination blind didn't say, which
is fair enough. But this sparked a discussion as to why modern buses
don't have electronic destination blinds. I know the system was tried -
I used to see the odd 35 with them - but presumably it was too prone to
failure? On the other hand, if they can have electronic destination
blinds on trains (which they not only can, but do), why don't they have
them on buses? Inside the bus, too, would be helpful - how often have I
had to ask the driver what number bus I've actually boarded......

Have a look at http://www.hanoverdisplays.co.uk/ for the latest types.
--
Terry Harper, Web Co-ordinator, The Omnibus Society
75th Anniversary 2004, see http://www.omnibussoc.org/75th.htm
E-mail:
URL: http://www.terry.harper.btinternet.co.uk/