Hi Tech buses?!

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March 16, 2006· Filed Under Italy, Technology and Gadgets 

Yes, that's right, the humble buses here in Milan are becoming packed with technology. Some examples: there are the little cameras that the driver uses to ensure that the bus doors don't crush some OAP, then there is the digital dashboard that the driver stares at and the oversize LEDs which display the number and destination, not to mention the little green touch sensitive buttons which are supposed to let you open the bus doors and we must not forget the air conditioning and the announcements from bus control over the speaker system. The things also have special self-adjusting suspension for allowing wheelchair bound persons to get on and off. The list is almost endless.

Now, though, the buses have started talking to their passengers. Female voices (two different ones so far) announce the next stop, which also happens to be displayed on a nice LED display.

I am finding the announcements a little irritating, but I suppose I will get used to them after a while. However, if I were blind, I would be over the moon about this application of high-tech. Without such a system, it must be all but impossible for a blind person to know where a bus will stop without asking someone.

One of these fine days I shall hop on a bus and find that its driver has disappeared. It's only a matter of time.

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