On 11 Nov, 21:46, Mizter T wrote:

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

IMO, the Tube, especially the deep Tube, is a distress purchase in
central London. The bus is by far the most civilised way to get
around, offering a seat, a view and (if not on a Travelcard) a cheaper
fare as well. The only real downside is the lower speed.

Neil

On 11 Nov, 18:12, wrote:

And it hasn't stopped since. Fortunately, they are not as big on public
transport in the United States as in Europe, so the announcements don't
happen as frequently.

And you'd blatently end up with "Please stand clear of the doors.
Mind the doors. Doors closing" and such other useless nonsense.
There is a bleeper that quite effectively conveys that information,
just like "ding" is a perfectly clear indication that the bus is
stopping at the next stop.

If there is one thing that seriously grates on the Tube, it's the
continuous announcements on the stations when the train is stopped
there. None of them are necessary, except possibly stating once only
where the train is going for the benefit of the blind/partially
sighted. The Met line, for some reason, is the absolute worst for
this, particularly the announcer at Farringdon who just can't shut up.

Neil

On 11 Nov, 11:21, MIG wrote:

I conjectured that "Crystal Palace" must be the default announcment
that is recorded over ...

Not sure - I've been on one that was announcing things totally out of
sync.

Neil

On 11 Nov, 12:21, Martin Smith wrote:

you do get some funny ones sometimes, I was on a 484 a few weeks ago
which suddenly announced that there were more seats available on the
upper deck, unfortunately being a single decker we were unable to access
said upper deck, the bus only had a few people on board, we were all in
fits of laughter, including the driver, who apparently had no control over
the content of the messages.

I thought that one was only announced if the driver selected it, as
iBus itself clearly doesn't know if there are any seats available on
the upper deck or not.

Neil

On 12 Nov, 12:49, David Cantrell wrote:
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.

It needs to be automated differently, so that you get an advance
warning at the stop before, something like:-

"X. The next bus stop at Y is closed. Passengers for Y are advised
to alight at X instead". Then *don't* announce Y at all.

Neil

On 14 Nov, 10:20, Neil Williams wrote:
On 11 Nov, 11:21, MIG wrote:

I conjectured that "Crystal Palace" must be the default announcment
that is recorded over ...

Not sure - I've been on one that was announcing things totally out of
sync.

Neil

This weirdness was completely in sync, just kept saying "Crystal
Palace" every time it displayed "21 to Lewisham Centre" while
correctly announcing all the stops beforehand. Also, I don't think
there's a bus stop called Crystal Palace, so this was like a
destination on its own, which isn't part of a normal announcement.
(And their buses don't go to Crystal Palace ...)

"Neil Williams" wrote...
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).

True 'nuff - except in the evening, when there's sometimes a 40min gap
between services.
Like yesterday, for example ;o)
(And that's not the first time ...)
--

Andrew

On Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 08:45:36AM +0000, James Farrar wrote:
On Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:30:40 +0000, David Cantrell
wrote:
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.

Yes, I know. Some need renaming.

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...

The number of residents it would **** off would far outnumber the number
of blind people in the entire country, never mind the fraction of them
who would use the bus. In this case, I'm inclined to say "**** the
blind".

Remember, there are very very few blind people. Activists for partially
sighted advocacy groups seem to like to confuse the issue, but people
with quite severe visual problems can read the really big day-glo signs
on buses without significant difficulty.

--
David Cantrell | top google result for "internet beard fetish club"

engineer: n. one who, regardless of how much effort he puts in
to a job, will never satisfy either the suits or the scientists

On Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 09:54:51PM +0000, Neil Williams wrote:
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.

Only to those who want to be annoyed, which is what started this thread
in the first place. "Foo Street" already annoys those people, so "the
next stop is Foo Street" wouldn't do any harm. "Naechste halt ... Foo
Strasse" doesn't seem to cause any problems on the local Munich trains
that people seem to like using as an example here.

--
David Cantrell | Cake Smuggler Extraordinaire

You may now start misinterpreting what I just
wrote, and attacking that misinterpretation.

"David Cantrell" wrote:
In this case, I'm inclined to say "**** the blind".
Remember, there are very very few blind people. Activists for partially
sighted advocacy groups seem to like to confuse the issue, but people
with quite severe visual problems can read the really big day-glo signs
on buses without significant difficulty.

There are many many people, who would never call themselves blind, or even
partially sighted, who have trouble reading bus blinds.

I think you may be confusing the large 43 and the rather smaller "Friern
Barnet".

But I'm not supporting talking bus stops, I promise!
--

Andrew