Friday, July 20, 2018 5:38 AM

They're trying out a new voice for the announcements on the bus. It's gentler, slower, with a wider dynamic range -- and almost inaudible over air conditioning, conversation, or traffic. Only the upper frequencies of the consonants come through. The original voice still says "The next stop is:", but it's followed by clicks and murmurs. Three of the key bus stops are at malls. The one at which I get off for work sounds like a "k" followed by a brief mumble. The one at which I change buses to go home mumbles for a while longer. And the big one along the way, which is never open when I pass it going to or from the night shift, has a few more consonants mixed in. I can rarely tell what It's saying for other stops, and the on-board signs are even less dependable. I actually have to look outside to see where I am.