[wopchop]

I believe I've seen the NextBus display at the lower level of the bus bay at Wilson station.

 

[ehlow]

I was happy to see that the LED displays were recently installed at the bus shelter at Mt Pleasant & Eglinton.

 

[DSC]

One of my neighbours recently wrote to Andy Byford about the fact that the NextBus display seem to be vanishing from King Street as Astral install newer bus shelters (with LED screens) - example King and Jarvis and King and John. She also reported to him that the display in the shelter at King and Yonge (eastbound) has not worked for ages and suggested better 'NextTrain" displays in the subway. His reply was:

I will indeed get someone to look into those displays on King. Our plan is to include more of these devices, not less. Once we have an answer, I or one of my managers will come back to you.

I confess to sharing your irritation about the subway TV screens - it's something that I challenged when I got here. For now, we are locked into a contract with our advertising partner which largely dictates content. We do override the screens if there are problems - and we have put a lot of effort into giving customers more and better, timely information - but I do agree about the size of the service info. Unfortunately, we need every cent of revenue we can get.

That said, let me look into options to make the service info more prominent - as is the norm in London and Sydney where I previously worked.

If I hear more I will report back to UT.

 

[Electrify]

The next train displays aren't fancy, but they get the job done. I do kind of wish there were light up LED boards though. Not as technically advanced, but personally it is one of those 'less is more' things.

One thing which would be cool is to have information about multiple upcoming trains. That way if one is too crowded, you know when the one after (and after that) will be arriving.

 

[aquateam]

The next train displays aren't fancy, but they get the job done. I do kind of wish there were light up LED boards though. Not as technically advanced, but personally it is one of those 'less is more' things.

One thing which would be cool is to have information about multiple upcoming trains. That way if one is too crowded, you know when the one after (and after that) will be arriving.

In montreal, the displays show the next train and the one afterwards. Which I think is a good psychological reminder to people that it's not the end of the world if they can't sprint into the train before the doors close.

That being said, there is no real-time display system (or even smartphone-based) information system for the surface network in montreal, and it's really frustrating when your half-hourly bus home from work seems to have disappeared and you're standing out in the cold with no idea when the next bus is coming (when you could have stayed cozy and warm by working longer).

 

[P23]

I'd rather see simpler LED boards (like the ones used in shelters) for next train info, they're much cheaper and easier to read at a distance. You could presumably install more of them for the same cost so you can put them at all entrances and in multiple locations on the platform. Maybe even integrate them into the platform-edge sign strip that they have on the ceiling at some stations like on the Sheppard line.

 

[salsa]

In montreal, the displays show the next train and the one afterwards. Which I think is a good psychological reminder to people that it's not the end of the world if they can't sprint into the train before the doors close..

In Boston, they have large LED displays showing the next two trains. They also have them in the concourse and main entrances, showing the next two trains for both directions. They even have two automated announcements:
1. "The next train to _____ is now approaching".
2. "The next train to _____ is now arriving".


P.S I still think that overall the TTC is way better than Boston.

 

[ehlow]

One suggestion I have:

When you're transferring from a subway to bus at a bus bay like at Eglinton, there's a display that shows you how long until the bus arrives. Great.

The problem is that once the bus is in the bay, you have no idea how long it will be until it actually leaves. It could be anywhere between 1-10 minutes. The driver is usually taking a break or (I'm guessing) waiting for the next scheduled trip time. If it's a long wait time it can be quite the travel time penalty.

Let's say you're heading to Eglinton & Bayview. You have multiple possible buses to use: Lawrence East, Eglinton East, Flemington, Leaside, Thorncliffe are all bus lines that you can use. However, since you don't know how long until each bus leaves, you choose randomly and if you choose wrong you're sitting on a stationary bus for a long time, watching other ones leave.

My suggestion is that either:
- schedules (or whatever it's called) be adjusted such that another driver takes over immediately when the bus pulls in, therefor limiting the time the bus is sitting at the station
- OR, have an LED sign above each bus in the bus bay showing # of minutes until departure

 

[P23]

My suggestion is that either:
- schedules (or whatever it's called) be adjusted such that another driver takes over immediately when the bus pulls in, therefor limiting the time the bus is sitting at the station
- OR, have an LED sign above each bus in the bus bay showing # of minutes until departure

I doubt the first idea would work very well since arrival times tend to vary and they use the layover to readjust to the schedule. If frequencies were ~5 mins it would be a good idea. All they really need to do is separate arrival time and departure time for terminals.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

One suggestion I have:

When you're transferring from a subway to bus at a bus bay like at Eglinton, there's a display that shows you how long until the bus arrives. Great.

The problem is that once the bus is in the bay, you have no idea how long it will be until it actually leaves. It could be anywhere between 1-10 minutes. The driver is usually taking a break or (I'm guessing) waiting for the next scheduled trip time. If it's a long wait time it can be quite the travel time penalty.

Let's say you're heading to Eglinton & Bayview. You have multiple possible buses to use: Lawrence East, Eglinton East, Flemington, Leaside, Thorncliffe are all bus lines that you can use. However, since you don't know how long until each bus leaves, you choose randomly and if you choose wrong you're sitting on a stationary bus for a long time, watching other ones leave.

My suggestion is that either:
- schedules (or whatever it's called) be adjusted such that another driver takes over immediately when the bus pulls in, therefor limiting the time the bus is sitting at the station
- OR, have an LED sign above each bus in the bus bay showing # of minutes until departure

This is a good suggestion. I recall that as of a few months ago, the TTC planned to change the system to show how long it is until the bus departs. I can speak from experience that this has been implemented for the 7 Bathurst at Bathurst Station.

By the way, the NextBus API does provide estimated departure times to third party applications. Estimated departure times will typically be provided at route terminals, or anywhere where there usually are significant layovers. This feature has been immensely useful for me when using Transit App. I'm surprised that it's taking the TTC this long to implement it across the system.

See page 14 on the NextBus XML Feed documentation; isDeparture(bool):

isDeparture (boolean) - For most stops predictions of when the bus will arrive are provided. But there are some stops, especially stops at the beginning of a trip, where there is a layover. This means that the bus is stopped for at least several minutes. For these situations the departure time is provided because a passenger is only interested in the departure time for such situations. Toronto TTC streetcars are an exception. At terminals arrival predictions are provided for TTC streetcars since they are managed more by headway instead of schedule. In order to specify whether a prediction is for a departure as opposed to an arrival time the additional tag element “isDeparture” is provided along with the predictions. If it is set to true then the prediction is for the departure time. Otherwise the prediction is for an arrival time. For departures NextBus uses the schedule to determine when the vehicle will be leaving the stop if the vehicle is on-time or running early. If the vehicle is running late then the departure time will be based on the vehicles arrival time (assuming that the vehicle will depart as soon as it arrives without any layover).

It would be nice to see estimated departure times expanded to the streetcar system.

 

[ehlow]

This is a good suggestion. I recall that as of a few months ago, the TTC planned to change the system to show how long it is until the bus departs. I can speak from experience that this has been implemented for the 7 Bathurst at Bathurst Station.

By the way, the NextBus API does provide estimated departure times to third party applications. Estimated departure times will typically be provided at route terminals, or anywhere where there usually are significant layovers. This feature has been immensely useful for me when using Transit App. I'm surprised that it's taking the TTC this long to implement it across the system.

See page 14 on the NextBus XML Feed documentation; isDeparture(bool):



It would be nice to see estimated departure times expanded to the streetcar system.

Interesting. Good to know they're doing something about it, thanks.

 

[Johnny Au]

It would be great if people on the subway can see bus/streetcar departure times without leaving the train. This would be useful for those who want to take the faster route, especially if there are surface routes roughly parallel to the subway line. Right now, since there are neither Wi-Fi nor cellular network in the tunnels, getting off the train only for the bus to leave can be a disappointment.

For example, when heading northbound to Eglinton West station, a commuter can see a schedule for routes 32, 63, and 109, while on the opposite direction (but in the same tunnel), a commuter can see a schedule for routes 7A, 33, 90, 126, and 512.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

I've suggested this in the past. Unfortunately, the LED dot matrix display on the TR is already cluttered with next station information and the four LCD screens on the trains are too small and, generally, too far away to be useful during rush hour.

If I'm remembering correctly, when the train is arriving at a station, the LED display is set up as such:

Next station is Eglinton.
Exit this side.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

To get next bus information on the vehcile, I'd remove "exit this side", and keep the arrows indicating which side of the train the doors will open:
Next station is Eglinton.

Next station is Eglinton.
54A - East to Starspray - 11 minutes
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Next station is Eglinton.
100A - South to Broadview Station - 7 minutes
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Next station is Eglinton.
32C - West to Jane and Lawrence via Tretheway - 4 minutes
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Etc...

Alternatively, the arrows could be replaced by an X or check mark, on the far left or right side of the displays, indicating which doors will open. This will allow for two surface routes to be shown at once, or for the current time to be shown.

I'd also install two addictional LED matrix displays per car, so each pair or doors will have a display.

When on the at-grade parts of the subway, I frequently see customers using their smartphones to check bus arrival times just before the train arrives at the station. For this reason I believe that this feature will be well appreciated by TTC riders.

 

[Johnny Au]

I've suggested this in the past. Unfortunately, the LED dot matrix display on the TR is already cluttered with next station information and the four LCD screens on the trains are too small and, generally, too far away to be useful during rush hour.

If I'm remembering correctly, when the train is arriving at a station, the LED display is set up as such:

Next station is Eglinton.
Exit this side.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

To get next bus information on the vehcile, I'd remove "exit this side", and keep the arrows indicating which side of the train the doors will open:
Next station is Eglinton.

Next station is Eglinton.
54A - East to Starspray - 11 minutes
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Next station is Eglinton.
100A - South to Broadview Station - 7 minutes
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Next station is Eglinton.
32C - West to Jane and Lawrence via Tretheway - 4 minutes
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Etc...

Alternatively, the arrows could be replaced by an X or check mark, on the far left or right side of the displays, indicating which doors will open. This will allow for two surface routes to be shown at once, or for the current time to be shown.

I'd also install two addictional LED matrix displays per car, so each pair or doors will have a display.

When on the at-grade parts of the subway, I frequently see customers using their smartphones to check bus arrival times just before the train arrives at the station. For this reason I believe that this feature will be well appreciated by TTC riders.

TTM, you took that idea straight out of my mind. I am very guilty of checking bus arrival times on my smartphone at every possible opportunity on the subway (even taking advantage of the TCONNECT Wi-Fi service, even if the train stopped at the station with Wi-Fi for no more than one minute) and this would be a great idea, especially for people who don't have a smartphone.

Perhaps one of those ads to the sides of the subway train doors can be converted to LCD and have bus arrival times on there, with advertisements either above or below the arrival times.

 

[Johnny Au]

This is what I meant by bus arrival times:

You know, implementing that would not be free, hence the ad for an iMac. The routes would scroll upwards continuously and loop seamlessly. Note also that it is just an example route (as proof of concept). The screen looks clear, since it would have Retina Display.