A Very Troubled TTC User

Published by Toronto Mike on August 23, 2011 @ 11:43 in TTC ~ Toronto Transit Commission

ttc I received this email yesterday, and thought I'd share it with you all. Maybe someone at the TTC can reply. I have no idea why this person thinks I'm "a type of transit consultant".

You seem to be a good person to inquire with as you are a type of transit consultant.

Could you please tell me why here in TO we pay about 1.5 times more than other North American cities where their transit systems are better, cleaner and friendlier? The TTC breaks down daily, causes crazy long delays, there's a lack of communication to passengers and TTC employees while these delays occur, many TTC staff are rude, arrogant and will not pick passengers up, take too long breaks, the list goes on and on (as you would be well aware).

This past Sunday, August 21, 2011, I entered the subway about 9:10am (after it's opening at 9am) at St. Clair West station, to find a large amount of people waiting, and watched 2 subway trains enter the platform, not open it's doors, then move backwards where it came from (the number of the 1st subway train's last car was 5205, the 2nd subway train's last car was 5259).

I went to the collector to inquire, was told that the TTC is not at fault (as usual) - that a member of the public is at fault, the issue started at 8am (not sure how that happened when subway only opens 9am and why would an hour's time not have been suffice to solve the issue?) - that while no clear announcements were made to explain to all the passengers waiting for a train that was not to come - so passengers were to take shuttle buses from St. Clair West station to Union station.

As I saw no shuttle buses as the collector said, I took a St. Clair bus (not the usual streetcar) to St. Clair (and Yonge) subway, only to find another large crowd of passengers waiting for the train - that ended up taking 30 minutes to arrive, going southbound, with no shuttle buses offered on the Yonge line (while the subway there was affected as well as the University line).

A subway trip that normally should take 20 minutes (St. Clair West to Bloor/Yonge) ended up taking 1.25 hours! And that is not the worst TTC story I have, but the most recent.

With all the negative news about the TTC, it's over-powerful union, the politics surrounding the TTC, WHY is the service still so poor and the cost of it so high (compared to much better and larger systems in North America)?

I realize that Canadians are passive but have a problem understanding why Torontonians put up with the TTC....why has there not been mass demonstrations/protests against the TTC or the city for allowing such a poor service to continue?

I hope to get a reply that answers these questions/concerns.

Thank you for your time.

"a very troubled TTC user"

Entry Permalink

14 comments

14 Responses to "A Very Troubled TTC User"

jacksondunlop
August 23, 2011 / 11:57

While I know you probably can't give her any type of answer, I have to agree with the way she explained what riding the TTC is like and why I usually don't take it for anything I can drive to.

McNulty
August 23, 2011 / 13:14

This person sounds a bit whiny and clearly not too bright to contact you about these problems.

But the TTC does have issues.

Ryan G
August 23, 2011 / 15:24

My fave TTC experience in the last year was on a subway about 6pm one weeknight around Queen station.

An extremely intoxicated and disturbed individual got on the train and after the doors shut and the train started off, she started yelling angrily, and I quote:

"I'VE GOT A F#@&*#G GUN AND YOU'RE ALL GOING TO F#@&*#G DIE!"

Nice huh!

Strangely nobody panicked or reached for the yellow panic strip thingy, mostly I think because there was another yellow strip...a big circle of it right around her crotch.

"Oh she's pissed herself, there's NO WAY she'd have a gun!"

I did actually knock on the operator's little door to alert him, because although I didnt' think this person was a real threat (thus didn't hit the yellow emergency strip), I thought he should know.

His reaction?

"Meh"

Mike from Lowville
August 23, 2011 / 16:58

@Ryan G, shes probably a regular! I would NOT do that job for $40.00 an hour and all the benefits! F'in Joe Public!

Rick C in Oakville
August 23, 2011 / 18:51

To trot out an old joke, TTC for means Take The Car. So many bad experiences years ago that I don't even consider it for getting around downtown anymore. I find parking close enough and walk if I have to.

Toronto Mike
August 24, 2011 / 13:41

The TTC has officially responded to this entry. Here's the email I received this morning.

Hi Mike,

I don’t want to turn your site into a customer response forum for the TTC but since you posted the note from our customer I thought I’d follow up.

Clearly, as the TTC customer that wrote to you experienced, we had problems on the morning of August 21st. As I’m sure you know, and many of your readers know, the TTC carries out extensive maintenance and renewal work on our stations, trains and tracks overnight. In the middle of the night there is a veritable army of people on the network to help ensure that we can keep our trains, streetcars and buses running day in and day out. In fact it’s primarily for this reason why the subway starts later on Sunday mornings – we need those extra few hours underground to carry out that maintenance. On the morning of the 21st a problem with our signalling system became apparent at about 8am and we immediately set about to rectify it. By the time all was said and done we didn’t manage to rectify the situation until just before 10am – or about an hour after we were supposed to begin service.

As a result, trains were turned at St. Clair West and Union Stations and shuttle buses were utilized between the two stations. Incidentally the planned closure of the Yonge line several weeks ago was to allow us to undertake work that would minimise incidents such as this one and to help us avoid having such large sections of the subway affected when things do go wrong.

Regarding the lack of announcements it’s certainly our intention to keep passengers as informed as possible of specific situations and their impact on service. It isn’t, however, something we always get right and that certainly sounds like this customers experience. Sometimes, even more than the initial delay or problem, customers will judge us on how effectively we inform them of the delay and how well we explain their options. Currently the same team in our Transit Control Centre that is responsible for getting trains turned and the incident managed are also responsible for making announcements and giving customer information. We are currently reviewing how we manage and structure ourselves to ensure that we are absolutely focussed on keeping customers informed and striking the right balance with other responsibilities. New digital information screens in concourses and the ability to “take control” of our screens at platform level will also be critical tools in achieving that goal. We hope to have both of those initiatives delivered in the coming year.

Regarding fares the TTC is currently required to recover approximately 70% of its operating costs from our paying customers with the other 30% coming from the City of Toronto. This is among the highest in the world and other cities transit customers paying a lower fare because more money comes from a variety of levels of government. Most transit operators tend to only recover about 50-60% of their operating costs from fares (and some relatively small amounts from things like advertising and parking for example). Having said that a flat fare of $2.50 for a token to travel anywhere the TTC serves is actually a relatively inexpensive fare when compared to other North American and European transit systems.

In short none of the above helps negate the fact that we failed this customer on Sunday to say nothing of the many other who may have experienced similar difficulties. I hope that this customer, and any others, accepts my apology for any inconvenience caused and thank you for allowing me the opportunity to respond.

I closing I want to assure the readers of your site that we have a plan to improve our reliability and customer service and that we expect to be judged on how we deliver that plan in the coming months and years to once again make Toronto proud of the TTC.

Sincerely,

Chris

-----------------------------------

Christopher Upfold
Chief Customer Service Officer
Toronto Transit Commission
1900 Yonge Street
Toronto M4S 1Z2

Mike
August 24, 2011 / 13:56

$2.50 is very inexpensive compared to other cities and considering the size of the Toronto transit system. It costs $3.00 to ride the bus in Guelph...and that's only going one way, not the entire transit route.

Josh
August 24, 2011 / 14:05

Where can I pay 2.50 to get on the TTC. It's 3.00 bucks one way, learn about your company much?

Toronto Mike
August 24, 2011 / 14:07

@Josh

Christopher Upfold seems to be referring to the fact you can buy 10 tickets for $25. I think that's fair to say it's a $2.50 ride.

Greg
August 24, 2011 / 18:03

@Josh

He clearly stated that a TOKEN fare is $2.50. CASH FARE is $3.00...

Jim Beam
August 26, 2011 / 12:20

After finding out from a newly hired TTC bus driver what they get for a Shoe allowance, I can tell you why it costs a mint to ride the rocket.

Anonymous
November 27, 2011 / 12:07

TTC is for Totally Terrible Crap
Price goes up, service goes down, employees are above the law and overpaid, and to top it off they are backed up by the corrupted communists from unions, and they got the balls to call it "the better way"!!!

M.L.
December 23, 2011 / 10:44

The TTC has demonstrated great transparency in this situation. Being originally from London, Ontario, using the TTC is a treat. It is a very efficient and well-run system with friendly and helpful staff.

London Transit, although slightly less expensive than the TTC, is fraught with problems. When I went to university there, there was one night in the middle of winter I had to wait 90 minutes for a bus to get home, a distance of one hour. Why? The one and only bus that came every 30 minutes was packed full already and couldn't pick up more passengers.

Many students from Toronto who go to university in London have commented that London's transit system is "far worse" than anything they've ever experienced on the TTC. Almost all the routes go downtown and don't follow the routes people take to get from one point to another, the buses run far too infrequently (leading to Toronto-level crowding), and there are too many unhelpful and rude drivers.

If you want unhelpful drivers though, go to Ottawa. I have used OC Transpo twice in my life, and both times I found the drivers very unhelpful.

Andrew
January 30, 2012 / 00:07

The Toronto highway system isn't exactly reliable either. There is near-constant traffic congestion, accidents and bad weather. The TTC subway might be unreliable but you have never experienced how it can take as long as 2 hours to take 401 from 404 to 410 in rush hour when there is bad weather.

« Nick Ashford, Dead at 70

Remembering John McDonald and Aaron Hill »