Can’t please all of the people all of the time. 

(18 May 2021, 3:36 pm)ne14ne1 wrote Is that where the lower part of letters qypgj hang below the line of text?

I really like the font you put on the lower part of the double height screens: https://flic.kr/p/2kTUrsr
along with the font of the destination-only/short service displays: https://flic.kr/p/2kTxJBq

...but I dislike the standard bold font as the letters look cramped and square: https://flic.kr/p/2kTBPvp.
(The numbers on the 53/54 are ugly and dated in my opinion too, but I’ve noticed others like them (they were spotters though so probably bias)).

And of course the destinations on Voltra are Mobitec supplied by McKenna Brothers, as opposed to the rest of the fleet which are Hanover.

(18 May 2021, 5:26 pm)citaro5284 wrote And of course the destinations on Voltra are Mobitec supplied by McKenna Brothers, as opposed to the rest of the fleet which are Hanover.

Did the ever say why they went Mobitec on the Yutongs? I'm guessing it wasn't out of choice as that means having two separate systems for programming the displays

(18 May 2021, 8:41 pm)streetdeckfan wrote Did the ever say why they went Mobitec on the Yutongs? I'm guessing it wasn't out of choice as that means having two separate systems for programming the displays

First Leeds appear to have Hanover on theirs, perhaps GNE specced theirs differently to test different systems?

(18 May 2021, 10:27 pm)omnicity4659 wrote First Leeds appear to have Hanover on theirs, perhaps GNE specced theirs differently to test different systems?

I suppose it does make sense to trial it on a vehicle that's very unlikely to end up on a different route, that way they don't have to programme all the displays and NSA

(19 May 2021, 8:26 am)streetdeckfan wrote I suppose it does make sense to trial it on a vehicle that's very unlikely to end up on a different route, that way they don't have to programme all the displays and NSA

I actually prefer the screens on the Voltras. You get a better view of them from further back, as oppose to what you get on the standard 4:3 screens.

(19 May 2021, 2:44 pm)Adrian wrote I actually prefer the screens on the Voltras. You get a better view of them from further back, as oppose to what you get on the standard 4:3 screens.

For sitting at the back, I actually prefer the LED displays over even the screens on the Yutongs

(19 May 2021, 3:21 pm)streetdeckfan wrote For sitting at the back, I actually prefer the LED displays over even the screens on the Yutongs

Same here. Might not look as fancy as a screen or be able to display connecting train times, but at least they can be read from the back.

Here’s a question - Given the fact that Haymarket and Eldon Square have not been permitted alighting points (except by exception) for almost a year now, is there a reason terminating services still show these rather than St. Mary’s Place / Newgate Street?

The cynic inside me says that if we can spend time moving route numbers, incorporating new fonts and shrinking suffix letters - All for no good reason in my humblest of opinions - then surely we can accurately reflect where the bus will actually terminate?

Of course, we could be really pioneering and stick with “Newcastle” for the entirety of the journey!

Well its happened, i got off at Four Lane Ends the other day and was greeting to an elderly in a right state because she was wanting the 42 to Forest Hall and ended up on the 42A,luckily it was Four Lane Ends so i explained to her she could get the 63 back the other way to Forest Hall,so i showed her the the bus stand where to get the 63 and asked the driver to tell her when she needed to get off

(22 May 2021, 3:16 pm)tynesider wrote Here’s a question - Given the fact that Haymarket and Eldon Square have not been permitted alighting points (except by exception) for almost a year now, is there a reason terminating services still show these rather than St. Mary’s Place / Newgate Street?

The cynic inside me says that if we can spend time moving route numbers, incorporating new fonts and shrinking suffix letters - All for no good reason in my humblest of opinions - then surely we can accurately reflect where the bus will actually terminate?

Of course, we could be really pioneering and stick with “Newcastle” for the entirety of the journey!

Very good point that destinations could’ve been adjusted to say St Mary’s Place, or Newgate Street for example. That would’ve been helpful as the NSAs would’ve also warned the bus was about to terminate on the approach to those stops rather than the drivers having to shout up to passengers, (if they bothered at all).
Saying that, can you not ride all the way into the bus stations now, or are they still boarding only?

I’m not sure if you last comment about just having ‘Newcastle’ as the destination for the entire journey was a joke or not, but I’d have to disagree. Having a stream of buses at Gateshead Interchange for example all saying ‘Newcastle’ isn't helpful as some will be terminating down at Central Station, then others up at Eldon Square.
Equally a bus approaching the Coast Rd (Benfield Rd), Scotswood Rd or West Rd stops with the destination as Newcastle isn’t too informative either as passengers at those stops are already in the City of Newcastle - so if the tech is available switch it to a more specific street name or place. 

As you say there’s been a lot of non-essential titivating going on, yet the X1’s destinations STILL don’t seem to have been programmed to switch to ‘Eldon Square’ Why has the X1 been left out?

(22 May 2021, 3:16 pm)tynesider wrote Here’s a question - Given the fact that Haymarket and Eldon Square have not been permitted alighting points (except by exception) for almost a year now, is there a reason terminating services still show these rather than St. Mary’s Place / Newgate Street?

The cynic inside me says that if we can spend time moving route numbers, incorporating new fonts and shrinking suffix letters - All for no good reason in my humblest of opinions - then surely we can accurately reflect where the bus will actually terminate?

Of course, we could be really pioneering and stick with “Newcastle” for the entirety of the journey!

The X21 still drops off at Eldon Square, and so do quite a few other service.

From my experience on the X30, the NSA does have the 'this bus terminates' crap once it gets to Newgate Street, 

Having said that, with the amount of times they've changed the destination displays for other reasons, they could have easily changed where it terminates!

(22 May 2021, 5:41 pm)streetdeckfan wrote The X21 still drops off at Eldon Square, and so do quite a few other service.

From my experience on the X30, the NSA does have the 'this bus terminates' crap once it gets to Newgate Street, 

Having said that, with the amount of times they've changed the destination displays for other reasons, they could have easily changed where it terminates!

It's mainly services from the Metrocentre that terminate on Newgate Street services from Gateshead terminate at Eldon Square appect the X9/X10 even though the nsa says it does

(23 May 2021, 12:09 am)Ds1197 wrote It's mainly services from the Metrocentre that terminate on Newgate Street services from Gateshead terminate at Eldon Square appect the X9/X10 even though the nsa says it does

So the X9/X10 destinations change to The Gate, but inside the NSAs still announce ‘Eldon Square Bus Station’? Surely not?

(23 May 2021, 6:20 am)ne14ne1 wrote So the X9/X10 destinations change to The Gate, but inside the NSAs still announce ‘Eldon Square Bus Station’? Surely not?

Especially with all this titivating that's been going on.
It's that important stuff I keep harking back to...

(23 May 2021, 6:20 am)ne14ne1 wrote So the X9/X10 destinations change to The Gate, but inside the NSAs still announce ‘Eldon Square Bus Station’? Surely not?

(23 May 2021, 11:02 am)Andreos1 wrote Especially with all this titivating that's been going on.
It's that important stuff I keep harking back to...

The next stop announcements on services X9/X10 are not programmed to announce Eldon Square Bus Station.

(23 May 2021, 11:13 am)Dan wrote The next stop announcements on services X9/X10 are not programmed to announce Eldon Square Bus Station.

The last time I used the NSA announced the next stop is Eldon Square were this bus terminates and that was only a few weeks ago

(23 May 2021, 11:33 am)Ds1197 wrote The last time I used the NSA announced the next stop is Eldon Square were this bus terminates and that was only a few weeks ago

The next stop announcements are not programmed to announce Eldon Square Bus Station.

There was a problem with one vehicle not updating remotely. I think you've been very unlucky and stumbled across an issue that the company was already aware of, and was working with the supplier to fix. The same vehicle was also the one that did not update before Gateshead to show where in Newcastle the bus terminated.

It's rare that you'd hear that announcement played anyway, as a lot of drivers have a habit of showing the outbound destination before St. Mary's Place (an issue which the industry has faced for donkeys years).

(23 May 2021, 11:45 am)Dan wrote a lot of drivers have a habit of showing the outbound destination before St. Mary's Place (an issue which the industry has faced for donkeys years).

That is annoying.

So do the X1’s have a system issue then or have they just not been programmed to change to Eldon Square?

(23 May 2021, 12:12 pm)ne14ne1 wrote That is annoying.

So do the X1’s have a system issue then or have they just not been programmed to change to Eldon Square?

Hopefully if I answer this, I'll not have to read another post about it again... I have ignored it long enough because this forum isn't intended to be a Q&A session about Go North East's destination displays and next stop announcements. 

The last few remaining services which do not show Eldon Square (or other more specific places) were intentionally not done due to an unrelated issue with firmware on destination controllers resulting in the down arrow intermittently not working. In this example of the X1, to get to Easington Lane from Eldon Square, you'd have to re-type 'X1', if the down button did not work. Hanover's developers have been working on resolving this bug for the last few months (initially the problem was only raised by Go North East which wasn't enough to escalate it to R&D for immediate attention), and a new version of firmware is now available which should fix this issue. Once it's loaded to controllers and Go North East undertakes further 'live' testing in the field, we'll look to change the programming to show Eldon Square on the X1.

(23 May 2021, 12:20 pm)Dan wrote Hopefully if I answer this, I'll not have to read another post about it again... I have ignored it long enough because this forum isn't intended to be a Q&A session about Go North East's destination displays and next stop announcements. 

The last few remaining services which do not show Eldon Square (or other more specific places) were intentionally not done due to an unrelated issue with firmware on destination controllers resulting in the down arrow intermittently not working. In this example of the X1, to get to Easington Lane from Eldon Square, you'd have to re-type 'X1', if the down button did not work. Hanover's developers have been working on resolving this bug for the last few months (initially the problem was only raised by Go North East which wasn't enough to escalate it to R&D for immediate attention), and a new version of firmware is now available which should fix this issue. Once it's loaded to controllers and Go North East undertakes further 'live' testing in the field, we'll look to change the programming to show Eldon Square on the X1.

thanks for finally confirming.

Is NSA/destination chat in particular a taboo subject or as long as we discuss it but not ask questions is that okay?

(23 May 2021, 12:56 pm)ne14ne1 wrote thanks for finally confirming.

Is NSA/destination chat in particular a taboo subject or as long as we discuss it but not ask questions is that okay?

It's up to you what you discuss, we're not going to police that. The reason we split the forum up into individual threads was so that anyone who didn't want to read a particular topic, didn't have to. Keen to make sure we don't turn the forum into a general Q&A session for me though - it's not fair on anyone (I'm here as an enthusiast!)

ive not used the bus much over the last year but on the occasions ive done so, including yesterday i got off the arriva service in the haymarket and the GNE service in elsdon square, abit at the bottom stand

I’m sure you’ll all be super relieved to hear this, the X1 destinations now change to Eldon Square on approach to the city. 

(21 Jun 2021, 11:48 am)ne14ne1 wrote I’m sure you’ll all be super relieved to hear this, the X1 destinations now change to Eldon Square on approach to the city. 

Genuinely amazes me why they think displaying the ultimate destination as it approaches that point, (rather than at the various points where passengers actually need to see where it terminates for the previous 60 odd minutes) is a good idea.

(21 Jun 2021, 1:47 pm)Andreos1 wrote Genuinely amazes me why they think displaying the ultimate destination as it approaches that point, (rather than at the various points where passengers actually need to see where it terminates for the previous 60 odd minutes) is a good idea.

I'm not amazed that you don't think it is a good idea! 

When there are countless services running through Gateshead Interchange to various parts in the city (Eldon Square, Market Street, Central Station), some of which (i.e. service Q1) taking a longer time to get there due to the route the service takes, it makes complete sense and is a very good idea for the destination to automatically change to the exact part of the city where the service terminates, before the bus gets to Gateshead.

I'd argue it's less important to those 60 minutes further down the route, where they don't have a choice about which service they travel on.

(21 Jun 2021, 2:21 pm)Dan wrote I'm not amazed that you don't think it is a good idea! 

When there are countless services running through Gateshead Interchange to various parts in the city (Eldon Square, Market Street, Central Station), some of which (i.e. service Q1) taking a longer time to get there due to the route the service takes, it makes complete sense and is a very good idea for the destination to automatically change to the exact part of the city where the service terminates, before the bus gets to Gateshead.

I'd argue it's less important to those 60 minutes further down the route, where they don't have a choice about which service they travel on.

Surely it's just as important for passengers boarding 60mins down the road as it is for those boarding at Gateshead.
Someone getting on the bus at Easington Lane, but getting off in Newcastle needs to know where the bus will drop them off, just as much as those boarding at Gateshead and travelling for 2 stops.

Someone boarding in West Auckland needs to know where that X21 is going to drop them off, just as someone boarding for the last leg from Gateshead does.

The same applies for those people getting on the 2 on Chester Road and wondering where in Washington it will take them.
Good job it displays The Galleries for those people in Penshaw. Cos I would hazard a guess they were just as important as the ones getting on half a dozen stops prior. Not more important.

Someone in Middlesbrough may decide on using the train as its easier to determine where abouts they get off, than it is on the X9/10.

Genuinely have my mind blown at the perceived point, that the blind for passengers making a short journey is more important than for those making longer journeys and could be less familiar with that terminating point

(21 Jun 2021, 5:14 pm)Andreos1 wrote Surely it's just as important for passengers boarding 60mins down the road as it is for those boarding at Gateshead.
Someone getting on the bus at Easington Lane, but getting off in Newcastle needs to know where the bus will drop them off, just as much as those boarding at Gateshead and travelling for 2 stops.

Someone boarding in West Auckland needs to know where that X21 is going to drop them off, just as someone boarding for the last leg from Gateshead does.

The same applies for those people getting on the 2 on Chester Road and wondering where in Washington it will take them.
Good job it displays The Galleries for those people in Penshaw. Cos I would hazard a guess they were just as important as the ones getting on half a dozen stops prior. Not more important.

Someone in Middlesbrough may decide on using the train as its easier to determine where abouts they get off, than it is on the X9/10.

Genuinely have my mind blown at the perceived point, that the blind for passengers making a short journey is more important than for those making longer journeys and could be less familiar with that terminating point

Especially if your like me,and get paranoid as hell when out and about during this pandemic,even if its for essential travel,and if you dont have decent knowledge of buses,your knackered, and its not always as simple as 'asking the driver'

(21 Jun 2021, 5:35 pm)V514DFT wrote Especially if your like me,and get paranoid as hell when out and about during this pandemic[/b] ,even if its for essential travel,and if you dont have decent knowledge of buses,your knackered, and its not always as simple as 'asking the driver'[/b]

You've got LA's closing roads, you've got route changes, some buses not dropping off/setting off as they were 18months ago and you've got drivers who don't want to have to chat to passengers for obvious reasons... 
Yet someone thinks it's better for punters travelling 2 stops to have a clearer picture of where they need to get off, than it does someone travelling 60mins.

Regardless of any other barriers that exist for some passengers, such as the ones you mention, difficulties reading timetables or having the nerve to speak to a driver to clarify.

(21 Jun 2021, 5:44 pm)Andreos1 wrote You've got LA's closing roads, you've got route changes, some buses not dropping off/setting off as they were 18months ago and you've got drivers who don't want to have to chat to passengers for obvious reasons... 
Yet someone thinks it's better for punters travelling 2 stops to have a clearer picture of where they need to get off, than it does someone travelling 60mins.

Regardless of any other barriers that exist for some passengers, such as the ones you mention, difficulties reading timetables or having the nerve to speak to a driver to clarify.

Totally agree