New Automated Subway Station Announcements

[sleeksky]

I love the 4-5-6 guy. New York also uses different voices on each line, which I think is nice. 2-3 and L each have different female voices (L is too soft to be easily audible).

 

[adma]

The Enza Express?

Y'know, that *would* work. (Also connects well w/transit-newspaper circles.)

 

[SD2]

A driver once announced "Spadeena. Spadeena Station is next." on a train I was travelling in.

I told the guard when I left the train "tell the driver it's Spadina."

The guard told me there are many ways to pronounce things...

It actually was pronounced "Spadeena" originally...so he's actually providing a little history lesson too

 

[SD2]

I think automated announcements are a good thing. It can't be easy to sit there all day and utter station names, and I'm not surprised many drivers don't seem into it. The best way might be for the drivers to have the option of switching the automated announcements off, and taking over when they feel like talking or "having fun with it", and switching to automated when they want to.

It can't be easy to do a lot of things. I don't think the driver having to say the station that's coming up and the station their arriving at is a difficult thing to do.

No job is perfect...asking them to say the stations isn't much to ask. They system is strapped for cash, so why spend it on something that can be done so easily?

 

[boiler2000]

They system is strapped for cash, so why spend it on something that can be done so easily?

I'm pretty sure automated announcements are not a big expense at all, as all the infrastructure is already in place. Also, it can't be denied that this job simply isn't being done right now.

Furthermore, such an upgrade actually adds value to the system, as you can have automated announcements include more information, like "Dundas West station. Transfer here for the GO Transit Georgetown line, the 504 and 505 streetcar lines, and the 40 and 168 bus lines." It would be a real stretch to expect drivers to utter all that at every stop.

 

[EnviroTO]

I think the technology is the first phase of a project which will ultimately let passengers know when the next train will arrive at the stations.

 

[hkskyline]

I don't think it's necesary to have 2 announcements for the next station : "Next stop is ..." and "Arriving at ...". It's really annoying along the downtown stretch when the travel time between stations is less than 30 seconds.

 

[wyliepoon]

Furthermore, such an upgrade actually adds value to the system, as you can have automated announcements include more information, like "Dundas West station. Transfer here for the GO Transit Georgetown line, the 504 and 505 streetcar lines, and the 40 and 168 bus lines." It would be a real stretch to expect drivers to utter all that at every stop.

I can imagine what an announcement for a suburban stop would sound like...

"Next station Scarborough Centre. Transfer here for bus routes 9, 16, 21, 38, 43B, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 169 and 190, GO buses to Oshawa, Newmarket and York University via. Hwy 407." An announcement from the Shanghai Metro would go on to announce all the landmarks around the station, so here the announcement would drone on... "Get off here for Scarborough Civic Centre, Albert Campbell Square, the Scarborough YMCA, and Scarborough Town Centre shopping mall."

I think a good piece of information to add to the automated announcements would be which side of the train to get off of at the next station.

 

[Mislav]

Anybody ever have the guy that goes "There was a station on this line and Keele was it name, K-E-E-L-E." :lol :lol :lol

 

[spmarshall]

I used to take the Yonge line to/from Union much more than I do now. Once in a while in the morning, I'd get someone going "King, King, King, King, King, King...." then "QUEEEEEN, QUEEEEEN". I like it when they have some fun, but that announcer was too much.

I've had drivers who would call out landmarks too - often the same person, Southbound at Dundas, he would say "Dundas Station, exit here for Eaton Centre and Ryerson", at Queen, it would be Eaton Centre south, City Hall, St. Mike's, at King, would announce for George Brown College, though that's quite the distance east.

As for calling out routes, screens such as Montreal's Telecite do the job well enough. It's too much calling out route numbers.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

wyliepoon - you forgot the greyhound lines and the TTC branches (A,B, etc). They'd have to start announcing it before they even got to Midland station.

 

[wyliepoon]

Yes I did. I also forgot to tell the passengers about the taxi stand and that blue school bus to the Consilium.

 

[spmarshall]

Last weekend, I made a note of the automated announcements for the Bayview 11. The voice making those announcements was pleasant and soft - not very intrusive. Though I noted the irony in announcing the stop for the Bob Rumbell Centre.

Some of the Orion VIIs on that route have LED signs at the front also with visual notices. That's a very useful feature.

The voice that does the 11 Bayview announcements does some of the announcements for the Sheppard Subway. A much nicer, softer, voice then the harsh voice from the patronizing PA announcements throughout the subway.

I just wish the subway annoucements were a little shorter than "Leslie is next, Leslie Station - just stop saying "station", and I'm happy.

 

[mgl2]

I like the use of the word "station". Seems old fashioned.

BTW, Chicago does include the door side information in their automated announcements, but only in the first of the two announcements. I'm surprised that Toronto isn't including this information to assist visually challenged passengers.

 

[elook]

Reminds me of a visit to D.C. when I was younger. We rode the Metro into downtown to go to the Smithsonian. I vividly remember the automated stop announcements, "Next stop, Cheverly. Doors will open ... on the left hand side."

They also had (likely still have) flashing lights in the floor on the platform edges to alert riders to incoming trains, not to mention farecards. All this was probably 20 years ago.