Hi Guyz,
Like others here, as a person who is blind, I have experience travelling on
buses with no audio announcements.
Last Monday alone, a 46a I boarded in Leeson Street (towards Phoenix Park)
at 13:50 hours and a number 1 I boarded in Westmoreland Street (towards
Santry) @ 14:05 hours both had no audio anouncements.
I had to rely on other passengers on the bus for information and after a
while, when no one replied, I pressed the stop button in the wheelchair set
down area where I was seated so I could walk up to ask the driver where we
were.
In the last 7 days, I experienced no audio announcement faults on the 20
bus journeys I took but appreciate they can and do happen.
Due to mobility issues, going 2 or 3 stops too far is too much, so I wait
until the driver goes to the terminus and does the return journey. It is
costly from a time perspective but better to be safe than sorry.
Twists, turns, ramps and roundabouts provide me with extra input but cannot
always be relied on due to slow moving or traffic in gridlock.
All the Dublin Bus fleet of 800 buses has the audio announcement system
installed.
New buses since 2011 came with audio announcement equipment and all older
buses were retrofitted by December 2014.
The audio announcement system is automated and cannot be switched off or on
by the driver.
Likewise the volume for the system cannot be increased or decreased by the
driver.
I am also aware that there is no speaker above the wheelchair set down area
and you are relying on hearing announcements from a speaker further down
the bus. The Driver's cab is protected with a screen/shield for safety
reasons meaning that he/she cannot hear whether there are announcements or
not and therefore cannot report these.
When audio announcements are working, sitting at the wheelchair set down
area, I find other factors like the window being open, noise of the engine,
people chatting, heating, driving in rain etc make it very difficult to
hear the announcements.
There is a speaker overhead the area for people with disabilities behind
the stairs making it the best seat to hear announcements.
Faults as encountered need to be reported to Dublin Bus for investigation
and repair/resolution.
You may have come across instances when the bus you are travelling on has
no audio announcements and then when the bus is switched off for a driver
change, the audio announcement system starts magically working when the bus
is switched on.
These instances also need to be reported for investigation.
I understand buses are now replaced every 7 years and that the speakers on
the newer buses are better than the old buses.
I also understand that the N T A (National Transport Authority) who oversee
Dublin Bus have been carrying out their own audio announcement audits.
I would assume and hope that they would be relaying incidents back to
Dublin Bus for repair/resolution and not just collecting statistics.
I am a member of the D15 Leaders Forum for people with disabilities in the
Dublin 15 area.
For any twitter users out there, we have a hashtag we would like you to use
when tweeting incidents of audio announcements not working.
If you tweet Dublin Bus with incidents, they will direct you to a customer
comment form which then emails customercomment@xxxxxxxxxxxx
https://www.dublinbus.ie/Contact-Us1/Customer-Comment-Form/
Dublin Bus aim to reply to all complaints within 15 working days which is a
considerable time and by which time the vehicle location data to identify
the bus you were travelling on is long gone.
To capture the extent of the problem, it would be fantastic if you could
tweet @dublinbusnews using the hashtag #dublinbusaudiofail with details of
the bus number you are on, destination, where you boarded, date/time etc.
A quick google for #dublinbusaudiofail would then give us a better
understanding of the extent of this problem and be handy for people
representing us on the focus group meetings which take place 3 or 4 times a
year.
I know Tom O'Neill is our representative on the Rail Focus Group but I am
unsure who the blind or visually impaired service user who
represents us on the Dublin Bus focus group is.
From experience, I have achieved the fastest response on audio announcement
failures by emailing travelassist@xxxxxxxxxxxx which is accessed by the
Dublin Bus Access Officer, Dolores Henchin.
In future, I will copy emails to the N C B I access officer, Fiona Kelty on
Fiona.Kelty@xxxxxxx also.
All buses have a fleet i d number, for example A, V, 3, 6, 5. As a person
who is blind, I don't know what this is for the bus I am travelling on.
On August 9th at approx 12:30, I boarded the Number 37 (towards Wilton
Terrace) at Castleknock Grange (Laurel Lodge) and the audio announcement
system was not working. I emailed travelassist@xxxxxxxxxxxx who were able
to identify the bus as A, V, 3, 6, 5 using their A V L (automatic vehicle
locator system). A fault was found and BT Communications repaired same.
Just like traffic lights on the street with no pulse or audio, Dublin City
Council are not aware they are faulty unless you phone their Traffic
Control Centre on 1800 293949. Dublin City Council have a maintenance
contract with Serco who repair traffic lights within 24 hours.
Every instance of a bus with no audio announcements needs to be reported.
Have a good day guys,
Best wishes,
Barry.
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