Special greetings and other messages could be removed from city buses

City of Winnipeg Transit buses could soon no longer be offering any messages aside from route information on its tickers.

According to a report to the city’s public service committee, it’s recommended that the city scraps the messages and focus on providing trip information.

The committee looked at two other options for the tickers, which share information about the route name and the destination on the exterior of the bus.

One option would leave things the way they currently are, by recognizing dates such as Truth and Reconciliation Day, Remembrance Day, and certain sports events. Messages also include recommending face masks for passengers and Transit Employee Appreciation Day.

The other option would keep the current messages, but add other holidays, including Christmas, Hanukkah, Terry Fox Day, Thanksgiving, Victoria Day and Louis Riel Day.

The ticker messages circulate every 2.5 seconds between route information, destination and promotional messaging.

The report said consultation with Transit’s accessibility coordinator recommended removing the promotional messages to instead focus on the route and destination, saying extra messages could have an impact on customers.

“When a display has extra information that is unrelated to their trip, such as promotional messages, the customer has to wait until the information they need loops around again,” the report reads. “This 7 delay can cause anxiety and frustration for customers trying to make split-second decisions about which bus to take.”

The plan will be discussed at the public service committee meeting on January 30.