They worked about as well as WES
Tri-Met has abandoned its odd experiment to have a robotic voice on the outside of its buses automatically announce each turn the bus makes. Apparently they had the squawk boxes hooked up to the steering wheel of the bus, set to go off on a full turn of the wheel, and the system couldn't tell whether the bus was turning or just pulling in or out of traffic.
It is not surprising that that didn't work. But assuming that one thinks it's a good idea, why not hook it up to the turn signal? The little lever that the bus driver uses to illuminate the signals could have two stops in each direction -- the first one without the announcement, and the second one with.
Of course, that would require the drivers to use the signals, and even learn new devices, which might defeat the purpose. Part of the original system seemed designed to warn pedestrians and cyclists even when the driver was screwing up -- as one did with horrible results in the incident that initiated the latest flap about dangerous turns.
In any event, we think the robots, which were on some of Tri-Met's lines for about three months, should get a week to say goodbye. Every time the wheel turns, they could say something in the nature of a valedictory. Like "I'm retiring with free medical care for life." Or "So long -- this bus route won't be here much longer, either." Or "As you could tell, I never liked dealing with you, but the pay was great."
Then they can be re-deployed on other government vehicles -- the mayor's pickup truck, Earl the Pearl's SUV, and Fireman Randy's flotilla of custom-built fireboats, to name a few.
| Posted at 8:45 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (9)
"Get out of my way; I'm bigger than you."
"Yeah, I know I'm taking up both lanes going at half speed down Hawthorne. So what?"
"Go by streetcar!"
Posted by Michelle | May 29, 2011 1:10 PM
Yep, noticed that the thing went off when the bus would simply pull over to the curb and that it wouldn't start blatting until the bus was into a full turn and would continue halfway down the street.
It was also hard to hear and -- if you didn't understand English -- was useless even if you COULD hear it. Long ago, cities that know better used tones, horns or bells to alert people. Imagine if, rather than using a siren, ambulances had to broadcast a voice droning, "Ambulance coming - pull over."
I agree that tying the recording to the turn signal would help activate it at the correct time but why not simply let the operator turn it on when they turn? I know the operators aren't morons and could be trusted with this task.
Posted by NW Portlander | May 29, 2011 2:13 PM
At least TriMet admitted the failure of the bus turning alarm. (Maybe the real issue is that TriMet saw the price tag to actually install the devices on each of its over 600 buses, and figured, "Wait a second - that money will take away from art on the Milwaukie MAX line! We can't spend that kind of money on buses!!!)
Whereas...WES...and TriMet claims that the increasing cost of diesel fuel is necessitating a fuel hike. Isn't TriMet paying LESS for fuel now than a few years ago when it got several pretty high fare increases, and when diesel fuel went back down, TriMet refused to lower fares? What happened to all that money - something is fishy, and nobody is investigating. The fox is guarding the chicken coop, and nobody cares...that's what to expect when the Portland Tribune's Publisher is on TriMet's Board of Directors, The Oregonian has been in bed with TriMet for years, the radio news stations copy the other sources (not to mention KPAM is owned by the same entity that owns the Portland Tribune, so we know there's a conflict there), and the TV news outlets only care if there's blood and gore - they don't bother with mundane matters like transit.
Posted by Erik H. | May 29, 2011 3:11 PM
It was a dumb idea period.
For crying out loud whats wrong with a back up beeper or just getting rid of the dangerous turns?
The real problem here is the failure of the City of Portland to design safe streets, as in they could easily mimic some of the east coast cities and have a pedestrian only cycle, where there is no traffic moving during the movement of pedestrians at the intersections.
It works on the east coast, but here they have some lame excuse like "it will create other safety problems".
As usual nobody bothers to define the "other safety problems" that having a pedestrian phase at traffic signals would create.
Can't pin these pin heads down on anything!
Posted by AL M | May 29, 2011 6:00 PM
That's a really interesting question: why not use the turn signal?
I guess it's because you're typically activating your signal in the middle of the block, then (if it's a left) waiting for a while at the intersection.
They could still add a human-activated lever for the announcement, but it's possible that adding another thing for a driver to worry about on every turn would actually be counterproductive to pedestrian safety.
Posted by Michael Andersen | May 30, 2011 10:08 AM
Meanwhile, that driver got her license back after her conviction...
http://www.kptv.com/news/28000788/detail.html
Posted by Jon | May 30, 2011 10:26 AM
Don't buses already come equipped with a very complex device designed to warn pedestrians? Its called a Driver. Buses also have a less complicated device that the more complicated one can engage as the need arises -- its called a Horn.
Posted by concordbridge | May 30, 2011 11:41 PM
The real problem here is the failure of the City of Portland to design safe streets, as in they could easily mimic some of the east coast cities and have a pedestrian only cycle, where there is no traffic moving during the movement of pedestrians at the intersections.
Seaside has such a signal right on Broadway in the tourist/downtown area. All vehicle lights turn red, all pedestrian signals are set to "Walk". During a vehicle phase, all pedestrian signals are "Don't Walk".
In the PSU area, this wouldn't be a bad idea. There's a couple intersections that buses have to turn at that it's nearly impossible for a bus (or any other vehicle) to make a legal turn, in part due to the number of straggling pedestrians that take forever to cross the street (or enter the crosswalk against the signal) with absolutely no enforcement.
Posted by Erik H. | May 31, 2011 12:43 PM
That's a really interesting question: why not use the turn signal?
Because buses are required to use the turn signal to pull away from a stop or make a lane change, when the audible announcement is neither warranted nor desirable.
Posted by Erik H. | May 31, 2011 12:44 PM