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As I stated on SCC, I hopped on a bus at Eg-West station headed west and for the first time, the automated announcements were running (Up to Dufferin anyways)
 
i was on the 320 blue night yonge bus last saturday and the annoucements were working as well. although i passed out from bloor up until sheppard, so i can't comment on those stops. but everything before and past that worked good :)
 
Just noticed today that the GM Fishbowl bus on my morning commute from Scarborough has automated announcements and the ticker. Certainly seems to me like an odd mix of new and old technology.

I'll try to put up the announcements on Youtube later.
 
That should be interesting. Thanks to David Lepofsky's legal efforts, they can no longer cut corners by assuming that the oldest buses will be scrapped soon anyway, so there's no point in updating them.
 
Lepofsky's legal challenges do not require automated announcements or tickers. They also do not require the redundant script the TTC uses in the announcements either ("Next stop Bay" - "Arriving Bay Station" would have been just fine and dandy). They only require clear and relatively consistant stop announcements in subways and buses, be it the operator or "Betty". The tickers and fembot announcements (I keep wondering why didn't they hire a real voiceover professional like Emma Clarke?) are merely the TTC's response, and it seems like a waste to have them in buses due for retirement by 2010.
 
He did mention that drivers have those speaker devices, but realistically they require the driver to take one hand of the wheel quite often, and there's another danger to that. A route like 32 Eglinton uses the old buses often and they're often packed and traveling at high speeds, so things can get risky. I don't think the man planned this out for them, the TTC already had something in the works. He accelerated implementation of announcements, and rightfully so.
 
wyliepoon said:
Just noticed today that the GM Fishbowl bus on my morning commute from Scarborough has automated announcements and the ticker. Certainly seems to me like an odd mix of new and old technology..
Click to expand...
I noticed it on a 54 Lawrence GM Fishbowl yesterday myself. BTW, the ticker sign is attached behind the driver (much like it is on the CLRV and ALRV's) instead of in the middle of the ceiling.
 
Darkstar416 said:
I noticed it on a 54 Lawrence GM Fishbowl yesterday myself. BTW, the ticker sign is attached behind the driver (much like it is on the CLRV and ALRV's) instead of in the middle of the ceiling.
Click to expand...

Same goes for the Orions. I was on a 32 today and it had the ticker in the same spot.
 
Videos of automated announcements on a Fishbowl going southbound on the 131E route, from Scarborough Centre to Kennedy Station.

(For some odd reason, every stop on Brimley Road and Eglinton Avenue that the bus passed by on the route was announced, even though the bus was supposed to run express to Kennedy Station, only stopping at Lawrence)

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=x27uL73bS0Q

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=JFJDY7nyPfM
 
wyliepoon said:
Videos of automated announcements on a Fishbowl going southbound on the 131E route, from Scarborough Centre to Kennedy Station.

(For some odd reason, every stop on Brimley Road and Eglinton Avenue that the bus passed by on the route was announced, even though the bus was supposed to run express to Kennedy Station, only stopping at Lawrence)

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=x27uL73bS0Q

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=JFJDY7nyPfM
Click to expand...

The 190 calls out every stop even though its express too. Seems like a bug that will have to be worked out.
 
The 190 calls out every stop even though its express too.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I recall riding a 190 bus that did call out the express stops correctly.

Forgot to mention this, but automated announcements can now be found on the Scarborough RT as well. The sound quality of the SRT announcements is not as good as the subway announcements.
 
The operator has to program in their route into the system or else it defaults to a set stop pattern. Why the 190 drivers don't do this is beyond me, but I've witnessed a number of 510 operators forget to switch between the King shortturn and Union, so the system calls "King Street" instead of "Oxley Street" after Queen.
 
Has anyone else noticed that a few streetcar operators and bus drivers still call out the stops using a microphone even though the automated system does the same just seconds later?

Also, has anyone else noticed that the automated system sometimes repeats itself, calling out some stops over 6 times before arrival?

:confused:
 
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