Any time I ride a train, in any city, I bring an MP3 player along.
TGE-ATW wrote:Here are real reasons why the drivers should shut up. The PA system in a public transit vehicle is there for two reasons.
Reason 1: It is used to facilitate people getting on and off at the right station, and otherwise using the service properly.
Reason 2: Safety. It is used to relay safety information and, in the event of an emergency, give important directions.
If a driver is constantly yacking away, people will inevitably start to tune him out. If people get used to nonsense coming from the PA and stop listening, the PA ceases to be effective for its intended use.
While riding today, I just thought of another reason that parallels yours.. The one guy that doesn't shut up was also the one that opened the doors on the wrong side of the train (at 8th and Pine) two days in a row. Maybe if he paid more attention to doing his job rather than coming up with his new schtick, people wouldn't be endangered by him.
He was also innaccurate -- every day he'd say "Eastbound to Shrewsbury" or "Westbound to Shiloh" (on a Shrewsbury-Emerson Park train) and would catch himself maybe half the time.
Matt Drops The H wrote:If you're willing to avoid a train because a guy is talking over the P.A., whew...I won't even complete that sentence.
So I guess carpooling where people like to listen to the radio is out for you. I just wish the people inside the radio would SHUT UP every once in a while.
I find that the voices in my head usually drown out the driver on the PA. Actually, until I read these latest posts, I thought he was just another one of the voices. I was wondering why my voices would be telling me about the history of Union Station...I mean c'mon, tell me something I don't know!!!
Saint Louis should seriously consider installing a GPS enabled automated announcement system with an LCD screen (to help the hearing imparied)-like they have on the buses. This would help make the announcements consistent and accurate, as some operators do not announce all the bus connections at the stations. Metro could certainly come up with the money, given all of the positive attention they have been getting lately regarding ridership numbers and TOD.
.b777stl wrote:Saint Louis should seriously consider installing a GPS enabled automated announcement system with an LCD screen (to help the hearing imparied)-like they have on the buses. This would help make the announcements consistent and accurate, as some operators do not announce all the bus connections at the stations. Metro could certainly come up with the money, given all of the positive attention they have been getting lately regarding ridership numbers and TOD.
You haven't read much about transit funding in Missouri, have you?
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b777stl wrote:Metro could certainly come up with the money, given all of the positive attention they have been getting lately regarding ridership numbers and TOD.
How does that translate to being able to "come up with the money"?
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b777stl wrote:Metro could certainly come up with the money, given all of the positive attention they have been getting lately regarding ridership numbers and TOD.
LOL
My apologies. I meant to say that Metro's ridership numbers, budget situtation, media attention, and TOD continues to improve new improvements and expansions such as a GPS automated announcement system maybe an option in the near future. I'm sorry about the misunderstanding. I am well aware of Metro's budget situation, and I should have paid more attention to my previous post.
bprop wrote:Didn't want to start a brand new Metrolink thread:
Seems like Metro still can't get its act together. This really burns me. I sent letters, e-mails with videos, and posts to Metro officials asking to please standardize announcements on board the train. There are still drivers who don't shut up, who think they're "on stage" the entire time, and who annoy regular commuters with their noise.
I've been told that they are "coming up" with a script and that it will be in place shortly (this for several years now)....yet I still year drivers:
- screaming into the microphone, often talking to people outside the train
- blathering on and on about making transfers
- "thank you for choosing metrolink above all other forms of transportation as your means of transportation today"
- telling the empty train at Shrewsbury at 5:30am to "yield priority seats to the elderly, the disabled, and even the elderly AND disabled"
(I realize they MAY need to make this one, but why to an empty train at its first stop?)
- Stand CLEAR of the doors please! Doors are closing! All doors are closing! Stand clear of the doors! Alll doooors are CLOOOOOOsssinnngg! Stand clear, doors are closing! (generally at Forsyth where he can hear his echo).
and on and on.
Then this morning, a co-worked who is trying out Metrolink, mentioned that he found it very distracting and annoying, because the driver, in his words, "...thinks he's a tour guide", saying things like:
- Union Station was the largest station in the country during the passenger train's heydey.
- now arriving Busch Stadium, home of the 2006 World Champions, the St. Louis baseball Cardinals
and others at Delmar and Forest Park. I told him to hang in there, but it was enough for him to think that he won't ride the train if it's "always like that".
Those of you who take Metro to ballgames and the occasional other event may not realize how utterly annoying this is when one takes the train every day. I've never heard another bus or rail system in the country (or really, the entire world) with the variety of nonsense that ours does. It is very unprofessional; why can't this be fixed in ONE DAY? There is no excuse, IMO.
[/rant]
Had to ride the chatterbox driver's train home last night. Worst had to have been between Union Station and Grand where he talked all the way except for a 20 second break right before we pulled into the Grand Station.
Then between CWE and Forest Park he mentioned 7 times that this train was heading to the airport and anyone wanting the Shrewbury line needed to exit here.
^ Aren't NYC and Paris' metro audio systems automated? But if we did happen to automated the system, our scores would further decrease on Fast Company's weirdness index. Can't win for losing!
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They are in Paris (of course I couldnt understand them). Once they made their point crystal clear by marching in two cops with uzis who promptly told us to disembark - post haste. It was in French - but THAT I understood.
Odd actually. The uzis made them scary. But they were still French - so the intimidation factor was definately lessoned. I suppose a French cop yelling at you with an uzi is about as intimating as an ordinary US cop doing the same ... or perhaps an irate crossing guard ...
Odd actually. The uzis made them scary. But they were still French - so the intimidation factor was definately lessoned. I suppose a French cop yelling at you with an uzi is about as intimating as an ordinary US cop doing the same ... or perhaps an irate crossing guard ...
As per my wife to takes the subway daily:
For NYC it depends.
A, C, E and other lines with older cars have employees do the announcing.
For lines with newer cars like the 4,5,6 and 1,2,3,9 have automated announcements.
As for the stations, she thinks they have an automated announcements as well.
For NYC it depends.
A, C, E and other lines with older cars have employees do the announcing.
For lines with newer cars like the 4,5,6 and 1,2,3,9 have automated announcements.
As for the stations, she thinks they have an automated announcements as well.
dweebe wrote:
Had to ride the chatterbox driver's train home last night. Worst had to have been between Union Station and Grand where he talked all the way except for a 20 second break right before we pulled into the Grand Station.
Then between CWE and Forest Park he mentioned 7 times that this train was heading to the airport and anyone wanting the Shrewbury line needed to exit here.
His train usually pulls into Forest Park in the morning as mine is going in the other direction; I heard him hollering at somebody over the speaker this morning.
But don't worry; Metro is all over it with the script they promised like six months ago, I'm sure.
bprop wrote:dweebe wrote:
Had to ride the chatterbox driver's train home last night. Worst had to have been between Union Station and Grand where he talked all the way except for a 20 second break right before we pulled into the Grand Station.
Then between CWE and Forest Park he mentioned 7 times that this train was heading to the airport and anyone wanting the Shrewbury line needed to exit here.
His train usually pulls into Forest Park in the morning as mine is going in the other direction; I heard him hollering at somebody over the speaker this morning.
But don't worry; Metro is all over it with the script they promised like six months ago, I'm sure.
So you must be heading to work around 8:38am or so? At least that's usually his train heading east in the morning.
He must be on the later shift this week because when I caught the train he was heading the other direction (east) around 6:30pm. While on the platform I just had to laugh as he noted three times his train would go out of service at Emerson Park and those wanting to go further east should wait for the next train.
Dude takes his job way too seriously.
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dweebe wrote:Dude takes his job way too seriously.
Maybe he just enjoys his job. Im sure its annoying that early in the morning when you arent to enthused about being on that train because its taking you to work, but you should do what other young professionals do and just pop in the ipod and send text messages. And if youre really cool, pop in the iphone and listen to some tunes while texting from the same device. So cool.
Im assuming that ipod earbuds would drown out the driver...
wheelscomp wrote:dweebe wrote:Dude takes his job way too seriously.
Maybe he just enjoys his job. Im sure its annoying that early in the morning when you arent to enthused about being on that train because its taking you to work, but you should do what other young professionals do and just pop in the ipod and send text messages. And if youre really cool, pop in the iphone and listen to some tunes while texting from the same device. So cool.
Im assuming that ipod earbuds would drown out the driver...
Doubtful, but not the point regardless.
If he truly enjoyed his job, he'd probably do it correctly. Sometimes he'll be in the middle of a long spiel and will get his terminal station wrong, or the direction, or the next stop, and he'll stop and start all over again. Or, he won't even notice it at all, and talks about transferring to the airport as the train approaches CWE.
At any rate, Metro 'management' agreed that it was both unprofessional and can contribute to people not paying attention to important announcements. They have proven themselves (so far) to be unable to provide such a simple thing as a script for their drivers to follow, even after a year of 'working on it'.
dweebe wrote:
So you must be heading to work around 8:38am or so? At least that's usually his train heading east in the morning.
Actually, I was going east, and he was going west. It's early - about 6:30 at Forest Park. It was a different driver today.
I will say that when things are running on time, it's like clockwork. My eastbound Emerson has synched up with the westbound Lambert every day this week, to the second.
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In Melbourne the Trains are automated (when they work) and the trams and buses are driver announced.
I don't mind the tour guide train drivers, as long as they're funny. If it's commuter times though (am/pm peak), then yeah, shut the ***** up and let me get there in peace.
I don't mind the tour guide train drivers, as long as they're funny. If it's commuter times though (am/pm peak), then yeah, shut the ***** up and let me get there in peace.
Regarding the chatterbox guy, I do find him to be quite hilarious and I do enjoy hearing his radio transmissions, but he announces the bus connections as people are leaving the train.
It is understandable if people find him to be over the top, but it does put a smile on my face as I am heading to work. If he would announce the bus transfers before people get off then I'm cool with him. I have noticed that his tour guide dialog has decreased significantly.
It is understandable if people find him to be over the top, but it does put a smile on my face as I am heading to work. If he would announce the bus transfers before people get off then I'm cool with him. I have noticed that his tour guide dialog has decreased significantly.
trent wrote:Ipod/mp3 player + book = problem solved.
Yes, I realize lines have been drawn in the sand on this issue.
On one hand, group A believes our transit system's announcements should be adequate, conforming to ADA and the agency's own regulations, accurate, and professional.
Group B believes group A should purchase electronic gadgets to drown out the sound.
Now that that's settled: another topic of particular interest to a group of tourists I saw on my (early) way home today:
The new fancy TVMS with the video screens have a handy-looking "Help" icon which, when pressed, leads to an equally handy-looking list of topics such as "types of tickets" to help explain the somewhat byzantine system of one-ride, two-hour, pass with transfer, reduced fair, etc. system. There are maybe 10 topics from which to choose.
Yet pressing the button for any topic leads to the exact same uninformative screen indicating how to use the passenger assist telephone (though not much of a phone...) in an emergency.
As these machines have been in for almost a year at many stations (since the CC opening at least)....why don't they work?
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Will a Moderator, please, slice this thread into two:
One for real discussion on Metrolink Expansion
and
One for complaining about Metrolink's non-automated annoucements
One for real discussion on Metrolink Expansion
and
One for complaining about Metrolink's non-automated annoucements
As no Metrlink expansion will be occurring for a decade or more, perhaps a re-title of the thread would be appropriate?
I suggest Metrolink: Bigger, Better, and Occasionally More Annoying.
I suggest Metrolink: Bigger, Better, and Occasionally More Annoying.
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^Actually, County voters will decide as early as February 2008 if there will even be any additional MetroLink on the Missouri side. If County voters opt out and subsequently downsize the system, Madison County remains the only hope left for years to come. But I agree, as sort of the planner of future MetroLink (well, former planner of such after tomorrow, since headed to the sunbelt for similar work), it would be nice to break this thread into actual posts about expansion verses complaints about current operations.