https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10127410/bus-passenger-tfl-apple-pay-iphone-battery/amp/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebarweb&__twitter_impression=true

Hardly seems fare!

Apologies for using that specific source.

You are forgiven Andreos1 but don't let it happen again!

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10127410/bus-passenger-tfl-apple-pay-iphone-battery/amp/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebarweb&__twitter_impression=true

Hardly seems fare!

Apologies for using that specific source.

She would have seen that her battery was about to die, and used her contactless card rather than her phone. It's her own fault really.

This is the reason why I hate the fact that the 5to25 tickets are only available on the app, and why I'm still paying the £95 a month instead of £68.

As someone who can go through a full charge in half a day, it's not worth the the risk

This is the reason why I hate the fact that the 5to25 tickets are only available on the app, and why I'm still paying the £95 a month instead of £68.


As someone who can go through a full charge in half a day, it's not worth the the risk

As long as you don't mind the extra weight you can invest in a external power bank. A 20000mAh one is £20-30 on Amazon and gives the equivalent of around 5x or more full phone charges. I would never travel without one.

Technologically, a basic NSA system shouldn't be that expensive, it's essentially just a GPS activated PowerPoint presentation (I know there's more to it than that, but let's be real, not that much more)
You could in theory make one with a Raspberry Pi, a GPS antenna, a monitor and speaker, and a bit of coding knowledge (I might actually give that a go one day). I'm surprised there isn't a start up company selling the whole system fairly cheap

I've always been surprised at how bad most bus technology is really. If someone really wanted too you could create a system which controls a ticket machine, NSA's and the destination display altogether and do it all via the internet and a internal database on the vehicle (incase you lose connection) which downloads when it can as a fallback. There is obviously a system there already for the ticket machine anyway.

Then you could automatically update stuff and push messages through to the NSA such as, we would like to apoligise but there is an accident at X, this bus will be delayed or please be aware that x is closed between the 5th May and 11th May and we will not be stopping at this stop by using an automated text to voice system. Another thing you could do is change the destination depending where you are to remove via points. There's lots of things which you could do realistically do to improve the experience for bus users.

For the system the easiest way I'd guess would be to use LAT and LNG points and just check which one is the closest and announce that as the next stop until you get to a certain radius say within 100m where it announces this is x. Once the distance increases from that point it will announce the next stop and repeat. If you used the internet to do it, you could do stuff like displaying connections at stops such as the stand and times for the X66 at Gateshead and also do This bus is not stopping at X, please alight here for X.

In theory if someone did a decent system it should take minutes to update but I'm guessing it's not like that at all.

I've always been surprised at how bad most bus technology is really. If someone really wanted too you could create a system which controls a ticket machine, NSA's and the destination display altogether and do it all via the internet and a internal database on the vehicle (incase you lose connection) which downloads when it can as a fallback. There is obviously a system there already for the ticket machine anyway.

Then you could automatically update stuff and push messages through to the NSA such as, we would like to apoligise but there is an accident at X, this bus will be delayed or please be aware that x is closed between the 5th May and 11th May and we will not be stopping at this stop by using an automated text to voice system. Another thing you could do is change the destination depending where you are to remove via points. There's lots of things which you could do realistically do to improve the experience for bus users.

For the system the easiest way I'd guess would be to use LAT and LNG points and just check which one is the closest and announce that as the next stop until you get to a certain radius say within 100m where it announces this is x. Once the distance increases from that point it will announce the next stop and repeat. If you used the internet to do it, you could do stuff like displaying connections at stops such as the stand and times for the X66 at Gateshead and also do This bus is not stopping at X, please alight here for X.

In theory if someone did a decent system it should take minutes to update but I'm guessing it's not like that at all.

I mean, all the data for the stops is already there on Google (IIRC, it's all open so is available to use), so it would really just be a case of developing the announcement platform, which to me doesn't seem that difficult. 
Even using Google or Amazon's TTS would sound alright for the announcement instead of having to pay for the voiceovers.
I'm genuinely considering giving it a go now.

Might be worth starting a new thread and continuing this discussion over there

First time I've been on an Arriva bus with NSA for quite a while now, and I forgot how awful the sound is on them!

A combination of the volume being far too low, the lady sounding like she was whispering when recording it, and the constant rattling and creeking of an E400 make it basically impossible to understand, the fact that the displays are about as dim as the average Green voter doesnt help!

Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020...tents/made

Details of upcoming changes from the end of the year onwards.
Those who used it as some sort of marketing spin or as part of a game of one upmanship, may need to find an alternative strategy.

Setting up this thread for any onboard tech chat. 
I’m quite interested in tech, customer information systems etc. I was pleased to see from recent YouTube videos that the open toppers were loaded with next stop announcements for normal routes, for when they’ve been out on the 21, 56 etc. 

With major changes in Gateshead Town Centre starting next week to improve pedestrian, cycling & bus priorities, buses towards Newcastle will be moved from Hills Street to Askew Road. I’m guessing a bus stop will be in place on Askew Road, taking the place of the one on Hills Street. I wonder if GNE roll out an update to the NSAs, at least to the vehicles that can be updated wirelessly to begin with.

https://northeastbuses.co.uk/forum/showt...hp?tid=925&page=5

Ah my bad, sorry. Wonder if a mod can delete this thread?

Noticed on a few videos 3997's announcements seem very distorted. 

Noticed on a few videos 3997's announcements seem very distorted. 

Repaired this morning by Hanover's field engineer.

Im currently on a bus for the first time since March, on a route I’m not familiar with & of course it’s NSAs aren’t working (6116).
Is it not part of the morning vehicle checks to ensure the system is working before it’s taken out, or would there not necessarily be enough spares lying around to replace it with for a fault deemed as unimportant as NSAs?

Im currently on a bus for the first time since March, on a route I’m not familiar with & of course it’s NSAs aren’t working (6116).
Is it not part of the morning vehicle checks to ensure the system is working before it’s taken out, or would there not necessarily be enough spares lying around to replace it with for a fault deemed as unimportant as NSAs?

Yes, it is part of the first use check but it's not safety critical therefore would not stop the vehicle from going on the road.

Even if it did, the replacement vehicle would likely be an OmniDekka which doesn't have Next Stop Announcements fitted anyway, so you might as well still have 6116 out there (which at least provides Wi-Fi, more comfortable seats, tables, charging points, etc).

Hanover's service engineer repaired the Next Stop Announcement fault on 6116 on Wednesday, and the system was working fine when he left it.

Yes, it is part of the first use check but it's not safety critical therefore would not stop the vehicle from going on the road.

Even if it did, the replacement vehicle would likely be an OmniDekka which doesn't have Next Stop Announcements fitted anyway, so you might as well still have 6116 out there (which at least provides Wi-Fi, more comfortable seats, tables, charging points, etc).

Hanover's service engineer repaired the Next Stop Announcement fault on 6116 on Wednesday, and the system was working fine when he left it.

A common issue that I've seen with the NSAs is the buses seem to think they're somewhere else, I've lost count of the amount of times I've been on the X21 and the NSA has been stuck at Newcastle or Durham. Or the display will be stuck and the sound is still fine.

Happened with one of my friends last night on the 97, she'd never been on that route before so I had to guide her through over the phone where her stop was.

Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk

Yes, it is part of the first use check but it's not safety critical therefore would not stop the vehicle from going on the road.

Even if it did, the replacement vehicle would likely be an OmniDekka which doesn't have Next Stop Announcements fitted anyway, so you might as well still have 6116 out there (which at least provides Wi-Fi, more comfortable seats, tables, charging points, etc).

Hanover's service engineer repaired the Next Stop Announcement fault on 6116 on Wednesday, and the system was working fine when he left it.

Fair point about a spare not even being fitted with NSAs.

This morning regarding 6116, at one or two stops, about 20 secs after departing it would say “This is the Cobalt & Coast three” (with the rest cut off). That was only twice it spoke, the rest of the time it wouldn’t announce anything after the doors closed, and the there was no ‘next stop’ info at all.

Report DM’d to customer services at the time.

Yes, it is part of the first use check but it's not safety critical therefore would not stop the vehicle from going on the road.

Even if it did, the replacement vehicle would likely be an OmniDekka which doesn't have Next Stop Announcements fitted anyway, so you might as well still have 6116 out there (which at least provides Wi-Fi, more comfortable seats, tables, charging points, etc).

Hanover's service engineer repaired the Next Stop Announcement fault on 6116 on Wednesday, and the system was working fine when he left it.

How would the first driver check NSA’s in the depot?

How would the first driver check NSA’s in the depot?

I'd imagine it'd be as simple as setting the route and if it says 'This is the X service' and the screens are functioning, then it'd pass the 'inspection'. It's one of those things you can't really check until you're actually running the route

I listened to a podcast this morning which guest starred Emma Hignett.
As it was transport related they talked about her voice over work with TFL and discussed next stop announcements on London Buses. Interestingly she said that for London they wanted to give out the essential information people needed, while not annoying people or giving out too much information, hence it was kept to the route number & destination as the buses depart a stop, and the name of the upcoming stop as it is approached, (plus the prerecorded messages the driver can play manually if needed).

They then discussed how other cities have since decided to prefix the stop announcements with "Next Stop", or "The next stop is" (or "This is the X service to Y", rather than simply "X, to, Y"), which they thought was unnecessary as the audience knows what it is you're announcing, and it becomes very repetitive sounding and more likely to either annoy people or make them less likely to tune into the vital bit i.e. the stop name, as they've made the announcements all start off sounding the same. They pointed out in any other context you would never start every paragraph or sentence with the same thing, would you.

I just thought it was interesting, and I agree. I would certainly drop off the "Next stop," bit as that does get annoying hearing it over and over in such close secession. If it was purely the stop name it wouldn't sound so repetitive.

I listened to a podcast this morning which guest starred Emma Hignett.
As it was transport related they talked about her voice over work with TFL and discussed next stop announcements on London Buses. Interestingly she said that for London they wanted to give out the essential information people needed, while not annoying people or giving out too much information, hence it was kept to the route number & destination as the buses depart a stop, and the name of the upcoming stop as it is approached, (plus the prerecorded messages the driver can play manually if needed).

They then discussed how other cities have since decided to prefix the stop announcements with "Next Stop", or "The next stop is" (or "This is the X service to Y", rather than simply "X, to, Y"), which they thought was unnecessary as the audience knows what it is you're announcing, and it becomes very repetitive sounding and more likely to either annoy people or make them less likely to tune into the vital bit i.e. the stop name, as they've made the announcements all start off sounding the same. They pointed out in any other context you would never start every paragraph or sentence with the same thing, would you.

I just thought it was interesting, and I agree. I would certainly drop off the "Next stop," bit as that does get annoying hearing it over and over in such close secession. If it was purely the stop name it wouldn't sound so repetitive.

I do think less is more in these cases. 
There's a clear line between too little info and too much advertising and whilst I do agree things are better since the 'next stop, you've guessed it Herrington Burrrn' days (where partnerships with radio stations and lording it over local radio presenters seemed to be flavour of the day) - there are still improvements to be made.

On a slightly connected note, I remember being on the 8 from Park Lane.
It had barely left the business park, when the vehicle let everyone know the next stop was Waterview Park. A fella who clearly didn't know the area, made his way to the front of the bus. Cue awkward looks and embarrassed smiles as he hung around near the front of the bus for the next 3 or 4 miles.