YRT Automated Announcement Error Tracker

[vivablue5215]

I think this thread has been long over due, but might as well start one.

As we know, a lot of YRT and VIVA stops announced are, well, lets say, "laughable" and "abysmal".

Fortunately, YRT-Guy managed to find a higher up contact that works on INIT, so whatever errors you posted here will be forwarded to the region.

Any help would be appreciated, and hey, when the AA flaws get fixed on whatever route you ride, you can feel proud you were part of the solution!

Remember, for the stop error to be able to be forwarded, YRT needs the Stop # (if you don't know, search it up on the YRT website), what it currently displays, explain what's wrong with it, and if needed, provide a correct display or pronunciation (just try your best).

[York Transit]

I think this thread has been long over due, but might as well start one.

As we know, a lot of YRT and VIVA stops announced are, well, lets say, "laughable" and "abysmal".

Fortunately, YRT-Guy managed to find a higher up contact that works on INIT, so whatever errors you posted here will be forwarded to the region.

I will update everything in the first post.

Any help would be appreciated, and hey, when the AA flaws get fixed on whatever route you ride, you can feel proud you were part of the solution!

Remember, for the stop error to be able to be forwarded, YRT needs the Stop # (if you don't know, search it up on the YRT website), what it currently displays, explain what's wrong with it, and if needed, provide a correct display or pronunciation (just try your best).

Here is the list so far:

Automated Announcement Errors

Viva Blue

To follow standards along all the viva based stops on Yonge Street:

#9823 - Jefferson Sideroad should be pronounced Jefferson Sideroad, instead of Jefferson and Yonge.

#9824 - Jefferson Sideroad should be pronounced Jefferson Sideroad, instead of Jefferson and Yonge.

#9825 - Savage Road should be pronounced Savage Road, instead of Savage and Yonge.

#9826 - Savage Road should be pronounced Savage Road, instead of Savage and Yonge.

Buses without working/audible AA

UPDATED: April 3, 2010 @ 13:08

Same for Kennedy/Highway 7.

The reason why some of the VIVA stops announce the full intersection is because some YRT buses use those stops as well.

For example, at Kennedy/Highway 7. The route 8 announcement for Highway 7 used to be "Kennedy Road". Doesn't make sense at all. So they added "Kennedy AND Highway 7"

[vivablue5215]

Same for Kennedy/Highway 7.

The reason why some of the VIVA stops announce the full intersection is because some YRT buses use those stops as well.

For example, at Kennedy/Highway 7. The route 8 announcement for Highway 7 used to be "Kennedy Road". Doesn't make sense at all. So they added "Kennedy AND Highway 7"

Yeah, Kennedy and Highway 7 is a tough one. In a perfect world, I rather see VIVA Purple announce "Kennedy Road" and route 8 announce "Highway 7 and Kennedy" (to keep with the standards of intersecting road first). But since they both serve the same stop, that would not be possible, and YRT had to choose a stop "in between", therefore "Kennedy and Highway 7".

Another one that comes into my mind is "Warden Avenue" on Viva Green. If you're coming from the south, you're technically on Warden already, so that might confuse some newly passengers.

[Enzo Aquarius]

Even if they keep the 'Savage and Yonge' stop announcement, it needs to be fixed anyway. It sounds very weird, as follows:

'Next stop: Savage..........andYonge'

The stop between 'Savage' and 'And' is too long and sounds awkward. There's also a stop along route 55 that was incorrect, eastbound at Davis and Belfry (2615 and 2585), the last time I heard it, it was called out and spelled 'Belfrv' (announced as Belfriv). This was a number of months ago, so I don't have confirmation if it has been fixed yet.

Stop #1971 at Upper Canada Mall needs to be fixed. It is called out as "Next stop: Upper Canada Mall Centre". It shouldn't have a "Centre" at the end of it, the mall is just called "Upper Canada Mall". I don't know if it is the same with the other Upper Canada Mall stops (5257 and 5525).

[vivablue5215]

First post has been updated.

To indicate stop errors that have been sent to the region, I have color coded it gray. Please keep us updated if the stop error has been corrected. Once it has, it will be removed off the list.

Thanks.

[YRT-Guy]

First post has been updated.

To indicate stop errors that have been sent to the region, I have color coded it gray. Please keep us updated if the stop error has been corrected. Once it has, it will be removed off the list.

Thanks.

Keep in mind changes won't be noticed until the next board period after the issue was sent (eg: anything sent tonight would not appear "fixed" until the new April 24 board period starts). Also, it is possible that some items that are sent, won't get "fixed" at all (region decisions).

[vivablue5215]

Someone changed the Stop #5114 On Warden Av pole to Stop #3153, so now the 40 sign heading southbound on Warden displaying #5114 On Warden Av should be #3153 On Warden Av.

[vivablue5215]

On the 8 and 18, #5875 At Bur Oak should be #5875 At Madison Heights Blvd. It is also pronounced wrong (Maw-dison Heights). Should be "Mah-dison Heights".

On the 85, #5936 At Yorkton Blvd is STILL pronounced Rutherford. At 16th Avenue.

[Waiting for 30 Minutes]

On the 8 and 18, #5875 At Bur Oak should be #5875 On Madison Heights Blvd. It is also pronounced wrong (Maw-dison Heights). Should be "Mah-dison Heights".

On the 85, #5936 At Yorkton Blvd is STILL pronounced Rutherford. At 16th Avenue.

I think you meant to say #5875 At Madison Heights Blvd.

Also, pronunciations on the 2A are very weird. BAXX...GROVE...Bypass, especially. Viva pink also says "Last stop, Union GO Station" instead of UnionVILLE GO Station.

Have all the Old Markham Bypasses been changed to Cornell Centre Blvd. yet?

[Enzo Aquarius]

I'm going to take a ride on the 55 next week and see if the errors on that route have been fixed.

[Enzo Aquarius]

Update:

- Belfry/Davis has been fixed, eastbound that is. When we went by westbound, the stop didn't sound like 'Belfry' at all. I'll have to go through the route again to see if there is actually a problem.

- Route 55 eastbound has some discrepancies at stops that pronounce 'and Davis'. Some just say 'and Davis' while some say 'and Davis Drive'. It's nitpicking, but all westbound stops say 'and Davis', so there should be some consistency along the route. IIRC, one stop in particular was the Tannery Mall one ('Next stop - The Tannery Mall and Davis Drive').

- Upper Canada Mall stops are still saying 'Upper Canada Mall Centre'.

- Route 57 has a number of errors:

- 'Srigley' is pronounced wrong. It's pronounced as 'Ess - Rigley' (which made me laugh), when it should be pronounced as it is spelled out. This affects stop #2004.

- 'Gorham' is pronounced wrong. Locals call it 'Goram' (silent h) while it is announced as 'Gore-Ham'. I think Goram is the correct pronunciation for the road. This affects stop #2005 and all stops along Gorham served by 56.

- Mulock and On Bogart Circle (stop #2009) has a timing issue. It is very close to the Mulock and Leslie stop, but is pronounced too late leading the bus to pass the stop in the middle of the announcement. It needs to be announced earlier, especially if the bus gets a green and doesn't have to stop at the Mulock/Leslie stop.

- Sawmill Valley and Columbus Way (stop #2443), although pronounced correctly, has an incorrect screen display. It displays the street before (Colter), which is not served by a YRT stop.

[The Canadian Roadgeek]

Route 90 - Leslie South

#4229 at Bedle Avenue - YRT pronounces Bedle as "Bed-dle", but the corresponding TTC (Route 25+) automated announcement at the same stop pronounces Bedle as "Bead-le". Which one is correct? (I am thinking YRT is wrong since Crystal is computer-based).

[vivablue5215]

All stop issues have been forwarded to YRT thanks to YRT-Guy.

[YRT-Guy]

90 Leslie South

#4229 At Bedle Av - YRT pronounces Bedle as "Bed-dle", but the corresponding TTC (Route 25+) automated announcement at the same stop pronounces Bedle as "Bead-le".

As confirmed by the City of Toronto (YES, I did contact them about this myself), Crystal (YRT) is in fact correct. The TTC call out is inaccurate. The street is pronounced Bed-le, like a bed, just like Crystal pronounces it.

[D11]

Route 85/85A/85B

Stop 1704 - Announcement says Plaisance and Rutherford, but it should be Plaisance and Carrville

viva blue/Route 99

16th-Carrville Vivastation - the announcement sounds like "16th-garrville". It would sound better as "16th. Carrville". (Similar to how Bantry-Scott was changed to say "Bantry. Scott.").

Route 90B - Leslie-Don Mills

Stop 2927 - Annoucement is correct (East Beaver Creek, and Mural). Display currently reads #2927 at Leek Cres. It should read #2927 at East Beaver Creek Rd

INIT Route Number Display - This is purely cosmetic only, but in the bus and at the Leslie and East Beaver Creek vivastations, the route number shows up as 090B instead of just 90B

Destination Signs - All read 'Formally 25D'. This should be 'Formerly 25D'

[Waiting for 30 Minutes]

Destination Signs - All read 'Formally 25D'. This should be 'Formerly 25D'

This one has been explored before.

[YRT-Guy]

Route 85/85A/85B

Stop 1704 - Announcement says Plaisance and Rutherford, but it should be Plaisance and Carrville

I sent this in my last email list to the region.

viva blue/Route 99

16th-Carrville Vivastation - the announcement sounds like "16th-garrville". It would sound better as "16th. Carrville". (Similar to how Bantry-Scott was changed to say "Bantry. Scott.").

Added to my email I will be sending to the region end of the month.

Route 90B - Leslie-Don Mills

Stop 2927 - Annoucement is correct (East Beaver Creek, and Mural). Display currently reads #2927 at Leek Cres. It should read #2927 at East Beaver Creek Rd

Already added to my email I will be sending to the region end of the month.

INIT Route Number Display - This is purely cosmetic only, but in the bus and at the Leslie and East Beaver Creek vivastations, the route number shows up as 090B instead of just 90B

I will mention this one in that email.

Destination Signs - All read 'Formally 25D'. This should be 'Formerly 25D'

I don't have a destination sign contact. However, I believe quite a few passengers from the 90B have already contacted the region about this issue, and it's already been fixed on the website (RideNow). Send this as a quick email to transitinfo@york.ca

[cmc12]

I guess this can go here:

554's AA system seems to be down. It just displayed "22 to" --> "Villanova via Seneca" my whole trip. It's definitely not a route problem, as 982's were working fine.

[smallspy]

Where does "the system has no clue what time the buses pass the stops" fit into the list?

Dan

[YRT-Guy]

I guess this can go here:

554's AA system seems to be down. It just displayed "22 to" --> "Villanova via Seneca" my whole trip. It's definitely not a route problem, as 982's were working fine.

That sounds like a "tracking" issue. Where either the satellite signal is Nil or the system is not connected properly to the odometer so the system is in a way "frozen". I can't guarantee anything with specific bus issues especially if its not a Miller operated bus, but I'll mention it.

Where does "the system has no clue what time the buses pass the stops" fit into the list?

Dan

Clarify this one for me and I can either possibly explain it, or have it reported for you...

[smallspy]

Clarify this one for me and I can either possibly explain it, or have it reported for you...

As best as I can....

Friday, both the computer systems and the phone systems reported that a bus was going to arrive 7 minutes late at a particular stop (I assume they report the same information). The bus arrived just 2 minutes late, but when I called the number it gave me the "this bus is 7 minutes late..." spiel - after the bus had already left the stop (and me as well).

Today, the system online and on the phone reported 4 minutes late. I figure that I'm not going to take any chances, so I leave earlier, planning on arriving a couple of minutes prior to the scheduled departure. Well, the bus showed up +1, and yet the phone system still reported that the bus would be 3 minutes late after the bus had already departed.

If this was a common trend, I can only imagine how many people are getting left behind....

Dan

[YRT-Guy]

As best as I can....

Friday, both the computer systems and the phone systems reported that a bus was going to arrive 7 minutes late at a particular stop (I assume they report the same information). The bus arrived just 2 minutes late, but when I called the number it gave me the "this bus is 7 minutes late..." spiel - after the bus had already left the stop (and me as well).

Today, the system online and on the phone reported 4 minutes late. I figure that I'm not going to take any chances, so I leave earlier, planning on arriving a couple of minutes prior to the scheduled departure. Well, the bus showed up +1, and yet the phone system still reported that the bus would be 3 minutes late after the bus had already departed.

If this was a common trend, I can only imagine how many people are getting left behind....

Dan

As far as my understandings with the ridenow system, it has a slight delay. It's not to the second. The map function can be delayed anywhere from 1-5 minutes (the part that shows you on a map where your bus is located).. but that same screen shows you the time it was last updated. As for the time (so if the bus is simply ahead, behind or on schedule) it can be delayed up to 1 minute. The case of it being -4 then showing up +1.. well.. that's service planning you can thank for that. I can leave for example on my 90B from the top end 11 minutes down, and in 5 minutes be plus 2. I can still look into it more if you want and get exact numbers/delays etc., but that's the jist of it that I've been explained anyways.

[cmc12]

That sounds like a "tracking" issue. Where either the satellite signal is Nil or the system is not connected properly to the odometer so the system is in a way "frozen". I can't guarantee anything with specific bus issues especially if its not a Miller operated bus, but I'll mention it.

It turns out to be a route problem...982 had the same issue today. It seems like the system 'freezes' once the bus passes Teston Road northbound, but works fine southbound.

Speaking of Teston Road...

The AA system pronounces Teston Road as "Teh-ston Road" for both stops # 3942 & # 3946

Perhaps useful here as well...Route 107 (TTC) calls out Saint Joan of Arc Avenue as Saint Joan of Arc Road both times it passes it.

[Waiting for 30 Minutes]

Has "Eh-sna" Park been fixed yet?

[vivablue5215]

Has "Eh-sna" Park been fixed yet?

Yes.