The Imperfection of Automated Announcements

[Schnellzug]

Round our way, they've recently installed Real Time Information things on the bus stops and in the Buses. Or rather, they installed them last summer, and they've finally got round to turning them on. The displays at the Bus stops still just say helpful things like "System Under Test" or "No Real Time Info Available", but yesterday for the first time I was on a Bus with the on-bus equipment working! Well, I was excited, as you can imagine. It has a Robot Voice (which sounds rather like our old friend "I'M ... VERY SORRY") that says what the next Stop is. Now, my local stop is known as (or at least, the Council seem to call it) Manor Road Roundabout; yes, it is a bit of a mouthful, and it doesn't quite fit on the display, it says "MANOR ROAD ROUNDABO". And sure enough, the Robot Voice duly said "NEXT STOP... MANOR ROAD ROUNDABO".

Automated systems are so perfect, aren't they. :roll:

 

[BuhSnarf]

As the saying in development goes the system is only as good as the people developing it!

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

 

[Eagle]

Now, my local stop is known as (or at least, the Council seem to call it) Manor Road Roundabout...

I'm pretty sure the signs there just say Manor Roundabout.

Good thing it doesn't stop at the next roundabout along, Veästa Roundabout; the system would probably freak over the non-ASCII character in its name. (On a related topic, have you noticed how SWT's internal displays now tell you to follow @SW_Trains on Twitter... except the character set for the display maps the underscore onto an S-Bahn symbol so it actually says follow @SWⓈTrains...)

 

[Via Bank]

I'm pretty sure the signs there just say Manor Roundabout.

Good thing it doesn't stop at the next roundabout along, Veästa Roundabout; the system would probably freak over the non-ASCII character in its name. (On a related topic, have you noticed how SWT's internal displays now tell you to follow @SW_Trains on Twitter... except the character set for the display maps the underscore onto an S-Bahn symbol so it actually says follow @SWⓈTrains...)

Oh, THAT's what it's supposed to be...

 

[SS4]

We used to have them. However, since so few of the buses had gps onboard it would default to timetable information

 

[Deerfold]

Sorry - deleted, must learn to read before posting.

 

[MK Tom]

Going back to the point about 'system unavailable', RTPI was promised for the Milton Keynes bus network in the form of PIDs by September 2010. The current situation is that there are screens in a few non-city centre stops on a few routes which sometimes display what's coming but 70% of the time say 'refer to timetable'. Also there are a couple of massive screens in the shopping centre and Xscape which display the next services on about four routes and none of the other fifty odd that come through the city centre. It's an unmitigated disaster.

On the trains my favourite case of robot announcements going wrong were when Southern started runnning to MK and they put all the stations except Bletchley and Berkhamsted into the system. When the posh lady listed all the stops she'd just leave gaps where those stations were meant to go! "The next station is. Change here for services to Bedford." Another favourite is LM Desiros leaving Northampton for Euston and claiming their next stop is Alsager.

 

[Schnellzug]

Funny you should mention that. Just today, I noticed that a few of the displays on the main road into town were showing something other than "No Real Time Info Available", but what they were showing was positively misleading. It said "1st 2 min, 2nd 3 min, 3rd 71 min ". Not even First Bus often have gaps that big; i suppose it was because only it was because only those buses that were in service that had the equipment operational were showing up. Really, that's even less useful than showing nothing at all, isn't it.
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and another thing...

On the trains my favourite case of robot announcements going wrong were when Southern started runnning to MK and they put all the stations except Bletchley and Berkhamsted into the system. When the posh lady listed all the stops she'd just leave gaps where those stations were meant to go! "The next station is. Change here for services to Bedford." Another favourite is LM Desiros leaving Northampton for Euston and claiming their next stop is Alsager.

In the SWT Desiros, they used to have a great big gap after "Bournemouth", they'd go "Poole, Parkstone, Branksome, Bournemouth........" and then a gap for about 10 seconds, while everyone wondered if the train wasn't going any further than Bournemouth, then would suddenly pipe up "... Brockenhurst, Southampton Central..." I suppose they were on two seperate files that were spliced together or something.

 

[Eagle]

In the SWT Desiros, they used to have a great big gap after "Bournemouth", they'd go "Poole, Parkstone, Branksome, Bournemouth........" and then a gap for about 10 seconds, while everyone wondered if the train wasn't going any further than Bournemouth, then would suddenly pipe up "... Brockenhurst, Southampton Central..." I suppose they were on two seperate files that were spliced together or something.

Is that the same file that pronounced Bournemouth as "Boornmouth"? That used to really grate on me (it even turned up on 159s on Salisbury services as part of the change-here-for at Basingstoke).

 

[Deerfold]

Funny you should mention that. Just today, I noticed that a few of the displays on the main road into town were showing something other than "No Real Time Info Available", but what they were showing was positively misleading. It said "1st 2 min, 2nd 3 min, 3rd 71 min ". Not even First Bus often have gaps that big; i suppose it was because only it was because only those buses that were in service that had the equipment operational were showing up. Really, that's even less useful than showing nothing at all, isn't it.

The sytems that show the scheduled time (as xx:xx) where the system is not in touch with an expected bus would be preferable (whilst still showing xx mins where they are).
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Is that the same file that pronounced Bournemouth as "Boornmouth"? That used to really grate on me (it even turned up on 159s on Salisbury services as part of the change-here-for at Basingstoke).

I've never heard an on-train system pronounce Sowerby Bridge correctly yet.

 

[bb21]

In the SWT Desiros, they used to have a great big gap after "Bournemouth", they'd go "Poole, Parkstone, Branksome, Bournemouth........" and then a gap for about 10 seconds, while everyone wondered if the train wasn't going any further than Bournemouth, then would suddenly pipe up "... Brockenhurst, Southampton Central..." I suppose they were on two seperate files that were spliced together or something.

If it is what I think you meant, the delay is to catch up with the display which isn't scrolling as fast as the announcement.

 

[Muzer]

(On a related topic, have you noticed how SWT's internal displays now tell you to follow @SW_Trains on Twitter... except the character set for the display maps the underscore onto an S-Bahn symbol so it actually says follow @SWⓈTrains...)

Oh, THAT'S what symbol it is... it's still doing it I think. You'd really think they would have tested it before committing it to all the trains.

On a related note, I wonder if they've fixed that train (158 or 159) with the constant breaks in the announcements yet? I didn't think to take down the number, but there's one train (perhaps just one carriage) where the announcement always sound something like: "This is Sal-... (pop). The next station i-... (pop) -tley." I come across it from time to time, it's been doing it for years!

 

[plymothian]

The Piccadilly line has a penchant for stuttering over 'This is... [station]' to end up as 'T'is.. [station]' or 'Is... [station]'

 

[Eagle]

Related to the OP, I notice that one of the lifts at Coventry station announces platform/concourse level as "Platform 1 and way. Out." But it's not synth speech, it's an actual recording of someone who spoke like that. Weird.

 

[jon0844]

Yes it. Is.