[nfb-talk] David the rocket scientist

[David Evans]

Dear Joseph,

Their just lame excuses for the most part.
The automatic system we use here in Palm Beach County works very well.
I am just trying to get them to put in more "points of interest" in the 
announcements than just major intersections and transfer points.
It really comes down to how much you can get your service provider to 
cooperate.  We have recently offered to have some volunteer riders trained 
in programming the stop announcements for free and even upgrade them 
periodically.
The service is considering it as their is no cost to them and the consumers 
could make it more consumer friendly than perhaps staff could or would.
Making more announcements is more informative, educational to riders who 
don't know the area, helps the tourist and just provides a better ride.
Seeking partnerships with your local transit authority is a great way to 
make it work more the way you want to see it work.
In most cases, it only takes a lap top connected to the unit, with the 
proper software, to be able to input a new G.P.S. locations and give it a 
name or description.
It only takes about one minute to do it as long as you have all of the 
information at hand.
Still the drivers have a responsibility to provide the info if there is no 
system or if the system is not working.  It is the law.
If you have a system that does not or will not comply, report them to the 
Justice Department and the FTA.
Go to your County commissioners and ask them why it is not working for you 
and document everything for legal purposes.

David Evans, MV Transit
Consumer Advocate

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "T. Joseph Carter" <tjcarter at bluecherry.net>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 11:30 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] David the rocket scientist


>I think you missed my attempt at humor David..  In Denver as well as many
> places, we're trying to get next stop tech because the drivers announcing
> the stops clearly isn't working.  They often don't follow the laws that
> exist saying that they need to announce major intersections through the
> PA, and when they do the result is unintelligible about half the time.
>
> When we push for next stop tech, they tell us that it's not very good or
> it's unreliable or it doesn't update the bus position fast enough to keep
> up on major busy streets.  Surely a rocket scientist should be able to fix
> these problems, if they are not just lame excuses.  *grin*
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