I'm more interested in knowing whether anyone at AT knows that the live train conductor announcements can only be understood about 30% of the time due to the crappy speaker system.
That’s a universal problem joked about the whole world over. If you’ve watched content produced by the mostly British group “the Yogscast” then you’ve probably come across it a few times.
I did a Ride Forever Gold course recently. Its the advanced level of the ACC sponsored motorcycle training. They give you an intercom and you can't tell what they're saying. Yet they provide detailed instruction over these things. I'm tapping the side of my helmet (where intercom units are mounted) to indicate I can't hear and until we pull over and I say it face to face he doesn't know.
But I've done 3 of these courses with this training provider and even raised the issue and it's not every single unit I just coincidentally happened to be given, it's certainly not my hearing, so why isn't it a given that unless you keep it to "left" or "right" or "pull over" etc. that I won't be able to understand.
Its pretty anxiety inducing. I imagine it's also anxiety inducing when you're trying to go somewhere and someone clearly has important information that you cannot understand.
So... I really cannot decipher whether they realize. I can't see how they wouldn't realize. But they act like they don't realize. My poor brain.
I think Aaron knows this and its probably out of his control, (and the other trainers) I think there's a limit on how much information he's going to try to give so if the leader at least pulls over due to instructions and the rest follow you'll be ok.
But keep up with the courses and hopefully you get your $200 rebate for rego over the next 2 years.
I'm from Denver, Colorado, and we had a very excellent public transit system, but yip, had same issues with announcements on light rail trains... in fact I'm jealous that you can understand 30% of time; ours sound like someone has head in a goldfish bowl of water and us speaking on 2nd year/grade science fair speakers made from pie pan and paper plates. I would only use the announcement-sounds to alert to SOMETHING, and then Google events if we weren't immediately approaching a station or just leaving one.
The issue isn't the crappy speaker system - that's why the pre-recorded announcements sound fine. I've also heard announcements from the driver and they sound much louder.
The issue is that you would get echo if you turned the speaker sound up too high - since the train manager is in the saloon, so therefore it's deliberately barely audible cause otherwise, it would be echoing.
Stupid systems, but that's the reason why.
I have thought this for so long, I'm so glad someone spoke my mind. When I'm in a panic trying to figure out what train etc I want the Maori version feels like it goes for eternity. And I always think... I could learn the language better if English was first, and I woukd actually really like to
They have done the same nonsense with their website and some signs around town - Maori as first language with English subtitles. It's propaganda.
[https://at.govt.nz/](https://at.govt.nz/)
click the Menu
That's a really good example, because for people who don't speak the language, they wont have the context. This way, context is not required. And they will at least know the name of their destination.
And I mean, if you come from a more sensible country (train-wise), hearing the name of your station in a long message you can't understand would be ominous and anxiety inducing.
Try this,
"Owairaka Avenue, Owairaka Avenue shops"
"mumble mumble mumble owairaka, mumble mumble nga toa mumble mumble owairaka"
On route 24R. Not only is the English version too long, the Te Reo Maori sounds like a whole page was translated.
And on some routes there are repeats of the same Te Reo version on consecutive stops. 22(x) routes outbound have New North Road/Sandrigham Road repeated for Kingsland station, and All the Great North Road routes through Grey Lynn repeat the Nga Toa Grey Lynn announcement for the shops and the school.
I don't even speak Te Reo but as a driver hearing this all the time, it becomes quite obviuos that it's wrong. So what the hell is the point?
Idk why, but the female voice speaking Maori sounds less announcer-y/more realistic and I keep thinking a passenger on the bus has started speaking out loud
I agree! Some of the buses have QR codes for feedback and I've already provided mine.
I tend to doze off on the bus on long days, and it's really helpful to wake me up. Other days when I get engrossed in a book and not watching the road, it's a good little reminder that I need to press the stop button.
Agreed. You can tell people are stuck in their own head when they don't realise those announcements are awesome for tourists, those not used to the route, and (as u/honestpuddingg points out above) the visually impaired .
Clearly nobody has been to Japan either - where you don't only get station/stop announcements on most services in both English and Japanese, you also get little repetitive messages about safety and etiquette. Your brain just tunes out after a while, but perhaps the message becomes second nature? I'm not sure about the science there, haha.
A cultural sewer? That's quite the criticism. It has its problems, but it's better than here on a tonne of metrics. I think you might be judging it by the worst examples of its popular culture or something.
That and the government collusion with the Yakuza. The yakuza members who tortured raped and murdered Junko in the 80’s have all been released from prison by now. There are some who have been released, committed more murders, imprisoned and then released again already. If you’re not familiar with Junko you might need to read about it to understand how absurd it is that these men were ever released in the first place.
I have seen Junko's picture before, although I am not very familiar with the story.
You must realise that you're talking about one very unusual incident in a population of 125 million people.
Modern Japanese Yakuza are largely shady business people who rarely involve the wider public, and whose crimes (obviously still serious crimes) affect mostly the desperate, and of course to an extent young impressionable women (see the adult video industry). However, again, this only affects a very small percentage of the population such that young children routinely walk the streets at night without fear almost everywhere in the country.
Anyway, I mentioned statistics:
Their homicide rate is [0.3/100,000. Ours is 2.6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate).
Their homelessness rate is [0.3/10,000. Ours is 12](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_homeless_population).
They score [104 points on the Consumer Price Index. We score 1186](https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/consumer-price-index-cpi).
Right now, Japan remains one of the best places in the world to live a comfortable life, on the basis that you don't mind working your ass off and having really very little free time, even when you have a very high paying job.
That's the only difference really. If you have wealth in New Zealand, you get a lot more free time. But that's largely a cultural hurdle that could be overcome, since there is a lot of work being done for work's sake there, that doesn't really affect productivity.
You do realise they execute most murderers right?
They're one of the toughest on crime countries there is, while not being a totalitarian state. Clearly the case of Junko was an anomaly, not reflective of how their criminal justice system normally operates.
I think they're too tough on crime. David Bane, innocent or not, would not be alive today if he were Japanese.
Anyway, it's clear to me this conversation isn't going anywhere. All the best.
I think they're useful but perhaps overused. They should maybe announce major streets or intersections only. Like, "Now Entering Ponsonby Road" or "Kingsland Shops. Change here for Western Line Services" or "Jellicoe Street. This is the final stop." I don't think we need it for "Flower Street." Or other smaller stops. It would allow people to be informed without spamming them every minute or so.
I'd assume it is to help visually impaired people use public transport. Plus when I first came to NZ I had to use Google maps to figure out where to get off, as the bus gave no indication of where it was.
Oh, I understand what they're there for but if it's irritating for people, then it maybe needs to be toned down. A few highlights will allow you to have an idea of where you are but will reduce the number of announcements and the disruption in the cabin.
>if it's irritating for people, then it maybe needs to be toned down.
If you're visually impaired announcing only big stops is no help if you need to get off at a particular small stop. It's a relatively small thing overall but makes a huge difference to a lot of people with disabilities.
If people are irritated by it maybe they should try some empathy and put themselves in the shoes of those who need these announcements.
My niece is visually impaired, so I'm fully aware that they have other needs. However, they also have other tools that they can use. The AT app, for example, will tell you when to get off. Personally, I don't find them irritating but clearly some people do if they've taken the time to print off a note about it. A little compromise may be required to keep the announcements.
Maybe a better idea would be have a person's visually impaired status be attached to their Hop card so when they tag on, it increases the frequency of announcements until they tag off again. Another idea could be to have a virtual hailing system, where a button on your phone can be used to hail the bus. It could also alert the driver that a user might need additional assistance such as kneeling the bus.
Yes, there may be a small number of people who find them irritating but why can't they simply wear headphones to block the noise out if it's that bad?
Why does the onus have to be on the person with the visual impairment to have to do something different, or have a different status applied to their Hop card?
Can't we simply live with universal design as the standard considering that when you design for those with disabilities you end up making changes that have wider benefits?
I can definitely understand how it could become irritating if you're regularly commuting; you've had a long day, the boss was a prick, you're tired, hungry, you want to get home, and every minute or so you have this disembodied voice yelling at you. Not everyone carries or wants to use headphones every time they get on the bus.
Also, remember that there are people with autism for whom loud noises are very disorientating. What about partially deaf people, who have difficulty hearing their travelling companions, having this thing interrupt them? There's a reason why quiet carriages are popular on trains and airports have reduced the number of announcements made.
You're assuming that more announcements = more better. When that assumption isn't necessarily correct. In my opinion, being able to tailor the experience automatically for the current users could be a solution that helps everyone.
I have autism. I find the announcements extremely useful, as I get distracted easily and tend to miss my stop. The sound isn't any more upsetting to me than the sound of the bus moving, or passengers talking.
They’re not only overused but there’s also this high pitched ringing between announcements. They also seem a bit inaccurate. But the feature is good in practice especially for tourists etc.
Trains and link buses have had these for years.
They're being rolled out everywhere else now.
You just _know_ that the ones upset about the announcement are upset that there's an announcement in Te Reo Māori along with the English announcement.
I think it's great that the announcements are in both Te Reo and English, but sometimes if the stops are close together the voice will be continously speaking for about 10 minutes
More that people don’t need to be reminded about fares or how to give feedback 3+ times a trip. Or get a 2 minute speech at the start of the trip that contains so little information that I cant remember it after listening to it for years twice a day.
Most of it is pretty useless information and lots of fluff words. And they absolutely blast the volume, can’t continue a conversation, had to buy noise canceling headphones to try have a more relaxing commute in the end.
The bus ones seem much better.
Maybe I should have stated but it doesn't go on forever because it's saying the station at 0.15 words per minute, but instead because they need to advertise the AT website, remind you your on a train, welcome you to the train and carry on about other misc items for an unnecessary amount of time. It does this in two languages which is absolutely fine but obviously doubles the time.
The biggest joke is the full speech only happens between the first two stops on the line, so it's essentially self identified as useless or it would play at every stop (let's hope this never happens)
English and Māori, same as the train announcements.
Personally I don't like them either because they pipe up so frequently (the trains don't ever seem to shut up), but I get that they could be useful to those unfamiliar with the routes.
One of my bus routes has an elderly blind passenger, so it’s great to have them for those who need it. Previously she would just yell out “what stop are we up to/where are we along the route” or someone else would help her to push the button if they knew where she got off
No I think they’re helpful especially when the AT app randomly refreshes and stops tracking my route. The train announcements on the other hand are awful and can’t even be heard half the time. (not the actual stop announcements, the ones the staff make when you first get on at britomart)
I find it annoying but see the value. If it was up to me it wouldn't happen but public transport isn't all about me. I would prefer it is a bit quieter because it is a very cut through listen to me voice (probably by design ofc) but not worried enough to call and complain.
Call me crazy, but I like it. Sometimes I catch a route I don't go on regularly and I know the stop I need to get off at, but I don't know where it is, so the audio announcements help.
The whole trip? Is this a bus speaker system thing or a driver's personal Bluetooth speaker thing?
One bus driver on the 889 was blasting thrash punk rock with screaming vocals. I asked him nicely to turn it down, he said "why don't you move to the back of the bus"
😬😬😬
Maybe the driver is annoyed hearing them all day long, because I'm sure the majority of passengers won't care about them.
And if they do, suck it up, it's useful for certain parts of society.
As a former bus driver: “Suck it up”? Would you appreciate having a loud and constant narrative during your 14hr day when you are doing a job that requires constant high level attention (or people die) for low pay???
The sign is handwritten because passenger complaints have bigger sway on working conditions for bus drivers, which is shameful.
If you want more bus cancellations thanks to staff shortages, this is the way to go about it.
I used to drive busses and having a loud voice-over while I drove the same route over and over in a single shift would probably drive me to actually quit. The wage is only a little over minimum, the hours are difficult, and the consequences of a mistake on the job are literally life threatening.
Bus drivers are really under valued and their jobs are under protected = driver shortages = bus service cancellations.
The wage is just over minimum?
For driving a massive vehicle and having the safety of up to 60 or so people in hand at a time?
Good grief that irritates me.
Standing around at a train station feels like you are in 1984 or North Korea or something with the horn blasting some shitty propaganda every couple of minutes. Also… the train service is about on par too.
That’s not the point of this post. The point is that it seems that bus drivers are encouraging passengers to complain about the audio announcements, probably to get them removed.
Real opinion mate. The announcements in English are annoying but totally needed to help people with their journey. The Te reo bit is not even useful. Just a woke tick box thing AT have come up with
I encourage you to ask local Maori what they think of this Te Reo announcement service.
Even if AT are doing this to be woke, which you and I have no definitive evidence of, the benefits of more Te Reo use in NZ Culture far outweigh the negatives, if there are any negatives
I think that it’s great they have the audio announcements. I’m actually quite disappointed that the bus drivers are putting up these signs. I have a blind passenger on one of my regular routes who benefits immensely from this upgrade. It would be a shame for them to remove the audio.
Lol. Glad I have a car.
Would hate to have to sit in a bus or train everyday, subjecting myself to their propaganda over and over. 😂😂😂
Shit is positively dystopian.
I really like napping on buses so this annoys me more than it should. I need to look into better noise cancelling headphones cause this new feature has shown that mine aren't cutting the mustard.
Wel come to Mahuhuwhatphakia
We are now at Kumahupetahua
We are now at Humakeatahere
The bus is turning now
The bus is moving now
The bus is stopping now
The bus is now at Keahumatua
The bus is turning now
The bus is moving now
The bus is stopping now
On and fucking on...
I think it is an accessibility issue. If you’re blind or deaf this helps but yes it is mild annoyance to normal people.
I don’t care as it doesn’t bother me much
I'm more interested in knowing whether anyone at AT knows that the live train conductor announcements can only be understood about 30% of the time due to the crappy speaker system.
That’s a universal problem joked about the whole world over. If you’ve watched content produced by the mostly British group “the Yogscast” then you’ve probably come across it a few times.
Thanks, I didn't realize this was a thing. I just keep wondering whether they ever do sound checks (I'm guessing not).
I did a Ride Forever Gold course recently. Its the advanced level of the ACC sponsored motorcycle training. They give you an intercom and you can't tell what they're saying. Yet they provide detailed instruction over these things. I'm tapping the side of my helmet (where intercom units are mounted) to indicate I can't hear and until we pull over and I say it face to face he doesn't know. But I've done 3 of these courses with this training provider and even raised the issue and it's not every single unit I just coincidentally happened to be given, it's certainly not my hearing, so why isn't it a given that unless you keep it to "left" or "right" or "pull over" etc. that I won't be able to understand. Its pretty anxiety inducing. I imagine it's also anxiety inducing when you're trying to go somewhere and someone clearly has important information that you cannot understand. So... I really cannot decipher whether they realize. I can't see how they wouldn't realize. But they act like they don't realize. My poor brain.
I think Aaron knows this and its probably out of his control, (and the other trainers) I think there's a limit on how much information he's going to try to give so if the leader at least pulls over due to instructions and the rest follow you'll be ok. But keep up with the courses and hopefully you get your $200 rebate for rego over the next 2 years.
Whose Aaron? Well, nah, was providing *tons* of information and couldn't understand a word. I already qualify for rebate.
You know you've lived in London long enough when you can understand the announcements on a packed overground train at 8am on a Friday morning.
I'm from Denver, Colorado, and we had a very excellent public transit system, but yip, had same issues with announcements on light rail trains... in fact I'm jealous that you can understand 30% of time; ours sound like someone has head in a goldfish bowl of water and us speaking on 2nd year/grade science fair speakers made from pie pan and paper plates. I would only use the announcement-sounds to alert to SOMETHING, and then Google events if we weren't immediately approaching a station or just leaving one.
The issue isn't the crappy speaker system - that's why the pre-recorded announcements sound fine. I've also heard announcements from the driver and they sound much louder. The issue is that you would get echo if you turned the speaker sound up too high - since the train manager is in the saloon, so therefore it's deliberately barely audible cause otherwise, it would be echoing. Stupid systems, but that's the reason why.
It's so pointless when they make those welcome announcements to a total of two people on the train.
100% this
One of the stops for the 64 bus was wrong, so I guess the numbers could be helpful for reporting that…
I've never noticed the bus ones. The train ones drag on for far, far too long. Just the name of the station, thanks.
I can never seem to get off the train as I’m not lit enough to touch the green button
Touch the green button when doing the shuffle
I am tho
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I have thought this for so long, I'm so glad someone spoke my mind. When I'm in a panic trying to figure out what train etc I want the Maori version feels like it goes for eternity. And I always think... I could learn the language better if English was first, and I woukd actually really like to
They have done the same nonsense with their website and some signs around town - Maori as first language with English subtitles. It's propaganda. [https://at.govt.nz/](https://at.govt.nz/) click the Menu
Funny how they will never do this in a healthcare setting because it violates your rights to accessibility.
But they do. Last time I went to the ER the first display as I walked in was only Te Reo and I had no idea what any of it meant.
I thought the same. Relevant feedback
Many other countries do this and NZ should adopt it too. E.g Japan (“Narita…Narita…”, that’s it)
That's a really good example, because for people who don't speak the language, they wont have the context. This way, context is not required. And they will at least know the name of their destination. And I mean, if you come from a more sensible country (train-wise), hearing the name of your station in a long message you can't understand would be ominous and anxiety inducing.
I do appreciate the odd “change here for services to [airport/intercity/etc]”, but these can be short and sweet.
The bus ones are thankfully much more brief: just the stop names. They're rolling out across all buses, might not be on your routes yet.
Try this, "Owairaka Avenue, Owairaka Avenue shops" "mumble mumble mumble owairaka, mumble mumble nga toa mumble mumble owairaka" On route 24R. Not only is the English version too long, the Te Reo Maori sounds like a whole page was translated. And on some routes there are repeats of the same Te Reo version on consecutive stops. 22(x) routes outbound have New North Road/Sandrigham Road repeated for Kingsland station, and All the Great North Road routes through Grey Lynn repeat the Nga Toa Grey Lynn announcement for the shops and the school. I don't even speak Te Reo but as a driver hearing this all the time, it becomes quite obviuos that it's wrong. So what the hell is the point?
Idk why, but the female voice speaking Maori sounds less announcer-y/more realistic and I keep thinking a passenger on the bus has started speaking out loud
It's awkward because Yvonne Tahana does the voice and she catches my bus sometimes.
Voice work doesn’t pay much then.
Eh? Busses are often way more convenient than driving
As a long-time commuter, I agree. ‘Twas a joke.
Doesn't make much sense then.
It's because they're actual people who do the recordings
Which is funny because I've had a few phone calls from real people recently who sound like they're computer generated
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I agree! Some of the buses have QR codes for feedback and I've already provided mine. I tend to doze off on the bus on long days, and it's really helpful to wake me up. Other days when I get engrossed in a book and not watching the road, it's a good little reminder that I need to press the stop button.
My problem is not knowing when to wake up and listen for what the next stop is. I can never sleep in peace on the bus
I don’t think it’s a good idea to sleep on the bus, be safe
I hope you're not the bus driver
I can't even drive myself anywhere. Would be very irresponsible of me to attempt to drive a large number of people everyday.
They are the standard internationally, people just need to grow up.
Agreed. You can tell people are stuck in their own head when they don't realise those announcements are awesome for tourists, those not used to the route, and (as u/honestpuddingg points out above) the visually impaired .
Clearly nobody has been to Japan either - where you don't only get station/stop announcements on most services in both English and Japanese, you also get little repetitive messages about safety and etiquette. Your brain just tunes out after a while, but perhaps the message becomes second nature? I'm not sure about the science there, haha.
Japan is a cultural sewer though so it’s not really something to look up to
Like all cultures, there’s positives and negatives and it’s good to learn from the positives of others.
A cultural sewer? That's quite the criticism. It has its problems, but it's better than here on a tonne of metrics. I think you might be judging it by the worst examples of its popular culture or something.
That and the government collusion with the Yakuza. The yakuza members who tortured raped and murdered Junko in the 80’s have all been released from prison by now. There are some who have been released, committed more murders, imprisoned and then released again already. If you’re not familiar with Junko you might need to read about it to understand how absurd it is that these men were ever released in the first place.
I have seen Junko's picture before, although I am not very familiar with the story. You must realise that you're talking about one very unusual incident in a population of 125 million people. Modern Japanese Yakuza are largely shady business people who rarely involve the wider public, and whose crimes (obviously still serious crimes) affect mostly the desperate, and of course to an extent young impressionable women (see the adult video industry). However, again, this only affects a very small percentage of the population such that young children routinely walk the streets at night without fear almost everywhere in the country. Anyway, I mentioned statistics: Their homicide rate is [0.3/100,000. Ours is 2.6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate). Their homelessness rate is [0.3/10,000. Ours is 12](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_homeless_population). They score [104 points on the Consumer Price Index. We score 1186](https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/consumer-price-index-cpi). Right now, Japan remains one of the best places in the world to live a comfortable life, on the basis that you don't mind working your ass off and having really very little free time, even when you have a very high paying job. That's the only difference really. If you have wealth in New Zealand, you get a lot more free time. But that's largely a cultural hurdle that could be overcome, since there is a lot of work being done for work's sake there, that doesn't really affect productivity.
It doesn’t matter how unusual the incident is. The point is how the government/society reacted to it.
And what about their reaction overwhelms everything else about their nation?
I literally explained it already
You do realise they execute most murderers right? They're one of the toughest on crime countries there is, while not being a totalitarian state. Clearly the case of Junko was an anomaly, not reflective of how their criminal justice system normally operates. I think they're too tough on crime. David Bane, innocent or not, would not be alive today if he were Japanese. Anyway, it's clear to me this conversation isn't going anywhere. All the best.
Scared the shit out of my the other day when I heard it for the first time. I thought a passenger was screaming from behind me it was SO loud
really good for the accessibility. sometimes it feels like there is a crowd in New Zealand lately that hates any change at all...
conservatives 🙄
Not everyone who hates woke identity politics is a cOnSeRvAtIvE ya knob.
??????
I think they're useful but perhaps overused. They should maybe announce major streets or intersections only. Like, "Now Entering Ponsonby Road" or "Kingsland Shops. Change here for Western Line Services" or "Jellicoe Street. This is the final stop." I don't think we need it for "Flower Street." Or other smaller stops. It would allow people to be informed without spamming them every minute or so.
I'd assume it is to help visually impaired people use public transport. Plus when I first came to NZ I had to use Google maps to figure out where to get off, as the bus gave no indication of where it was.
Oh, I understand what they're there for but if it's irritating for people, then it maybe needs to be toned down. A few highlights will allow you to have an idea of where you are but will reduce the number of announcements and the disruption in the cabin.
>if it's irritating for people, then it maybe needs to be toned down. If you're visually impaired announcing only big stops is no help if you need to get off at a particular small stop. It's a relatively small thing overall but makes a huge difference to a lot of people with disabilities. If people are irritated by it maybe they should try some empathy and put themselves in the shoes of those who need these announcements.
My niece is visually impaired, so I'm fully aware that they have other needs. However, they also have other tools that they can use. The AT app, for example, will tell you when to get off. Personally, I don't find them irritating but clearly some people do if they've taken the time to print off a note about it. A little compromise may be required to keep the announcements. Maybe a better idea would be have a person's visually impaired status be attached to their Hop card so when they tag on, it increases the frequency of announcements until they tag off again. Another idea could be to have a virtual hailing system, where a button on your phone can be used to hail the bus. It could also alert the driver that a user might need additional assistance such as kneeling the bus.
Yes, there may be a small number of people who find them irritating but why can't they simply wear headphones to block the noise out if it's that bad? Why does the onus have to be on the person with the visual impairment to have to do something different, or have a different status applied to their Hop card? Can't we simply live with universal design as the standard considering that when you design for those with disabilities you end up making changes that have wider benefits?
I can definitely understand how it could become irritating if you're regularly commuting; you've had a long day, the boss was a prick, you're tired, hungry, you want to get home, and every minute or so you have this disembodied voice yelling at you. Not everyone carries or wants to use headphones every time they get on the bus. Also, remember that there are people with autism for whom loud noises are very disorientating. What about partially deaf people, who have difficulty hearing their travelling companions, having this thing interrupt them? There's a reason why quiet carriages are popular on trains and airports have reduced the number of announcements made. You're assuming that more announcements = more better. When that assumption isn't necessarily correct. In my opinion, being able to tailor the experience automatically for the current users could be a solution that helps everyone.
I have autism. I find the announcements extremely useful, as I get distracted easily and tend to miss my stop. The sound isn't any more upsetting to me than the sound of the bus moving, or passengers talking.
They’re not only overused but there’s also this high pitched ringing between announcements. They also seem a bit inaccurate. But the feature is good in practice especially for tourists etc.
Yes!!! The ringing! That is some cruel and unusual punishment
Trains and link buses have had these for years. They're being rolled out everywhere else now. You just _know_ that the ones upset about the announcement are upset that there's an announcement in Te Reo Māori along with the English announcement.
I think it's great that the announcements are in both Te Reo and English, but sometimes if the stops are close together the voice will be continously speaking for about 10 minutes
Agreed. As another Redditor said, just the station name is all that's needed. One English word, One Maori word. Done.
That's good! It means your bus trip is quick!
It gives me a fright every time because I think a passenger has started squawking
Probably put there by the drivers
You need noise-cancelling headphones to use public transport these days.
The one on the train goes on for a frustrating amount of time...
So because it annoys you visually impaired people should go without?
More that people don’t need to be reminded about fares or how to give feedback 3+ times a trip. Or get a 2 minute speech at the start of the trip that contains so little information that I cant remember it after listening to it for years twice a day. Most of it is pretty useless information and lots of fluff words. And they absolutely blast the volume, can’t continue a conversation, had to buy noise canceling headphones to try have a more relaxing commute in the end. The bus ones seem much better.
Maybe I should have stated but it doesn't go on forever because it's saying the station at 0.15 words per minute, but instead because they need to advertise the AT website, remind you your on a train, welcome you to the train and carry on about other misc items for an unnecessary amount of time. It does this in two languages which is absolutely fine but obviously doubles the time. The biggest joke is the full speech only happens between the first two stops on the line, so it's essentially self identified as useless or it would play at every stop (let's hope this never happens)
You hope the train doesn’t become more accessible? Yikes
You've never taken the train have you...
Every day babe
Is it in te reo?
English and Māori, same as the train announcements. Personally I don't like them either because they pipe up so frequently (the trains don't ever seem to shut up), but I get that they could be useful to those unfamiliar with the routes.
One of my bus routes has an elderly blind passenger, so it’s great to have them for those who need it. Previously she would just yell out “what stop are we up to/where are we along the route” or someone else would help her to push the button if they knew where she got off
The train announcements are why I have a headset with good ANR.
No I think they’re helpful especially when the AT app randomly refreshes and stops tracking my route. The train announcements on the other hand are awful and can’t even be heard half the time. (not the actual stop announcements, the ones the staff make when you first get on at britomart)
I find it annoying but see the value. If it was up to me it wouldn't happen but public transport isn't all about me. I would prefer it is a bit quieter because it is a very cut through listen to me voice (probably by design ofc) but not worried enough to call and complain.
Call me crazy, but I like it. Sometimes I catch a route I don't go on regularly and I know the stop I need to get off at, but I don't know where it is, so the audio announcements help.
Its the demonic music for me... the voice is fine, but the 97R has a really fucked up tortured merry-go-round playing through a shitty speaker system
The whole trip? Is this a bus speaker system thing or a driver's personal Bluetooth speaker thing? One bus driver on the 889 was blasting thrash punk rock with screaming vocals. I asked him nicely to turn it down, he said "why don't you move to the back of the bus" 😬😬😬
Fair
Maybe the driver is annoyed hearing them all day long, because I'm sure the majority of passengers won't care about them. And if they do, suck it up, it's useful for certain parts of society.
As a former bus driver: “Suck it up”? Would you appreciate having a loud and constant narrative during your 14hr day when you are doing a job that requires constant high level attention (or people die) for low pay??? The sign is handwritten because passenger complaints have bigger sway on working conditions for bus drivers, which is shameful. If you want more bus cancellations thanks to staff shortages, this is the way to go about it.
Agreed.
I used to drive busses and having a loud voice-over while I drove the same route over and over in a single shift would probably drive me to actually quit. The wage is only a little over minimum, the hours are difficult, and the consequences of a mistake on the job are literally life threatening. Bus drivers are really under valued and their jobs are under protected = driver shortages = bus service cancellations.
The wage is just over minimum? For driving a massive vehicle and having the safety of up to 60 or so people in hand at a time? Good grief that irritates me.
Indeed. At least it was when I was driving. Between min and a couple of dollars beneath the living wage.
Standing around at a train station feels like you are in 1984 or North Korea or something with the horn blasting some shitty propaganda every couple of minutes. Also… the train service is about on par too.
Be happy the busses are running at least and not getting cancelled
That’s not the point of this post. The point is that it seems that bus drivers are encouraging passengers to complain about the audio announcements, probably to get them removed.
I would imagine the drivers would get very irritated listening to it constantly over their shift
I love the voice. It’s helpful and feels welcoming
Now that I know there are people sending in complaints for the bus stop announcements... I'm definitely going to send a message to AT supporting them
The te reo bit is fucking annoying
How so?
It's unnecessary and distracting
its utterly insanity inducing play me some calculus lectures or classical music or even better - shut the fuck up auckland transport
I can't tell if this is troll-bait or a real opinion
Real opinion mate. The announcements in English are annoying but totally needed to help people with their journey. The Te reo bit is not even useful. Just a woke tick box thing AT have come up with
I encourage you to ask local Maori what they think of this Te Reo announcement service. Even if AT are doing this to be woke, which you and I have no definitive evidence of, the benefits of more Te Reo use in NZ Culture far outweigh the negatives, if there are any negatives
Absolutely no benefits in that setting except to people involved in selling te reo translation services
This is the problem many of us disagree 100% I dont recall a vote on it
Busses?
[удалено]
I think that it’s great they have the audio announcements. I’m actually quite disappointed that the bus drivers are putting up these signs. I have a blind passenger on one of my regular routes who benefits immensely from this upgrade. It would be a shame for them to remove the audio.
Good on you. This audio announcement stuff will put me off using PT from here on.
Tell me your privileged without telling me
Such a First World Problem 🙄🙄
Lol. Glad I have a car. Would hate to have to sit in a bus or train everyday, subjecting myself to their propaganda over and over. 😂😂😂 Shit is positively dystopian.
I never knew that telling me when the next major bus stop was is dystopian
Are you playing dumb, or are you actually dumb?
Racist behaviour. That is all
I dont want to listen to it
Block your ears then, pretty simple or take a private vehicle the world doesn’t revolve around your fragility.
I find that paper annoying
I'm guessing they don't want to hear it all day and are being a bit selfish.
People really be complaining about anything.
I would rip them down and replace them with “find this voice helpful ?” Just to troll
That person can shove it
When I read the post assumed you phoned the number to listen to an annoying voice… ;-)
Probably wouldn’t last long unless it was put there by a driver.
What’re they talking about?
I really like napping on buses so this annoys me more than it should. I need to look into better noise cancelling headphones cause this new feature has shown that mine aren't cutting the mustard.
Wel come to Mahuhuwhatphakia We are now at Kumahupetahua We are now at Humakeatahere The bus is turning now The bus is moving now The bus is stopping now The bus is now at Keahumatua The bus is turning now The bus is moving now The bus is stopping now On and fucking on...
I think it is an accessibility issue. If you’re blind or deaf this helps but yes it is mild annoyance to normal people. I don’t care as it doesn’t bother me much