Most buses in Lhasa are not equipped with automated announcements for bus stop and bus conductors generally have to announce the bus stop names themselves. Even though there are a few buses equipped with such devices, passengers still find it easy to miss stops because they lack certain functions. Li Shurong, Luobu Duoji, and another four students from Tibet University encountered the same problem. Therefore, they invented a new type of bus stop automated announcement system specifically for buses in Lhasa.

"The new automated announcement system has over 40 keys, and each key has a different function including telling time and announcing stop names on schedule. Moreover, the system can be connected with a LED display screen so that stop names will appear on the screen in Tibetan, Chinese and English," said Xiao Wei, a teacher at Tibet University.

Wei said that there is no longer any need for bus conductors to press the announcement key at each stop. They just need to set the time and stop names in advance, and the system will announce stop names automatically and correctly.

They can also program the system to announce certain stop names several times and adjust the volume. Once buses are equipped with this, passengers do not have to worry about missing stops. In addition, the system uses MP3 files with CD-quality audio, which can be transferred through USB interfaces. With these words, Xiao pressed another key and the system began playing, another song followed when this one finished.

After they invented the bus stop announcement system, the six Tibet University students co-authored a paper. The new system was highly praised by members of the Academic Review Committee of Tibet University, and the judges all gave full marks for this invention. Afterwards, their paper was included on the list of "National Innovative Projects Papers by College Students," and became one of the top-40 best papers.

(Source: People's Daily Online)