Bringing Back TTC Subway Garbage Bins

"Have other cities with subways managed to return bins to their track-level platforms?"

You'd also need to account for whether or not they allow food & drink on vehicles, as many cities don't.

If terrorist are able to plant bombs in the subway waste bins whos to stop them from planting them on the subways carts or station.
I'm sorry but i don't really see how thats the reason they were to get rid of trash can.

@Patrick

I'm curious. What do you find is so gross about drinking take-out coffee on a bus/subway?

Oh, how about starting with the coffee stain on my coat? Crowded streetcar. Somebody drinking her S-bucks over my lap, carelessly, while holding onto the pole.

And then there's the garbage...

i was thinking about this on the weekend! we definitely need them back!!!

And because of the number of people going through the station daily, it would be a prime target for terrorism...

I'm confused, why aren't there garbage bins at track level?

@Eric S. Smith

Very true, I mean they`re going to pass it at one point. It`s not like it`s completely out of their way.

I took this photo a few weeks ago. I thought it was ironic that perhaps the staff had done this because they're also fed up with the mess.

I agree with Eric S. Smith, as well: people should be more considerate with their consumer habits.

But most of the subway stations are not dirty from liter but dirty from soot and dust which gets naturally blown through the system. Eglinton West is really, really dirty and so is Dupont Station. The corners are so thick with black dust it looks like there was a fire somewhere. How hard is it to just wash the floors once in a while? It's really a health issue.

The TTC removed the garbage bins a couple of years back (I forget exactly when) after the bombing of the Tube in London in 2005, or at least that is what they said. The trash bins were removed due to the possibility of an explosive device being dropped in a bin at track level where large numbers of people gather during rush hour. The old trash bins were made of metal and would provide a lot of schrapnel if an explosive were to be detonated in a bin. The TTC proceeded to replace all trash bins on the mezzanine level of stations where the collectors are with the current trash bin incarnation, which are transparent and have as little metal as possible and would create very little schrapnel. Some of these trash bins are at track level at certain stations including St. George and Bloor stations on the Yonge-Univeristy-Spadina line but not on the Bloor line.

I think they should place the new bins at all levels in the system to reduce the amount of littering and the potential for track level fires when garbage touches the third rail. The removal of the trash bins does not remove the potential for someone to place a bomb in the subway. Are they going to remove the benches next so bombs cannot be left underneath? Or maybe they will remove seats on the TTC vehicles for the same reason?

What annoys me about the removal of the track-level bins is that in many cases there aren't any upper-level bins within the fared zone - for example, at the South end of Lawrence Station there are no bins between the collector booth and the track. What that means is there is no place to ditch your bus transfer. The result is that many people (me included) shove the transfer into the collector booth slot so that the collector can dispose of it. This leads to yelling by the irritated collector, who then demands a 5% raise to compensate for his post-traumatic stress, etc.

I know it's just a little piece of paper and I'd have to simply carry it until I leave the TTC premises and find a garbage bin, but really how hard is it to provide a simple garbage bin just inside the fare collection area for transfers?

People are slobs, that's the biggest part of the problem. No personal responsibility, or respect for public facilities. Sure, there should be more garbage cans, but that still wouldn't stop the jerks who pitch everything onto the floor of the subway cars. I say bring on an eating and drinking ban (although how the hell that would be enforced is beyond me)!

I second the eating/drinking ban. Washington's metro doesn't allow food either. Set a high fine (say $200) and publicize it really well. Then let everyone know when people get caught and have to pay up. The public will get the idea.

Yeah there is one at Kipling. Directly outside of the staff/controller room.

It's true that the problem is not really the bins; it's the people. Put bins on the platforms, and people will still be too lazy to walk to them if they're standing more than three steps away.

I wish public littering was punishable by stuffing the litter up the litterer's... sigh, never mind.

It could be worse.

Machine Gun-Toting Officers To Patrol NYC Subway

http://wcbstv.com/local/machine.guns.subway.2.707398.html

God knows we can't have real garbage cans on the Terrible Transit anymore... Omar from al-Qauda might stuff a dirty bomb in one, and then what? The resulting explosion would send discarded TTC transfers, Tim Hortons coffee cups, and well-read issues of Metro and 24 flying everywhere.

All sarcasm aside, I take my trash and recyclables (TTC transfers, plastic bottles) home with me for recycling. What ever happened to the garbage containers the TTC had on buses and streetcars a couple of years back? I guess the drivers protested having to do anythiing other than drive, although they used to sell tickets, make change, give directions, and actually be helpful many years ago.

The best solution for the time being: if you don't have a TTC garbage bag nearby, take your trash with you instead of treating public transit like the floor of your filthy apartment: there are plenty of trash containers on Toronto's streets.

At Metronauts the TTC said another reason why they don't put the bins down there (besides the terrorism thing) is because newspaper and stuff gets onto the tracks and can actually cause fires.

Toss your garbage anywhere, even on the tracks.

If TTC can't provide trash bins, then too bad for them.

To Sean: Garbage on the tracks is very bad. If it gets on the 3rd rail when a train comes, they usually evacuate the whole station. Thick smoke comes from plastic bottles, plastic-lined cups, plastic bags, etc. which is most of the trash.