31 May 2011

A Suggestion for the MBTA

The "train is approaching/arriving" messages we hear on the PA system in the stations are genuinely helpful. However, they are preceded by a tone meant, presumably, to get your attention: "Hey, commuters! Here comes an announcement you're going to want to listen to."

The only problem is that the T uses the same tone before its public-service announcements, thereby getting all of us psyched that the train's arrival is imminent, only to be disappointed by the 3,000th airing of the "see something, say something" advisory.

My idea is for a different sort of tone, perhaps something like a two-note doorbell sound, so we commuters know that the forthcoming announcement does not involve train-arrival information. Just a thought..

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