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Post by busman on Mar 17, 2017 11:04:07 GMT
These were for bus stops timetable panels using a similar technology to smart paper. The smart paper style timetable panels are great. It seems that destination blinds were trialled by TfL too. From the article I pasted earlier: "A super low power passenger information screen was displayed by TechnoFrame. A solar powered bus stop with passenger information screen that displays the status of services was shown. TfL is currently trialling this product at Waterloo Bridge stop, one of the busiest in the city. Also under TfL trial is the SmartCity digital destination display which can achieve the same level of clarity that printed blinds can."
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Post by redexpress on Mar 17, 2017 12:12:27 GMT
These were for bus stops timetable panels using a similar technology to smart paper. The smart paper style timetable panels are great. It seems that destination blinds were trialled by TfL too. From the article I pasted earlier: "A super low power passenger information screen was displayed by TechnoFrame. A solar powered bus stop with passenger information screen that displays the status of services was shown. TfL is currently trialling this product at Waterloo Bridge stop, one of the busiest in the city. Also under TfL trial is the SmartCity digital destination display which can achieve the same level of clarity that printed blinds can." Doesn't this refer to the e-ink display that was trialled on Metroline's TEH1224? Wasn't a great success. They seem to be doing better with the bus stop displays. I thought the Waterloo Bridge one was OK at first but it stopped working properly after a few days. However according to their website SmartCity installed another 10 e-ink bus stop displays during November 2016. I came across one in Brentford the other day. Seemed to be working OK.
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Post by busman on Mar 17, 2017 12:52:27 GMT
The smart paper style timetable panels are great. It seems that destination blinds were trialled by TfL too. From the article I pasted earlier: "A super low power passenger information screen was displayed by TechnoFrame. A solar powered bus stop with passenger information screen that displays the status of services was shown. TfL is currently trialling this product at Waterloo Bridge stop, one of the busiest in the city. Also under TfL trial is the SmartCity digital destination display which can achieve the same level of clarity that printed blinds can." Doesn't this refer to the e-ink display that was trialled on Metroline's TEH1224? Wasn't a great success. They seem to be doing better with the bus stop displays. I thought the Waterloo Bridge one was OK at first but it stopped working properly after a few days. However according to their website SmartCity installed another 10 e-ink bus stop displays during November 2016. I came across one in Brentford the other day. Seemed to be working OK. There's an e-ink bus stop at Woolwich Arsenal. It looks great and also has a button to illuminate the display at night. I assume that these timetable panels are potentially cheaper to install and maintain than the existing countdown system (otherwise what's the point?!). Only downside is that sometimes buses go missing for a few minutes like they sometimes do on the Google next bus feed. Perhaps that is more down to the TfL API than the e-ink technology. Thanks for pointing out the trials on TEH1224. I had no idea that happened. I looked up some pictures and they look fine in the day, but the night time display doesn't look so great. Day: c1.staticflickr.com/1/522/19393412210_a7d40930c8_b.jpgNight: farm1.static.flickr.com/621/20424006514_f900723fdc.jpg
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Post by john on Mar 17, 2017 19:48:41 GMT
Doesn't this refer to the e-ink display that was trialled on Metroline's TEH1224? Wasn't a great success. They seem to be doing better with the bus stop displays. I thought the Waterloo Bridge one was OK at first but it stopped working properly after a few days. However according to their website SmartCity installed another 10 e-ink bus stop displays during November 2016. I came across one in Brentford the other day. Seemed to be working OK. There's an e-ink bus stop at Woolwich Arsenal. It looks great and also has a button to illuminate the display at night. I assume that these timetable panels are potentially cheaper to install and maintain than the existing countdown system (otherwise what's the point?!). Only downside is that sometimes buses go missing for a few minutes like they sometimes do on the Google next bus feed. Perhaps that is more down to the TfL API than the e-ink technology. Thanks for pointing out the trials on TEH1224. I had no idea that happened. I looked up some pictures and they look fine in the day, but the night time display doesn't look so great. Day: c1.staticflickr.com/1/522/19393412210_a7d40930c8_b.jpgNight: farm1.static.flickr.com/621/20424006514_f900723fdc.jpgBuses going missing could be more to do with not being able to locate the bus, possibly the MDT dropping signal, which does happen and means the bus goes "missing".
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Post by ServerKing on Mar 18, 2017 6:45:54 GMT
TfL might as well try a Lothian-style setup of LEDs seeing as the E-Paper is too flimsy for a credible blind setup. TEH1224 I think reverted back to its normal blinds. Where in Brentford is the E-Paper stop?
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Post by redexpress on Mar 18, 2017 11:45:27 GMT
TfL might as well try a Lothian-style setup of LEDs seeing as the E-Paper is too flimsy for a credible blind setup. TEH1224 I think reverted back to its normal blinds. Where in Brentford is the E-Paper stop? It's the eastbound stop at Watermans Centre. At the moment it's showing incomplete info for the 65 as there is a diversion in South Ealing, so buses keep disappearing off iBus.
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Post by busman on Mar 24, 2017 14:17:43 GMT
Yesterday night I was waiting for a bus in Woolwich with my family. I had some interesting feedback from them, as occasional bus users who are in no way enthusiasts:
Firstly my wife had no idea that the e-paper bus stop had a button to light up the display. Neither do most other people. She was pleasantly surprised to find that out as she couldn't read it in the dark. Once looking at the display, she actually thought it was stupid that they made it look like paper. Plus it didn't show the routing or timetable, it only showed when the next bus was coming. After all, she said, if it's a screen they could make it more visually dynamic. Cue the e-paper display to show that it could not display info due to connectivity issues, before it came back on again after a few minutes.
Then my daughter was furiously demanding we get on our bus. A 244 blinded plainly for Abbey Wood. Not even Abbey Wood Station. Just plain old Abbey Wood. I had to explain that although we were going to Abbey Wood, that bus didn't go to the part of Abbey Wood we wanted to get to.
My point? Communication of basic bus information needed in London is poor. Via points have been kicked off blinds and via points on timetables have been overly simplified (or even removed from the new e-paper timetable panels). Destination blinds have been boiled down to meaningless broad towns like "Uxbridge", "Stratford" or "Abbey Wood" as TfL think our poor little brains cannot handle additional details like "Station" or "Calderwood Street" added to a final destination. It's becoming harder to know exactly where a bus goes and where exactly it terminates. No wonder people choose uber when they are in unfamiliar areas!
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Post by vjaska on Mar 24, 2017 14:34:06 GMT
Yesterday night I was waiting for a bus in Woolwich with my family. I had some interesting feedback from them, as occasional bus users who are in no way enthusiasts: Firstly my wife had no idea that the e-paper bus stop had a button to light up the display. Neither do most other people. She was pleasantly surprised to find that out as she couldn't read it in the dark. Once looking at the display, she actually thought it was stupid that they made it look like paper. Plus it didn't show the routing or timetable, it only showed when the next bus was coming. After all, she said, if it's a screen they could make it more visually dynamic. Cue the e-paper display to show that it could not display info due to connectivity issues, before it came back on again after a few minutes. Then my daughter was furiously demanding we get on our bus. A 244 blinded plainly for Abbey Wood. Not even Abbey Wood Station. Just plain old Abbey Wood. I had to explain that although we were going to Abbey Wood, that bus didn't go to the part of Abbey Wood we wanted to get to. My point? Communication of basic bus information needed in London is poor. Via points have been kicked off blinds and via points on timetables have been overly simplified (or even removed from the new e-paper timetable panels). Destination blinds have been boiled down to meaningless broad towns like "Uxbridge", "Stratford" or "Abbey Wood" as TfL think our poor little brains cannot handle additional details like "Station" or "Calderwood Street" added to a final destination. It's becoming harder to know exactly where a bus goes and where exactly it terminates. No wonder people choose uber when they are in unfamiliar areas! Indeed, I've given up with TfL's weird and nonsensical way of determining what blinds get decent info and which don't. I've mentioned these before but here goes again: The 432 runs between Anerley Station & Brixton Station. Anerley only has one turning point, Brixton has at least 4 - guess which place got a vague blind and which got a more accurate one? The 2 runs between Norwood Bus Garage & Marylebone Station whilst the 68 runs between Norwood Bus Garage & Euston Station. At the Norwood Bus Garage, the 2 both terminates and picks up at the same stop outside the garage whilst the 68 only terminates there yet both buses with new blinds show 'West Norwood' which has multiple turning points whilst old buses show 'Norwood, Bus Garage'. The funny thing is though, that 'West Norwood' was also the blind for the 68 when it used to terminate at West Norwood Station Don't forget Croydon Town Centre being used to mark at least 5 different turning points. It's absolutely crazy!
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Post by DT 11 on Mar 24, 2017 16:32:16 GMT
Yesterday night I was waiting for a bus in Woolwich with my family. I had some interesting feedback from them, as occasional bus users who are in no way enthusiasts: Firstly my wife had no idea that the e-paper bus stop had a button to light up the display. Neither do most other people. She was pleasantly surprised to find that out as she couldn't read it in the dark. Once looking at the display, she actually thought it was stupid that they made it look like paper. Plus it didn't show the routing or timetable, it only showed when the next bus was coming. After all, she said, if it's a screen they could make it more visually dynamic. Cue the e-paper display to show that it could not display info due to connectivity issues, before it came back on again after a few minutes. Then my daughter was furiously demanding we get on our bus. A 244 blinded plainly for Abbey Wood. Not even Abbey Wood Station. Just plain old Abbey Wood. I had to explain that although we were going to Abbey Wood, that bus didn't go to the part of Abbey Wood we wanted to get to. My point? Communication of basic bus information needed in London is poor. Via points have been kicked off blinds and via points on timetables have been overly simplified (or even removed from the new e-paper timetable panels). Destination blinds have been boiled down to meaningless broad towns like "Uxbridge", "Stratford" or "Abbey Wood" as TfL think our poor little brains cannot handle additional details like "Station" or "Calderwood Street" added to a final destination. It's becoming harder to know exactly where a bus goes and where exactly it terminates. No wonder people choose uber when they are in unfamiliar areas! Indeed, I've given up with TfL's weird and nonsensical way of determining what blinds get decent info and which don't. I've mentioned these before but here goes again: The 432 runs between Anerley Station & Brixton Station. Anerley only has one turning point, Brixton has at least 4 - guess which place got a vague blind and which got a more accurate one? The 2 runs between Norwood Bus Garage & Marylebone Station whilst the 68 runs between Norwood Bus Garage & Euston Station. At the Norwood Bus Garage, the 2 both terminates and picks up at the same stop outside the garage whilst the 68 only terminates there yet both buses with new blinds show 'West Norwood' which has multiple turning points whilst old buses show 'Norwood, Bus Garage'. The funny thing is though, that 'West Norwood' was also the blind for the 68 when it used to terminate at West Norwood Station Don't forget Croydon Town Centre being used to mark at least 5 different turning points. It's absolutely crazy! I think Croydon Town Centre is fine as it could be worse and just show Croydon. Like it was for Catford. Now Catford, Town Centre & Catford Bridge . I find though there is no consistency in many areas. Example Hospital's 155, 264, 280 & 493 Tooting, St George's Hospital 229, 286, R11 Queen Mary's Hospital. Sidcup was removed 244, 291, 469 Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich Common removed Station Examples Battersea Park Station Finsbury Park Station Lewisham Station Orpington Station Sidcup Station etc Plenty of other stations where routes terminate it just displays one word the area 83 to Alperton surprises me as it could have as least displayed "Alperton Station" Bromley North Mortlake King's Cross Abbey Wood
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Mar 24, 2017 21:26:04 GMT
I think Croydon Town Centre is fine as it could be worse and just show Croydon. Like it was for Catford. Now Catford, Town Centre & Catford Bridge . I find though there is no consistency in many areas. Example Hospital's 155, 264, 280 & 493 Tooting, St George's Hospital 229, 286, R11 Queen Mary's Hospital. Sidcup was removed 244, 291, 469 Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich Common removed Station Examples Battersea Park Station Finsbury Park Station Lewisham Station Orpington Station Sidcup Station etc Plenty of other stations where routes terminate it just displays one word the area 83 to Alperton surprises me as it could have as least displayed "Alperton Station" Bromley North Mortlake King's Cross Abbey Wood I think it was mentioned by someone on here that at Underground only stations the word "station" doesn't tend to be used on the blinds. I've found that generally to be quite consistent. At Barking the LTs on the ELT routes as well as 687 display "Barking Station" as opposed to just "Barking" being displayed on all of the Stagecoach and Arriva blinds. WIsh that there was some consistency there. Same goes for the new style blinds at PB, they display "Walthamstow Central STATION" on the blinds as opposed to "Walthamstow Central" being displayed on the 48s LTs. However in general I've noticed when the word "STATION" is used as a qualifier on new style blinds they only tend to be on Metroline buses. Is it down to the operator what gets put on blinds? I know the spec often dictates what should be on the display but how strict is this?
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Post by eggmiester on Mar 25, 2017 22:08:45 GMT
The blinds should be worded as per the LBSL Route Description that is sent to all operators at all stages of a contract change or indeed and new contract.
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Post by Red Dragon on Mar 26, 2017 10:51:44 GMT
The blinds should be worded as per the LBSL Route Description that is sent to all operators at all stages of a contract change or indeed and new contract. Well, I personally think the problem lies with the route description. They are the ones who specify an entire London Borough as a destination
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Post by snoggle on Mar 26, 2017 13:39:49 GMT
The blinds should be worded as per the LBSL Route Description that is sent to all operators at all stages of a contract change or indeed and new contract. That would be the route description that clearly changes 50 times a year and is updated by 37 different people but checked by no-one given the ridiculous lack of consistency and different approaches to the same place on blinds.
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Post by snoggle on Mar 26, 2017 16:53:39 GMT
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Post by ServerKing on Mar 26, 2017 17:36:24 GMT
In some cases TfL have gone overboard, as the 341 now has Northumberland Park ANGEL ROAD SUPERSTORES (The Qualifier is wrong BTW) but so much to read... Until they move into the 21st century we are stuck with these useless blinds...
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