Apparently the Washington DC Metro has decided to give it's workers elocution lessons. I have never ridden on the system, but according to the article, the operators announce the stops... badly. This causes many headaches for travelers, who are trying to figure out exactly where in the city they might be.

On the Metra trains in Chicago - they have mostly gone to automated systems on the trains themselves. It works FAR better than the live announcements ever did. With the live announcements, you had to contend with things like - poor pronunciation, speaking too fast, bad sound system, each announcer holding the microphone too close or to far from their mouth... etc etc. We still have to contend with really bad sound at the stations - but on the trains themselves the problem is mostly taken care of...

So, naturally the reporter asked one of the Washington DC Metro workers about putting in an automated system.

Tabatha Hawkins, one of 20 elocution students and an eight-year veteran of Washington's Metro, doubted recorded messages could take the place of people on Metro.

"I think having the operator make the announcement makes it a little more personal, makes people feel comfortable," Hawkins said in an interview during a class break. "If I'm on the train and I just hear a taped announcement, how do I know if someone is really sitting there on the train?"

She needs more than elocution lessons I think...

Posted by: Teresa in Education at 05:42 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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