When audio visual stop announcements began to be introduced on Stagecoach buses ahead of Stockport joining the Bee Network, not everyone was impressed. Passengers could often be heard grumbling and taking the piss out of them and drivers would often not switch them on.
While the intention was always to make buses more accessible to those with visual and hearing impairments and other disabilities, I have stumbled across another reason for having them in recent weeks.
In short, they mean that I can figure out where the hell on Marple Road I am when travelling at night.
Services such as the 358, 383 and 385 travel through some pretty remote, sparsely populated and landmark free areas that also tend to be very badly lit. When you're travelling in what looks out of the window to be complete darkness then one tree can look very like another and it can be nye on impossible to know which stop you've just gone past if there are no obvious landmarks visible to anchor it. Things like signs for the local cattery or the house with the dog statues outside tend to be meaningless after dark and you become increasingly thankful for things like petrol stations and curry houses with neon signage.
How much of a relief is it then when you find yourself on a bus that actually tells you in real time where you are and which stop is coming up next.
Sadly many of the buses are old and do not come with stop announcements. And sometimes, on the ones that do have it built in, the driver doesn't switch them on.
Meaning that I am always, and increasingly, grateful whenever I encounter a bus that has them.
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