Nelson City Council Bus Interchange Audio Announcements
Audio Announcements that Help Passengers Never Miss Their Bus
As part of Nelson City Council’s new Bus Hub, the Council needed an audio announcements solution that worked reliably across multiple speaker zones, and could be managed day-to-day by operational staff, with the goal of helping people never miss their bus. The system had to support both planned messaging and quick updates when services change, while keeping announcements consistent, clear, and easy to publish without specialist technical support.
Somar Digital delivered the software and supporting hardware that powers these announcements, giving the Council a simple way to create and publish clear messages across the interchange.
What Nelson City Council Needed
Nelson City Council’s new Bus Hub was built to make public transport easier to navigate, including improved passenger information on site. As part of the upgrade, the Council installed 10 indoor and outdoor speakers to broadcast audio announcements for departing services, helping people find the right bus and reducing the chance of missed buses. Somar implemented the TransitDash Stop Announcement tool as a central dashboard for creating, managing, and publishing departure announcements.
Audio Announcements Dashboard
The TransitDash Stop Announcement tool is designed to streamline the process of creating, editing, managing, and publishing audio announcements across bus stops. It gives the Council one place to compose messages, choose where they should play, and publish updates with confidence, whether they’re real time or on a scheduled basis. The tool is fully customisable so that it can reflect the Council’s brand and voice.
Announcements – Queued and Manual
Queued announcements allow the Council to schedule messages ahead of time and monitor what’s coming up, what’s active, and when each message will play. Manual announcements support rapid publishing for on-the-day changes, with the ability to send one-off or repeating messages to selected stops.
Reusable Templates
Templates help the Council publish common announcement types quickly, such as when there are significant events or security announcements required, while keeping wording consistent across the interchange. Substitutions standardise repeat terms such as local place names or service descriptions, reducing errors and speeding up updates during busy periods.
Pronunciation Support
The system supports full International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) pronunciations, allowing the Council to fine-tune how specific words and destination names are spoken so announcements are clearer and more locally accurate. Audio is generated using Amazon Polly text-to-speech within AWS, providing a consistent voice and dependable delivery.
Scheduling
Scheduling enables the Council to plan announcements in advance and have them broadcast automatically at the right times, reducing the need for manual intervention. Once published, announcements are distributed to the Bus Hub for playback, ensuring timely communication across indoor and outdoor speakers.
Outcomes
Delivering clear, consistent messaging to customers
Passengers receive reliable, easy-to-understand audio information across the Bus Hub, improving confidence when navigating departures. This supports accessibility and makes the interchange experience smoother for a wider range of users.
Flexible, efficient system for Nelson City Council
The Council can create, reuse, and publish announcements quickly from a single dashboard, reducing admin overhead. Staff can respond faster to service changes without relying on specialist support or manual workarounds.
Reliable and scalable infrastructure
The solution runs on AWS infrastructure managed by Somar Digital, providing a stable foundation for day-to-day operations. It’s designed to scale as the Council’s needs evolve, without adding complexity for the team managing it.