More than half the Maryland Transit Administration's 800 buses will be equipped with automated voice systems to tell riders of approaching stops by the end of next year, officials said yesterday.

Eighty buses have the technology, which announces bus stops and key intersections along the route. When the door opens for new riders, the system also announces the number of the bus and its destination. Yesterday, the state Board of Public Works approved spending $1.9 million to outfit 250 more buses with the technology. One-hundred new buses to be delivered to the MTA will be similarly equipped.

"The system enables the MTA to consistently provide detailed information to each and every customer who boards a bus, whether that customer is visually challenged or not," said MTA spokeswoman Suzanne Bond.