The real time bus departure boards at Temple Meads are working again after many months out of action. Being one of that minority of Bristolians lucky enough to live within a single bus trip of the station, the board's very useful - it tells you whether to rush or to linger awhile. That's all the more important these days with curtailed evening buses (for instance the now hourly Sunday evening No 1 service to Broomhill). But I'd been merely passing by the defunct screen with a long-suffering grumble, without breaking through the inertia barrier and actually lodging a real complaint.
Until, that is, 'Fix My Transport' was launched by UK Citizens Online Democracy, the same people who brought us TheyWorkForYou, WriteToThem, What do They know and FixMyStreet
"FixMyTransport represents an experiment to discover whether a sufficiently well designed internet service can help tip people over the edge from grumbling about a problem to taking action to resolve it."
It tipped me over the edge on September 6th. And now the screens are working again.
Unless it's just a coincidence, of course......
Still, is there any reason why this simple device shouldn't be provided in other public places too? Say, in the main shopping malls... or the bigger pubs (Wetherspoons, just adapt one of your rolling news screens). It makes good business sense, if people choose to spend time on your premises instead of out at the bus stop. Or even put one in the council house foyer, to help councillors after one of those interminable evening meetings. If the buses are still running, that is.
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