Automated Stop Announcements on Green Line

I know that periodically, people comment on the reliability of automated stop announcements, but I was wondering what contributes to the success or failure of them.
Today, for example, while on an inbound B train from Allston St. to Kenmore, the LCD sign on the front of the train said "B Boston College" and the interior signs kept spooling "Last stop, don't forget to take your belongings with you!" Is this the fault of the operator not setting the system to its appropriate destination or is this the ASA system being on the fritz?
Also, I've noticed that in a properly functioning system, it sometimes skips over an announcement or misses a stop but starts working again well later. Is this because the on board system can't read the transducers placed somewhere on the ground?
On another note, I much prefer London's Tube ASA system wouldn't it be fun to hear "This is a B train to Government Center" and certainly a friendly "This train is ready to leave, please stand clear of the closing doors" rather than the driver coming on and shouting "move into the damn train!"

I've noticed that whenever they have to restart the trolley to get stuck doors to close properly (you know the drill...operator turns the vehicle off, lights and A/C go off, turns the key back on, lots of beeping up front and then the train is ready to go) the ASA gets "rebooted". You can actually see the LED screens inside go through some sort of boot/BIOS check, and then it says "Welcome to MBTA" until the operator works the computer to pick the right route and stop. Sometimes the ASA voice can cycle through several different destination announcements as the operator picks the right one off the menu. Of course if the operator forgets to do the ASA setup with each restart or flat-out doesn't care, you can have a train that says incorrect things on the ASA. I have not noticed the Green Line ASA cars having the same glitchiness in the actual ASA system as the Red Line 01800's where they actually misread the RF tags on the tracks or get "stuck" on a certain destination. The Green Line problems seem to be related to operators not resetting the computer correctly after a restart.

This is getting to be a problem because so many older 3600's have now been modified with ASA. Those cars get the door-sticking problem frequently, so the operators have to restart the computer a lot. Of course if you're on a really gimpy car they may even have to turn off/turn on at every stop. That really makes resetting the ASA and keeping headways different. Thank heavens the Boeings don't have ASA...it's rare to get an LRV ride these days that DOESN'T have stuck doors requiring a restart. Anyway, they really should come up with a computer that "remembers" the stop and destination even after a power-down...becaise this problem is going to get old real fast as those 20-year-old 3600's age.

Perhaps they should simply add an override switch to allow the train to proceed even if a door is not entirely closed?

Ron Newman wrote:Perhaps they should simply add an override switch to allow the train to proceed even if a door is not entirely closed?

Yikes! Considering how packed those trains are, I'd think you'd want to be sure a door is locked down before proceeding. I could just see someone leaning or getting pushed against a door that's in override and pushing it open.

I agree with you Octr202. It's not a safe situation circumventing the door secure mechanism to get the train moving. I've seen packed Green Line trains and it creates a dangerous situation whe that feature isn't turned on with a crowd.

Yes, going on door bypass is not allowed with passengers onboard. With door bypass activated, an operator would not know whether the doors are actually closed and the car can move(brakes will release and power enabled) with doors open.

typesix wrote:Yes, going on door bypass is not allowed with passengers onboard. With door bypass activated, an operator would not know whether the doors are actually closed and the car can move(brakes will release and power enabled) with doors open.

So, what we're saying is that a true fix for the chronically sticky doors ought to be found rather than the current MS-MBTA (restart to fix any problem) solution, or the "fix" that bypasses an important safety feature.

The thing that really bugs me about the ASA on the green line is how they cram two of the messeges together. For example the train will say "Entering Kenmore doors will open on the left. Kenmore the destination of this train is North Station." The first sentance is supposed to be said while entering the station while the second one shouldn't get triggered untill the doors open at the station but more times then not it just slurs them together while entering the station.

I was on an ASA-equipped E at North Station inbound today, and I noticed that at the stop it announced "Doors will open on the right" at that stop, which is very clearly a left-hand exit. ASA was fine at Science Park so it didn't have the inbound/outbound direction reversed (North Station is a right-hand exit outbound). Is it messed up like that on all the ASA cars, or did I just get either a screwy one or an earlier-modded Type 7 that still had the station announcement from the old El stop in its firmware?

I rode on the Green Line streetcars equipped with the stop announcement system. What I can't believe is that when your riding the Green Line on street-level on the B, C, and E branches, they don't electronically announce the street-level stops. From Symphony to Heath Street for instance, they don't the stops between the 2 stations. I wonder why.

They're supposed to announce those stops. I don't know about the E but on the C they anounce the street level stops.

This past wekeend i was in a few of the Modified Type 7's with the ASA and once a Type 8 from Park-Kenmore Sq. I got to say it's not as bad, i like how their fairly loud and noticeable.. Helps out the tourists i guess, thought it seems every trip i go on the T, I help one or 2 lost people find their way

Have you rode on the brand new low-floor T buses? You should discover the stop announcements on the new buses. They're more horrible than those on the Red and Green Lines. They are not so loud and noticeable, and words are pronounced in slow motion (like if we don't understand English). They don't specify what bus routes or subway lines serve a station or area. I don't they'll seem to help out tourists.

trider2066 wrote:Have you rode on the brand new low-floor T buses? You should discover the stop announcements on the new buses. They're more horrible than those on the Red and Green Lines. They are not so loud and noticeable, and words are pronounced in slow motion (like if we don't understand English). They don't specify what bus routes or subway lines serve a station or area. I don't they'll seem to help out tourists.

I have rode those new busses, and i can say I like them, just their designs and how they are. The RTS's were getting old and looking bad at that. Ive been ridding the T since ive been little, and im only 19 now, but i have seen my share of changes in how things are. As far as the stop announcemnts.. i really don't need to know that much, as long as the front destination sign is working. then it's all good for me. I come under the impression, find out how and where u need to go before, the people who don't do that are the ones get lost.We all take a wrong turn here and their, but im just saying some pre-info will help travelers out alot.