A few weeks ago I noticed something odd about the voice that announces the stops on the bus, it was happy. For those of you who haven’t been on the public limo, there is a voice that announces upcoming stops to passengers in a cold and robotic tone of voice, kinda like a Mr. Spell and Speak. I was in Hollywood with a friend and during our ride I noticed that voice was ecstatic when announcing the Hollywood stops. It’s something that stands out right away to any regular bus rider because the voice goes from its boring,deep, low tone to a energetic,happy high tone right away. I pointed it out to my friend and she noticed the difference as well. Well once I got home later that day I sent Metro an email on July 2 asking a few questions about the voice recording and how it works. On July 21 I received the following reply, (Note: I removed my real named and replaced it with my blog name)
Dear El Random Hero,
The stop announcements are manually recorded, but they are triggered automatically when the vehicle comes to a stop. When a stop is established, the stop is geo-coded (lat/long location) that defines the stop. The lat/long location is used to create a trigger box (typically 100-250′ from the lat/long point). Whenever the bus enters the trigger box, the vehicle will make the announcement (assuming the operator is running a schedule that uses that particular stop). Some trigger boxes are longer than others to account for a stop which may be a very heavy transit stop and shared by many lines (transit centers, airports, USG, etc.). We appreciate your inquiry and this opportunity to respond.
Metro Customer Relations
In my questions I neglected to ask about the voice recordings accent and tone of voice because I didn’t think it would be an appropriate question to ask. If I did I would basically have to ask “Why does the voice sound sad and depressed when announcing ethnic streets in more urban areas and sound high class in fancier areas ?” My hypothesis is that it’s because it’s the Hollywood line. I imagine the city wants to keep some sort of quality control to keep tourist coming back and to not scare them away. But honestly, you would think that someone involved in the recording process must have corrected the person recording on how to properly pronounce a simple street name, that’s what dictionaries are for right ? Either way I still get a kick out of that voice botching up names like Cesar E. Chavez, Rampart and of course Hollywood !!!  Â
Â
I was waiting for the bus today after work listening to music thinking of how bad I hate my job sometimes. As per usual I was craving some sort of treat for a hard days work and from the corner of my eye what do I see ? A paletero walking up behind me ringing his magical bells like a pied piper. I quickly grab my board and catch up to him. Making my way to him I noticed the killer dubs on his carrito. I grab myself an ice cream sandwich and I compliment the vendor on his tricked out ride. I ask if I could take a picture of his carrito and he agrees. Seeing the huge smile on his after I asked, I knew this was a man who took pride not only in his carrito, but in his job too. I took a bite of my sandwich and wished him the best. Ring, Ring, Ring is all I heard as he continued on his way selling paletas and ice cream in one pimped out carrito. 
That sandwich hit the spot. 
