I had an opportunity to experience this system a couple days ago with
Kelly and others from Equip for Equality.  It does seem to have great
potential and will be an improvement over the system as we currently have
it.  I have found that usually the drivers call the stops, but most of the
time, the quality of the drivers' calls is less than stellar.  Sometimes I
wonder if the drivers are "triggered" to call stops when they see a blind
person board with a cane.  In any event, here is an article from todays
Chicago Tribune. For those not aware, CTA is the Chicago Transit
Authority, which runs bus and "L" lines in the city and about 34 suburbs.

The direct URL is:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/printedition/chi-0210040284oct04,0,7703280.story?coll=chi%2Dprintnews%2Dhed

Steve

                   CTA plan has buses talking all over town

New $14.8 million automated system to announce stops

   By Jon Hilkevitch
   Tribune transportation reporter
   October 4, 2002
   Riders on the CTA's 142 bus routes will start hearing automated "next
   stop" announcements in 2003 and see electronic message boards inside
   buses that flash street names for the upcoming stops, the transit
   authority announced Thursday.
   The CTA awarded a $14.8 million competitively bid contract to a New
   York company. CTA bus riders will be joining Metra and CTA rail
   commuters in hearing travel information delivered in a clear,
   professional voice--something many bus riders complain has long been
   missing.
   CTA drivers have always been required to announce bus stops, and they
   face potential penalties for failing to do so. But many drivers shirk
   their responsibility, causing passengers to miss their stops and
   creating confusion among visitors.
   That reality, and a lawsuit brought against the CTA by groups
   representing the blind and hearing-impaired, prompted the transit
   agency to seek a high-tech solution.
   In addition to the digitized on-board announcements, an electronic
   panel above the front window of each bus will display the cross
   streets for the next bus stop, along with the date and time. The
   announcements will also remind riders to move to the back of the bus
   and to refrain from eating, smoking and littering.
   The system, by Clever Devices of Syosset, N.Y., determines a bus'
   position by using a Global Positioning System that tracks the
   vehicle's location, odometer data that indicates the distance traveled
   and a gyroscope that monitors changes in direction.
   Clever Devices has installed its system on buses in such cities as
   Washington, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Boston and Baltimore. The CTA, the
   country's second-largest transit system, will be the company's biggest
   customer. The contract is the CTA's first with Clever Devices.
   Some transit watchdogs questioned why the CTA doesn't crack down on
   the legions of bus drivers already paid to call out stops, but don't..
   "I'd rather see the CTA spend the $14 million on improving service or
   adding police officers on buses to better protect passengers," said
   Charles Spears of the senior citizens group Metro Seniors in Action.
   During a demonstration on the No. 29 State Street bus Thursday, a
   prerecorded female voice announced "Illinois and Rush" as the bus
   approached that intersection. The volume was controlled by a device
   that sensed the noise level and adjusted the pitch.Outside the bus the
   same voice broadcast from a speaker near the door told waiting
   passengers the route's Navy Pier destination.
   "I think it's a great idea," said Debi Jellena, 26, of Park Forest, as
   she rode a CTA bus along Michigan Avenue on Thursday. "The way I get
   my bearings now is to look out the window for stores to see where I
   am."
   Driver's view
   CTA bus driver Eddie O'Neal, 37, said he thinks the announcements will
   make his job easier, although he said calling out bus stops will be a
   hard habit to break.
   "You do it so often, I almost do it in my car sometimes," said O'Neal,
   a 12-year CTA veteran.
   The system can announce each of the CTA's 12,212 bus stops, although
   officials said they haven't decided whether to include them all or
   stick to major intersections.
   Another decision to be made is whether to also make the announcements
   in Spanish. Tryouts for bus-stop announcers, both male and female,
   will also be held.
   Asked how the announcer will pronounce Goethe Street, CTA President
   Frank Kruesi said, "The correct way. Gear-tah.
   "The pronunciation may be confusing to some Chicagoans, but it won't
   be to our visitors," said Kruesi.
   There are 1,916 buses in the CTA's fleet. Some 1,432 buses will
   operate with the new announcement system by the end of 2003, said
   Daniel Shurz, CTA special assistant for transit operations. Shurz said
   the system won't be installed on any buses the CTA is retiring, but
   all buses will be equipped by the end of 2004.
   Buses serving the No. 29 State and No. 3 King Drive routes will be the
   first to test the system later this year.
   Shurz said 266 buses will also have devices that track the number of
   passengers boarding and exiting at each stop. The counters will help
   the CTA better gauge ridership patterns and provide better service.
   Already on trains
   A prerecorded male voice has announced CTA rail station stops since
   February 2000 after the transit agency eliminated conductors. Metra
   has also used prerecorded announcements on its commuter trains since
   late 2001.
   The automated announcements on trains have evoked a mixture of
   reviews. Many passengers view them as a vast improvement over the
   mumbling that often was heard from the antiquated train loudspeakers,
   or no announcement being made at all. Others complain the canned
   announcements are impersonal and an annoyance.But advocates for
   disabled riders welcomed the bus announcement system, calling it long
   overdue.
   The audio and visual displays on buses were required under a
   settlement reached last year in a lawsuit brought against the CTA by
   the Chicago-based advocacy group Access Living and nine disabled
   riders. The CTA agreed to invest $15 million over five years to
   improve accessibility on its buses and trains.
   Barry Taylor of Equipped for Equality, which provided legal services
   in the lawsuit, said, "The CTA required bus drivers to make
   announcements and that clearly wasn't happening. People who are blind
   are still having a hard time figuring out when to get off buses and
   which bus is pulling up to a bus stop."
   Automated bus stop announcements are being used by 51 transit systems
   in the U.S., according to the American Public Transportation
   Association.
   Clever Devices contracts mainly with local firms to install and
   maintain the equipment. The subcontractors are Advantage
   Communications Inc. of Skokie; KLI Inc. of Streamwood; JJC Group of
   Romeoville; American Surveying Consultants of Chicago; and a Houston
   firm, RSM Services.
   Edward Brandis, Clever Devices' project manager for the CTA project,
   said all the subcontractors include minorities among the ownership and
   qualify as Disadvantaged Business Enterprise firms.

   Copyright © 2002, [1]Chicago Tribune
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