Morning Brew: TTC Prints Temporary Tickets, PMO Asks Students to Stop Calling?, Duo go on Wild Crime Spree, Tragedy at Pearson Airport, Blansdowne Garden Park Debate
Photo: "Night Rider" by ~EvidencE~, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.
What's happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):
TTC tokens are no longer being sold, instead being replaced by temporary adult tickets. The move comes as response to token hoarding in advance of the fare hike in January, and solves the annoying problem of lineups at collector booths and lost 2010 revenues for the transit commission. It's a great idea, that probably should have been implemented much sooner.
Students at Woodland School in Mississauga arranged a protest that urged fellow schoolmates (who are concerned about our government's environmental and climate change policies) to call the Prime Minister's Office. Before long, staff at the school claim that they received a call from the PMO asking that the phone calls stop. The PMO claims that they need more info from the school to verify that this indeed did happen. If the call did come from the PMO, it would represent an unprecedented error on their part, since muzzling citizens is not acceptable.
Two women went on a Thelma and Louise-esque crime spree west of the city this weekend. They stole prescription drugs, assaulted a person, carjacked a vehicle, and led police on a high-speed chase before being apprehended.
A sad story is coming out of Pearson Airport. A toddler is dead after falling from the second level down to the first. Barriers are in place, but it may be that the child was being held by the mother and was jarred into the fall when a second child ran to and grasped the mother.
And a part of the Bloor and Lansdowne area known for attracting crack smokers, hookers, and large rats is creating quite the fuss. The City has hopes to turn the dead end park area into a community garden, but residents are upset over the apparent lack of community consultation. I'm still left scratching my head though... what exactly is the issue here? Should the park be left as is? Would a garden make the situation worse?
And here's what blogTO was up to this weekend:
- Hamish Grant got a great look at 3,000 years of history at the King Tut exhibit at the AGO.
- Derek filled us in on Circuit Gallery, a web-based project that opens the door for contemporary art at wonderfully low prices.
- Tim chatted with Drake Hotel's Jeff Stober, about all things Toronto.
- Ivy got lip-smackers drooling over the Best Pies in Toronto.
- Matthew reviewed the Rural Alberta Advantage show at Lee's Palace.
Comments (50)
TTC BITCHING? Sure!
This morning at Union Station, THREE guys were watching the south entrance fare box. And by watching I mean talking to each other and paying no attention whatsoever to fare box.
I can't decide if that's better or worse than last week's 300 pound sea lion/beluga who was asleep (and by asleep I mean ZZzzzz asleep) leaning against his chair at the very same location.
If there's one thing the TTC does exceptionally well it's putting a friendly, human face on the service they (marginally) provide.
How could anyone be upset with paying more and more when we receive such unparalleled value for our dollar?
If they aren't watching the fare box, then just walk right through and don't put anything in. That's what I do every single time. I purposefully go through the booth collectors line, hoping he's preoccupied or not paying attention, and just grace my hand over the coin box without dropping anything in.
It's my small way of f'ing them over.
Whats the problem with ttc? its only $68 a month for a pass, its reliable, and on time, theres a website you can go to that tells you when itll show up.... ohhh wait a minute. Im thinking of Montreal - my mistake ;)
$2.25 adds up, but given that $2.25 will get you from JFK and Coney Island to anywhere on the system, all with the convenience of a re-fillable swipe-card (useable on NJ Transit also), it's still a great deal --
No, wait, that's New York. My mistake.
I don't begrudge them their fare increase. If they need to charge more money, okay. But the implementation is completely assinine. No viable business with any respect for customer service would annouce a price increase a month and a half in advance, put in place restrictions on purchasing tokens for that month and a half, get caught off-guard by the fact people are (so predicatably) hoarding tokens, and then decide to turn to paper tickets THAT CAN'T BE USED AT AUTOMATED ENTRANCES. The entrance I use is auto - cards or tokens only. The other entrance is four long blocks away. I am curious to see whether they have the sense to station someone fulltime at that entrance now to accept paper ticket payments. My guess is no.
I'm driving.
Instead of bitching & moaning about the TTC, buy or lease a car. Then you can change the channel and bitch & moan about bad mechanics, cost of repairs, gas prices, traffic congestion, road conditions, bad drivers, rude drivers, insurance costs and more...
Just curious -- at which station is the automated entrance four blocks from the nearest collector?
Re. the child who died at Pearson. I was there when it happened. I was waiting to pick up my partner. I didn't see him fall, but I was going up the escalator when I heard a "thud" and witnessed the ensuing panic. I saw his little body on the floor being attended to by a police officer and another man (a relative?) A man was screaming. A woman was screaming. People stood around frozen and stunned. One idiot was taking pictures.
The ambulance and rescue trucks came in record time. Within five minutes.
The whole thing was awful. I wish I hadn't been there. The entire event is seared in my mind. RIP little one.
Agreed. Bitch all you want about a TTC fare increase, but this story is absolutely heartbreaking.
It's unbelievable that so many of you are opposed to a fare hike. While I'm not looking forward to it, I do understand how basic economics work. As the cost of operating and salaries (how many of you want to be paid the same amount forever) increase, so must your revenue in order to be a viable entity. One stream would be advertising, which many people are strongly opposed to; another is government funding; and a fare increase is a third.
Oh, and it doesn't help whe people like JE (above) don't pay, as a way to "stick it to them." JE, people like you aren't sticking it to the TTC, you're sticking it to the rest of us who have to pick up the slack.
It would be cool if someone part of the BlogTO community would actually photograph these pricks asleep on the job or chatting instead of watching the fair box and we could post the collection...
Yeah I know - I'm kicking myself that I didn't film the sleeping jackass. I even had my camera with me. Believe me - I won't forget again.
Community gardens are such a retarded idea anyway, I'm not surprised the residents are upset. Trying to play make-believe farmers in an urban environment is idiotic on too many levels. Leave this stuff to real farmers and don't waste precious urban space to grow two freaking carrots per year.
Not as personal or tragic or Toronto, however how did this not make the news:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/728401--anger-flares-in-house-over-tory-attack-flyer
"""
OTTAWA–The federal Conservatives are making no apologies for painting the Liberals as anti-Jewish in the newest wave of attacks on their political rivals.
In fact, they carried on the campaign in the Commons on Thursday, even as former justice minister Irwin Cotler, a Montreal MP and human-rights expert, was formally lodging a protest over the Conservatives' bid to portray Liberals as unfriendly to Israel and Jewish voters in Canada.
"""
They mention it's tax-payer funded but nothing more than that.
They accuse the Liberals of attending an anti-Semitic conference however fail to mention the Liberals were there defending Israel (the attended MP was thanked by Israel).
Well, when they come in line with regular business practices and stop paying their bus drivers $80k/year, then you can talk about basic economics. Basic economics would have these people earning HALF of what they currently do and the TTC operating efficiently and as effectively as possible. It would also be expanding as much as it could, so as to provide its services to as many people as possible.
Basic economics also shows that the lower your cost is, the more people will come. I'd be willing to bet that if they DROPPED their fare prices, they'd actually be making MORE than they already are.
Under basic economics and a corporate setting, the TTC might /actually/ be profitable. Shocking, I know.
Let's not talk about basic economics when the subject of the conversation is operating under a union & a complete abusive monopoly. That is NOT basic economics.
As for JE, bravo. No, the rest of you don't need to pick up the slack cuz no one knows he was on there anyways.
It'll never happen. Know why? Because it's a good idea, and those are poisonous to the TTC and the city that houses it.
The TTC isn't interested in the Presto card. They consider it "old" technology. (Which is a fucking riot, coming from them.) They're waiting for something "better" to come along, which means we'll be waiting another decade.
Actually, at last week's TTC meeting the commissioners approved of the system taking part in the Presto card program. There were, of course, conditions placed on the TTC taking part, but most of those had to do with retaining the TTC's authority over fares and technologies and such. But it'll be a decade before the Presto card fully rolls out anyway.
Wow. There sure is a lot of hate out there. If only there was a way to channel negative feed back to the elective representatives in charge of making these decisions.
What is Harper's phone number? It isn't listed on his contact page.
Re: Presto card or other smart card. If only there was a card that could be used to get onto the TTC. Of course there would always have to be an option for cash fare or tokens for the occasional user. Well what do you know, the metropass consists of 40% of fare revenue. So it looks like we already have a card to use the TTC. What does the presto or other card get that a metro pass doesn't?
Light users get to keep a running balance. Meh. Every bus, every street car, every station would have to be networked, online 100% of the time so the smart cards could be debited correctly. I guess the people in charge have analyzed this many many times and found the cost of implementing exceeds its worth.
HAhahaha my thoughts exactly! Also you can call a service line and see what time your bus will be coming! $109 for monthly fair now.. how much will it be after January 3rd? The ttc suckss!! It's never on time about 99.99% of the workers are slackers and rude! Wow such great service we get here in Toronto. If the workers were better and nicer then I might actually think my fair is worth the money!
Thanks for the contact info into Ottawa but it's easier to be passive aggressive and bitch about the problem here than to call the PMO or write a letter.
Where can i apply to be a driver for the TTC. Sounds like a great job, get paid very nicely, be rude to people, get a handsome raise very year, and hardly ever have to be worried about being fired, due to union protection. Sounds like a dream job, where can i apply?
Revealing the inherent anti-semitism of the LPC would be harder if Denis Coderre wasn't a vocal supporter of Hamas, if they hadn't allied themselves with Sid Ryan and the 100% pur laine Bloc in their attempt to usurp the results of our most recent election, and their leader didn't repeatedly muse about Israeli war crimes.
Newsflash: you can be royally pissed at what the Israeli government does without being an anti-semite.
"Where can i apply to be a driver for the TTC"
Lucky you! Here's the link:
http://www3.ttc.ca/Jobs/transit_operator_drivers_recruitment.jsp
If you make it through the training (and about 50% fail) you will start at $21.90 or $45,552 per year (rate after training) then after 2 years you'll make $28.57 or $59,425 per year.
No more complaining about those easy, overpaid transit jobs that you would take in a heartbeat - you can apply and better your life! Just click the link!
The attitude of certain TTC employees makes it fairly clear how things work there. Performance at your job is of minimum importance. There is clearly no incentive for employees to try to do their job well. Employees are clearly also not held responsible when they do their job poorly.
Among those:
-Chatting on their cellphone while DRIVING. I see this weekly
-Stopping at inappropriate times for coffee or food
-Rudeness towards riders
-Unsafe and/or agressive driving
-Going out of service at inopportune times (this is a big problem on the route I'm on*)
-Sleeping on the job
-Leaving post to go chat with other employees
Address those issues, and THEN I won't complain about fare increases.
*The route I use has a ttc bus depot adjacent to it. The route itself runs north south from Steeles to the subway station (about a total length of 30 minutes). The depot is only a single kilometre away from the subway station, but time and time again the drivers who are nearing the end of their shift will put the bus out of service at either the adjacent stop, or the closest major road (Eglinton) instead of taking the passengers to the subway station first. If its raining, snowing or if the next bus is 20 minutes behind or there are people on board with mobility problems, they'll still do it.
The other day they put a FULL bus out of service (40-50 people) and assured us that a bus was right behind him. 5 minutes later the next bus comes and is only able to take about half due to the bus already being full. The rest of us had to wait another 20 minutes for the next one. If I would have known, I could have walked to the subway station by that time.
I'm going to start logging it every time this happens (on average about once a week) and file a formal complaint.
"I'm sorry elderly woman with the walker, you'll have to get out and stand in the cold rain because I don't want to take the extra 3 minutes to turn around and come back to the depot"
are u stupid? for one, it could address the issue that you pay the same price regardless of where you travel on the map? secondly, for those who don't use a metropass, it simplifies their lives and avoids these token hoarding scenarios.
i'm guessing you've never been to another major city in the world have u?
"Basic economics also shows that the lower your cost is, the more people will come. I'd be willing to bet that if they DROPPED their fare prices, they'd actually be making MORE than they already are."
Actually under the rules of basic economics, demand for the TTC is likely inelastic as a large number of users do not have any viable subistitutes to taking transit. So for the relatively small number of people that will stop taking the TTC as a result of the fare hike, they are bound to make that up from those that continue to pay. Until the cost exceeds buying a car most of the current riders will continue to use the TTC.
One of the problems is that certain parts of the system are at maximum capacity or close to it. Bloor Yonge station for example.
They've even recently brought staff in to direct passengers in order to increase potential capacity. Dropping prices and increasing ridership significantly would mean the TTC would have to find ways to increase capacity. That costs money and I'm betting it costs more money per added person than the fare that they pay.
If you have all these issues with the TTC and enough time in your day to write all of that how about you do something useful and tell the TTC about their problem employees? It's not as though there are supervisors who stand over each driver to be sure they're following all the rules so without your complaints, how will the TTC ever know who is doing a good job and who isn't?
It doesn't matter if they did. TTC employees have union protection and the basically means they can be as nasty, lazy, incompetent as they want and nothing will ever happen to them.
Seriously... where can we send our grievances like the ones Ryan L outlined and be sure they will be heard? I've sent emails to government for the past few years complaining and outlining all the major issues I have, and substantiating them with concrete examples, but I really feel it's all falling on deaf ears because of the union.
As much as I'd love to have faith in the ttcridersunion, I am strained to believe this will actually make any difference. How can we productively galvanize?
Having a union isn't license to be surly, it's a promise that a worker's right to due process will be respected. If management gets enough complaints about a worker or if a complaint is serious enough/can be objectively verified through witnesses/cctv/etc, there's really nothing a union can do.
Here's where you go to file a complaint: http://www3.ttc.ca/Contact_Us/Complaints_Compliments_Suggestions/index.jsp
I never take the TTC so I am totally stress free and have absolutely nothing to bitch/moan/complain about the TTC.
Even with all the costs associated with having a car, it doesn't stress me out cuz I know it gets me to work/school/malls/etc. in 1/3 the time the TTC would and can carry loads and loads of stuff like groceries/furniture/clothing/electronics/etc. that you can't get away with on the TTC. Oh and the privacy, peace, and solitude I get in my car.
What planet do you live on? Unions are outdated in this country. All they do is shelter the lazy and ensure that workers get more money year over year whether they've earned it or not. They have stripped the idea of earning one's way ahead right out of any business operation they infect.
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