Bus 2811 is on a line 19 right now and it has the new announcement system! I thought TriMet was only putting these buses on lines 14 and 15?
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
"Pedestrians, bus is turning"
This has been all over the news: TriMet is outfitting 10 of their buses with these audible announcements to run on lines 14 Hawthorne and 15 Belmont/ NW 23rd. The thought is that it will help alert pedestrians and cyclists that a bus is turning.
I'm split on this. It might be a good idea, but the current design TriMet will use doesn't seem like the best. The idea is that when the bus is making a turn at more than a 45 degree angle that the announcement will sound, set off by the driver making the turn and turning the steering wheel.
This sounds like the announcement may come too late if it sounds as the bus is making the turn. I think that it should announce this at the time the driver has turned the turn signals on. That way people wouldn't be halfway across the cross walk to hear "Pedestrians, bus is turning." Instead, before the bus is turning, people would already be alerted to the fact that the bus is about to make the turn.
One of my other gripes about this is that these days everyone is so 'plugged in' to their ipods, phones, and other sound-making devices that those people may simply not even hear the announcement. Now, i don't know how this could be solved, since no one uses common sense these days to look before crossing the street.
Another thing, how will TriMet be able to measure how well these devices are working for buses? There are very few bus-pedestrian/cyclist accidents currently, so that doesn't seem like the most effective way to measure it.
Sure, they could go around and ask various commuters, drivers , pedestrians, and cyclists how well they think these are working, if they help alert them that the bus is turning, but even that doesn't seem like a very effective way. How would we know if these people were actually telling the truth about how well the devices worked for them?
AND THEN...there's the cost. For just outfitting 10 buses with these systems, it cost TriMet 46,000. 4,600 per bus! These devices would have to perform brilliantly for it to be worth it for TriMet to invest so much money on these announcement systems. Would it really be worth it or could the money be put towards better expenses like getting new buses?
This sounds like the announcement may come too late if it sounds as the bus is making the turn. I think that it should announce this at the time the driver has turned the turn signals on. That way people wouldn't be halfway across the cross walk to hear "Pedestrians, bus is turning." Instead, before the bus is turning, people would already be alerted to the fact that the bus is about to make the turn.
One of my other gripes about this is that these days everyone is so 'plugged in' to their ipods, phones, and other sound-making devices that those people may simply not even hear the announcement. Now, i don't know how this could be solved, since no one uses common sense these days to look before crossing the street.
Another thing, how will TriMet be able to measure how well these devices are working for buses? There are very few bus-pedestrian/cyclist accidents currently, so that doesn't seem like the most effective way to measure it.
Sure, they could go around and ask various commuters, drivers , pedestrians, and cyclists how well they think these are working, if they help alert them that the bus is turning, but even that doesn't seem like a very effective way. How would we know if these people were actually telling the truth about how well the devices worked for them?
AND THEN...there's the cost. For just outfitting 10 buses with these systems, it cost TriMet 46,000. 4,600 per bus! These devices would have to perform brilliantly for it to be worth it for TriMet to invest so much money on these announcement systems. Would it really be worth it or could the money be put towards better expenses like getting new buses?
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