Electronic destination blinds

[Simon75]

How many types of Electronic blinds are there, and when where they first used on the UK?

 

[ACBest]

When you say types, do you mean manufacturers?

Hanover Displays, Mobitec and Aesys are the three most common manufacturers whose kit you’ll see these days.

Going back about 15-20 years, BrightTech Developments was a big name too.

Can’t answer when electronic displays were first used, but I think flip-dot displays go back to the 80’s.

 

[Roger1973]

They certainly go back to the late 80s if not before.

London Buses (as then was) had a few Titan class buses fitted with them (picture on Flickr, not my account or photo, here dated 1989) - possibly partly as an experiment, also as these buses were stand-by buses for the night bus network, which would have probably been too much for a conventional destination blind set.

This batch of coach seated Eastern National Leyland Olympians seem to have been new with electronic displays (photo, different Flickr account, again not mine, dated 1985 - here.)

 

[Simon75]

When you say types, do you mean manufacturers?

Hanover Displays, Mobitec and Aesys are the three most common manufacturers whose kit you’ll see these days.

Going back about 15-20 years, BrightTech Developments was a big name too.

Can’t answer when electronic displays were first used, but I think flip-dot displays go back to the 80’s.

What I ment was like Flip dot, LED etc

 

[nw1]

One thing I've noticed in recent years is a change from yellow to white.

Interesting that what was deemed the most prominent colour has changed.

Another change in style - further back - is that the route number now typically appears on the right, whereas previously it appeared on the left.

 

[Pyewipecarshed]

A couple of early examples are City of Oxford Bristol VR/ECW HUD 476S which was repainted in traditional livery in 1981 and fitted with an electronic blind at the same time, and South Wales WTH 959T which was fitted with a new body by ECW in April 1983 and came out with a two-part "flip dot" display.
Merseyside were receiving new vehicles with electronic blinds at around the same time.

 

[cool110]

One thing I've noticed in recent years is a change from yellow to white.
Interesting that what was deemed the most prominent colour has changed.
Another change in style - further back - is that the route number now typically appears on the right, whereas previously it appeared on the left.

Both things that TfL insisted on, and everyone else just followed suite in a Brussels effect like way.

 

[WibbleWobble]

Both things that TfL insisted on, and everyone else just followed suite in a Brussels effect like way.

I wouldn't say that's true, otherwise we wouldn't have had the period of amber LED displays.

I've seen best practise guidelines that state that numbers should be to the right of the number, and this was echoed in a letter in Buses magazine a few years back in which the Department for Transport advised an operator to do so, so they did.
(I can only currently find them here - https://www.scribd.com/document/195572316/DDA-Regulations-Route-and-Destination-Displays, but because it is on Scribd, it won't let me quote without registering for a subscription!)

To be honest, numbers on the right of the front display is much more passenger friendly, as you can see the route number much more quickly if it is behind another bus or a lorry. Having them on the left was only better from a driver perspective back in the days of winding three-track blinds! But even that could be worked around - just look at Manchester specification.

 

[Resuwen]

The current London displays are so much better than those elsewhere - so sharp they look like real blinds whereas others are very pixelly

 

[joieman]

Another change in style - further back - is that the route number now typically appears on the right, whereas previously it appeared on the left.

Trentbarton and Kinchbus still display route numbers on the left of the destination blind. Many of their buses seem to be split with the coloured LEDs for the number/coloured circle being coloured and the remainder of the front blind being white only.

 

[DanielTheEMid]

Gotta love Centrebus on their announcement capable buses. They have automatic ticketer link and it automatically changes as we go along the route

 

[Steve440]

They certainly go back to the late 80s if not before.

London Buses (as then was) had a few Titan class buses fitted with them (picture on Flickr, not my account or photo, here dated 1989) - possibly partly as an experiment, also as these buses were stand-by buses for the night bus network, which would have probably been too much for a conventional destination blind set.

This batch of coach seated Eastern National Leyland Olympians seem to have been new with electronic displays (photo, different Flickr account, again not mine, dated 1985 - here.)

West Yorkshire PTE 7091 (JUM 91V) new in January 1980 had a flip-dot number display seen Here:

WYPTE in Leeds Bus Station, May 1980.

WYPTE 6141 (SUA141R) and 7091 (JUM91V) parked up at Leeds Bus Station in May 1980. 6141 was a Roe bodied Leyland AN68 Atlantean that dated from July 1977, while 7091 was a Northern Counties bodied FE30AGR Fleetline that was only some 4-months old at the time of the photo, having been delivered...

www.flickr.com

It's not very clear and I think the destination was electronically controlled as well.

 

[Resuwen]

The current London displays are so much better than those elsewhere - so sharp they look like real blinds whereas others are very pixelly

I’ve often said this - I don’t know why other operators don’t get these ones.

Somewhere like Lothian with its generally sharp presentation would benefit from them.

 

[DanielTheEMid]

I’ve often said this - I don’t know why other operators don’t get these ones.

Somewhere like Lothian with its generally sharp presentation would benefit from them.

Thinking of, Nottingham's Yutong fleet are fitted with the Navaho stuff, as are the new 36 buses in harrogate, so they are slowly rolling out.

 

[joieman]

Thinking of, Nottingham's Yutong fleet are fitted with the Navaho stuff, as are the new 36 buses in harrogate, so they are slowly rolling out.

From what I've heard, Nottingham's have been rather unreliable. I think I heard that the final batch of Yutong single-deckers will be getting regular LED destination blinds.

 

[ACBest]

Gotta love Centrebus on their announcement capable buses. They have automatic ticketer link and it automatically changes as we go along the route

I recognise the driver in that photo…!

 

[Whisky Papa]

Greater Manchester Transport's first Leyland Olympian, 1451 (NJA568W) had flip-dot blinds for service number and destination, and was displayed at the NEC Motor Show in 1980. There is a photo on Flickr of it on display there.

As it did not feature Manchester's standard three-blind layout, I think I am correct in saying that the destination display scrolled through the intermediate points that would have ordinarily been displayed on the third blind. It entered service from Queens Road some time in 1981, at which time I was a junior clerk in the schedules office at Frederick Road, under whose remit Queens Road fell. For the sake of simplicity in programming the blinds, it was decided to only allocate it to workings on the Manchester - Bury 35.

The flip-dot display was not deemed a success in that form, and at some point 1451 was fitted with conventional blinds set in the large horizontal aperture used on GMT's production Olympians.