(17 Dec 2013, 8:13 am)CatsFast101 wrote That's why I don't mind the 60 announcements by sunfm. They just say 'Next Stop is __' none of this press bell once or alight here for local shops and other bus services, know one gets on a bus and thinks oh ill think ill get off now to see the local shops! They've paid to their destination before hand.
Those on all day tickets and those who are in possession of a concessionary pass don't.
More so the latter, if they are unaware that the stop is coming up for a load of nice shops, they may try it out if they're having a day out (my mum and I used to do it loads when I was a kid - sit on a bus, have a rough idea of where we planned to go, but end up getting off elsewhere because we saw somewhere we hadn't been before).
To add to the general discussion...
As annoying as they are, they're aimed at a lot of people and are indeed very useful indeed. When you can't see where you're going at night, they help. When you're a tourist, they help. When you're visually impaired, they help.
I'm glad Go North East are spending so much money on this scheme and I'm glad they are partnering up with so many radio stations to have these announcements professionally recorded.
If I recall correctly, Arriva's Sapphire service has them too. Clearly they think it's a good idea and no doubt they will roll it out across future investment too should research prove they are useful.