Colin Rosenstiel wrote to uk.transport.london on Wed, 17 Nov 2004:

I'm not so sure about that. Speaking from over 25 years working for the
company that made the radios for Tramlink and other PT, distinguishing the
message type is pretty trivial technology probably already incorporated.
I'd be more worried about the voice quality being good enough for PA over
the radio, though.

A lot of modern buses do seem to have PA incorporated, so that the
driver can make announcements - notably, of course, the one who was
featured on the news last Tube strike telling her passengers that she
would open the door when it was safe to do so! I imagine it wouldn't be
beyond the realms of possibility for PA to be standard on all buses, so
that drivers could relay information given over the radio.
--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/
Website updated 6 November 2004 with new photos

On Wed, 17 Nov 2004 12:38:27 +0000, Mrs Redboots
wrote:

I imagine it wouldn't be
beyond the realms of possibility for PA to be standard on all buses, so
that drivers could relay information given over the radio.

Agreed. It seems standard practice on the Continent for stops to be
called by either the driver or an automated system. This, for someone
unfamiliar with the area, makes the bus system far easier to
negotiate.

"This service terminates here" is also rather more helpful than the
London tradition of flashing the lights prior to arrival. An ability
to announce when a bus is turning short would also be useful.

Neil

In article ,
(Mrs Redboots) wrote:

Colin Rosenstiel wrote to uk.transport.london on Wed, 17 Nov 2004:

I'm not so sure about that. Speaking from over 25 years working for the
company that made the radios for Tramlink and other PT, distinguishing
the message type is pretty trivial technology probably already
incorporated. I'd be more worried about the voice quality being good
enough for PA over the radio, though.

A lot of modern buses do seem to have PA incorporated, so that the
driver can make announcements - notably, of course, the one who was
featured on the news last Tube strike telling her passengers that she
would open the door when it was safe to do so! I imagine it wouldn't be
beyond the realms of possibility for PA to be standard on all buses, so
that drivers could relay information given over the radio.

Indeed. I was thinking of long-line PA over the radio rather than direct
within the bus.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Colin Rosenstiel wrote to uk.transport.london on Wed, 17 Nov 2004:

In article ,
(Mrs Redboots) wrote:

Colin Rosenstiel wrote to uk.transport.london on Wed, 17 Nov 2004:

I'm not so sure about that. Speaking from over 25 years working for the
company that made the radios for Tramlink and other PT, distinguishing
the message type is pretty trivial technology probably already
incorporated. I'd be more worried about the voice quality being good
enough for PA over the radio, though.

A lot of modern buses do seem to have PA incorporated, so that the
driver can make announcements - notably, of course, the one who was
featured on the news last Tube strike telling her passengers that she
would open the door when it was safe to do so! I imagine it wouldn't be
beyond the realms of possibility for PA to be standard on all buses, so
that drivers could relay information given over the radio.

Indeed. I was thinking of long-line PA over the radio rather than direct
within the bus.

Yes, sorry, I wasn't clear - I realised that, but reckoned that if the
technology to do this is expensive, an infrastructure already exists
that could be used.
--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/
Website updated 6 November 2004 with new photos

In article ,
(Mrs Redboots) wrote:

Colin Rosenstiel wrote to uk.transport.london on Wed, 17 Nov 2004:

Indeed. I was thinking of long-line PA over the radio rather than
direct within the bus.

Yes, sorry, I wasn't clear - I realised that, but reckoned that if the
technology to do this is expensive, an infrastructure already exists
that could be used.

It's not expensive as such. It's just rather limited in terms of voice
quality.

--
Colin Rosenstiel