Reply to the letter: A letter to LONDON BUSES 07/09/09

This is the reply to the letter sent out on :A letter to LONDON BUSES 07/09/09

Our Ref: 1004737413
Date: 11.09.2009


Dear Mr X
Thank you for your recent e-mail about audio announcements on London buses.

These announcements are a key part of a new real time passenger information system - iBus - which is currently being rolled out across the entire London bus network. I am sorry to learn that you feel that the on board announcements are disturbing your journey. However, London Buses is committed to making our bus services as accessible as possible. For many passengers - not just those who are visually impaired or have other disabilities, but also tourists or simply those who aren't familiar with a particular route - the iBus announcements will provide a clear benefit.

Our research with people with disabilities showed that the system was already eagerly anticipated and satisfying an existing need - as one vision impaired passenger said "It's something I've been waiting for, for years".

From the outset of the project it was recognised that a policy for the visual and audio components of these announcements would be required and this has been developed from:

· Experience from other UK and European users
· Feedback from a long-running prototype on the route 149, , a busy route through a variety of different city/residential settings
· Requirements identified by the Real Time Passenger Information Group (RTIG)
· Requirements identified in the Disability Discrimination Act

Following review and refinement this process has resulted in the current policy where:

· Destination announcements are made whenever a bus stops and opens the doors to let on passengers
· Next Stop announcements displayed approx 20m after leaving the previous stop and announced approx 100m before the Next Stop itself
· "alight here for….." announcements for places of specific interest - this is being rolled out later in 2009.

The policy itself maybe reviewed in the future, but at this moment there are no plans to alter it.

The volume used for the announcements has been assessed to ensure clarity throughout the vehicle and is intended to be loud enough to hear clearly but also enable passengers to "tune-out" if they are familiar with the route. We have monitored the system since early 2007 and have standardised the volume levels used.

The volume level is set centrally for each bus-type. Of course, anomalies do sometimes arise owing to the different batches and variants of vehicles. As such, we do recheck the levels when we receive reports of excessive noise on particular routes or vehicle types to ensure that it adheres to the policy outlined above.
Once again thank you for contacting me and I hope the information provided clarifies the situation. If I can assist you with anything else please let me know.Yours sincerely

XY
Customer Service Advisor
DO NOT DELETE............................. {ticketno:[400222]} DO NOT DELETE.............................

I have deleted the sender name and the person received this letter, to protect their privacy.I have the original e-mail with the sender name on file.