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Post by Swadbus on Oct 17, 2012 0:02:38 GMT
If you were in a position to improve anything about the iBus system what would it be?
Perhaps you have a particular dislike of the onboard display used? Perhaps the announcements are too frequent? Perhaps the voice is annoying? Perhaps the realtime information is inadequate?
For me personally it would be the actual quality of the radio calls. We should be up to at least the standard of a modern digital telephone system in my opinion.
A time will soon come that the system will need to be improved or modified. So, what would you improve/change? Why would you do this?
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Post by M1199 on Oct 17, 2012 0:20:39 GMT
Could it be altered so that Emma doesn't announce that it's a route "A to B" when only the rear doors are used at stops? Always wandered why it was set up in this way as it seems pretty pointless.
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Post by romfordbuses on Oct 17, 2012 0:36:11 GMT
^Was going to post the same thing but thought it was picky and something freebbc would post! ;D
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Post by Swadbus on Oct 17, 2012 0:44:06 GMT
Could it be altered so that Emma doesn't announce that it's a route "A to B" when only the rear doors are used at stops? Always wandered why it was set up in this way as it seems pretty pointless. I suspect this is done for the benefit of the visually impaired as reassurance they are on the correct bus. Also, it works on a similar practice as the underground announces each station when the doors open.
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Post by vjaska on Oct 17, 2012 3:02:34 GMT
The ability to follow diversion routes in the sense of where it will serving whilst on diversion. Obviously, I wouldn't expect it for diversions that are unexpected, e.g. an accident forcing a road to close - more for diversions that are known about in advance like the bridge closure at Streatham Vale.
Also, similar to the above, the ability to annouce the roads when a bus is on 'hail & ride'
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Post by mondraker275 on Oct 17, 2012 7:46:22 GMT
I think London Underground updates should be given. To get of a bus, only for my train to be suspended, knowing I could have stayed on the bus is annoying.
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Post by Swadbus on Oct 17, 2012 9:23:42 GMT
I think London Underground updates should be given. To get of a bus, only for my train to be suspended, knowing I could have stayed on the bus is annoying. I like the idea of that, but could become troublesome when at a station such as Kings Cross with a large number of different lines.
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Post by snoggle on Oct 17, 2012 12:20:47 GMT
I think London Underground updates should be given. To get of a bus, only for my train to be suspended, knowing I could have stayed on the bus is annoying. I have had such an announcement on the 123 at Blackhorse Rd. There was a recorded message played and then the driver did a PA. I thought it was very professionally done. I don't think I-Bus can or should do everything which is why the driver using the PA should be the back-up for irregular or more complex messages.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2012 14:31:09 GMT
Well i think its good to have updates on the underground and network rail on the iBus.
Also the iBus should mention what lines the station serves when the bus goes to a train station stop.
Also it can mention what zone the train station is on...
I think you should forward all of it to TFL because we are making good decisions here CustomerServices.Buses@tfl.gov.uk.
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Post by snoggle on Oct 17, 2012 14:59:36 GMT
If you were in a position to improve anything about the iBus system what would it be? Perhaps you have a particular dislike of the onboard display used? Perhaps the announcements are too frequent? Perhaps the voice is annoying? Perhaps the realtime information is inadequate? For me personally it would be the actual quality of the radio calls. We should be up to at least the standard of a modern digital telephone system in my opinion. A time will soon come that the system will need to be improved or modified. So, what would you improve/change? Why would you do this? I don't have a problem with the voice or the messages themselves. The following are issues I think need to be sorted 1. Treatment of hail and ride sections seems very odd now. They seem to have disappeared on the bus announcements / displays which is unhelpful. If you're waiting on the hail and ride section then it is impossible to find out when a bus is due. TfL don't provide any advice on what to do with web or text info e.g checking the time for the last fixed stop before the H&R section starts. Even that is far from foolproof though. 2. Lack of signs or displays at bus stations. The one place where you get loads of people and yet I don't think any stop in a bus station has a countdown display (unless someone knows different). TfL issued a press release yesterday saying new signs are being designed for hotels, hospitals and railway stations. Nothing about tube, DLR or bus stations despite many have lots of buses serving them. 3. I also think the accuracy of I-Bus can be improved. I know traffic congestion, silly traffic light phasing, crew changes and extended dwell times can throw the system off but I have lost count of the times when buses due in 2 minutes take over 5 to arrive. There are also peculiar "black holes" where buses do not show up until they're 10 minutes away or where buses do not "pass" from one GPS cell to another. This means buses do not show up consistently along a route. This is a system problem that should be fixed. 4. I would like to see the "window" for next arrivals widened slightly to say 41 minutes rather than 29 minutes. I know this will cause more data to be pulled but it would stop the problem of buses on 20 or 30 minute headways disappearing from view. There is nothing worse for intending passengers to see "no buses due" as the answer to their query. If TfL wanted to lighten the data load then it could narrow the time window for day routes in Central London as it is pretty rare for extended intervals to occur in the centre of town. 5. I would like to see far better integration of I-Bus / Countdown with diversion / real time info. There is clearly the facilty for stop or route specific messages to be displayed but this is not routinely used. It needs to be used and it needs to be done properly. 6. I would also like to see better treatment of timings from or across terminals. If you are waiting for a bus not far from where it starts then it can be 2 minutes away for up to 10 minutes or so. Also a better way of predicting when arriving buses will leave to head in the opposite direction would be helpful. I think TfL use the scheduled time but when the service is badly disrupted this is next to useless. There should now be enough data / experience to allow TfL to tweak the system or its processes to improve in this area. It's still a great system and very useful but it could be much better.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2012 17:23:50 GMT
I find no fault with the system as it is. As for more information being added, how on earth did bus users in the 1960's and 1970's manage with no announcements at all. How could information be made available on Hail and Ride sections? The whole point of the section is the absence of bus stops. One hails the bus and rides which is advantageous in the sense of not seeing your bus sail past because you chose to walk from one stop to the next stop
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Post by Swadbus on Oct 17, 2012 17:43:53 GMT
5. I would like to see far better integration of I-Bus / Countdown with diversion / real time info. There is clearly the facilty for stop or route specific messages to be displayed but this is not routinely used. It needs to be used and it needs to be done properly. This is currently being addressed with a designated team specifically dealing with doing this along with updating the Twitter feed. Quite a challenge I'm sure you'll agree.
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Post by greeny253 on Oct 17, 2012 18:36:42 GMT
The only thing I'd like to see improve with regards to iBus is the matter of destination announcements. Couple of occasions this week I've found missing destination announcements which, to be honest, could have been avoided. 1/. "86...to...." Romford, North Street Bus Garage has recently been added as a curtailment for this route. Now it's obviously got audio because every other NS route uses it but it wasn't there for the 86. 2/. "103....to..." Rainham Interchange this time. This extension has been in the pipeline for ages so surely the audio could have been recorded in anticipation? My other comment on this would be about the pre-recorded announcements. Now I know it's been said on here before that TfL want us to use the PA more often but let's face something here, there are drivers that just won't do it - and then deal with an argument in the process. If nothing else, I'd particularly like to see the one about a ticket check taking place come back. I know some drivers abused this one initially but if we're all honest, it was dead useful and SOMETIMES people actually listen to the announcements! On a plus note, I like the new welcome message on the driver screen
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Post by Steve80 on Oct 17, 2012 18:56:08 GMT
The regulate the service message should come back imo. Almost every trip I do I get told to hold back normally because im too close to my leader. Sometimes, I get told to hold back because the bus behind is too far. Im getting sick of using that PA to let passegners know what the problem is. Even when I use that PA I still get passegners asking what the problem is normally because they just misheard me.
Also, the ibus screen should tell us how far the bus behind is so we can regulate the service better.
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Post by Steve80 on Oct 17, 2012 19:19:11 GMT
3. I also think the accuracy of I-Bus can be improved. I know traffic congestion, silly traffic light phasing, crew changes and extended dwell times can throw the system off but I have lost count of the times when buses due in 2 minutes take over 5 to arrive. There are also peculiar "black holes" where buses do not show up until they're 10 minutes away or where buses do not "pass" from one GPS cell to another. This means buses do not show up consistently along a route. This is a system problem that should be fixed. Good points there. Point 3 is interesting as when on the 3s, I notice whether I drive from piccadilly circus heading into the haymarket, or when heading along effra road in brixton going towards herne hill, on some occasions, the ibus system goes down and gives me a indication as if im on diversion. I get the impression it depends on how fast im driving. Theres also been many occasions when the ibus annouces the oncoming stop and then immediately annouces the previous stop I served before annoucing the oncoming stops again. Seems to happen along south croxted road alot when I approach the 'church approach' bus stop and the ibus annouces park hall road. A minor problem though
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