City
What should the TTC do to improve its Rocket trains?
Toronto's new Rocket subway trains have a design flaw: if the doors fail to close three times in a row, an automatic shutoff kicks in and the cars need to be taken out of service be reset. This, as you might expect, is a bit of an inconvenience during rush-hour on the jam-packed subway. As a result, the trains are currently running on time 92.7 per cent of the time, well below the TTC's 96 per cent target.
The doors are wired together so the train can't leave until each one is sealed. This safety feature is noticeable in the two-second delay at the platform after the train stops. If the safety is repeatedly activated, it seems the train assumes a fault and automatically shuts down.
TTC CEO Andy Byford called the issue "unacceptable" and will meet with Bombardier reps Friday to find a fix for the 27 trains presently in service on the Yonge-University-Spadina line and discuss changes to the remaining 70 "trainsets" under construction in Thunder Bay.
The two groups will also discuss adding extra handles to the interior of the train and building covers for the driver intercom, which, apparently, is too easily knocked by wayward arms. What other changes should the TTC discuss with Bombardier? Are there any minor issues you would like to see rectified?
Personally, and this is just me, I would like the train's robotic voice improved to sound a little more human. Right now it says "please stand clear of doors" and "the next station is interchange station." A "the" and "an" wouldn't go amiss in those sentences. It's not as important as fixing in the doors but, you know, while they're at it... Oh, and could they dim the lights just a little? Some people are trying to get some sleep.
Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.
Photo: "Toronto Transit Commission 5416" by apta_2050, "Long Train" by Stephen Gardiner in the blogTO Flickr pool.
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"Please stand clear of doors"? WTF? who programmed that shit?
Talk about poor grammar. But, I am not surprised at all. Just another example how the TTC is totally incompetent.
- the doors take too long to open, chime is off
- the pull-down handles squeak/creak when pulled down
- no convenient handles when standing under ventilation system
- new TTC map design is ugly and unintuitive
That's about it!
WELCOME TO THE FUTURE WHERE EVERYTHING LOOKS LIKE THE GAP!
ok, maybe it isn't perfect, but it isn't like those old @$$ cars that used to be on the Bloor line that were like stepping in to faded snapshots. So dark! So dark that you couldn't see the creepy dude skulking the shadows who was thinking about robbing/murdering/raping you, or whatever.
What I am trying to say, is better too bright than too dark, we just need to let these go for a while and eventually the TTC will forget to change a few light bulbs and the whole thing will be nice and dim for you guys.
Also, as a seasoned subway rider I appreciate 2 things about the short inhuman messages of the new subway trains:
1) THEY ARE SHORT: no unnecessary piffle about "The next station is Bloor station, please and thank you good sir!, please watch your step....etc etc" JUST THE INFORMATION WE NEED. If I had my way that robotic lady would just say "BLOOR"; we need less commentary, not more!
2)THEY ARE INHUMAN: The one thing that I need on the subway in the morning is LESS HUMAN CONTACT. squashed into oblivion by the sea of unwashed humanity slogging their way to work, I would much prefer to have a cold impersonal voice tell me things. I don't need more human contact, I've just been accidentally groped my six of seven people, I need a break!
LASTLY:
squeaky pull down handles? some of these issues really will just take care of them selves.
Was it too hard to use the conventional green=go(forward), red=stop that we have all used for eons?
As one of the many people who ride the subway and like to read, I LOVE the bright lights.
The door thing should be fixed, but I still like these WAY better than the old ones, which felt cramped, and dingy and had those stupid plastic straps which helped support exactly nobody, as you used said plastic strap to swing directly into the shoulder of the person next to you.
They do need some holders around the ventilation system as the only thing keeping you from a faceplant is that you are standing next to someone and playing human dominoes is not that awesome on the way to work.
Everything else is fine, including the lights. The pulldown handles just need some Jig-A-Loo.
I'm also not a fan of the two-second delay for door opening. I like subway doors that begin opening the very second the train stops. The delay always makes me think the train is a beta version and that the real trains are coming soon.
The pretentious aesthete in me can't bear the sight of it!
Most of the people here complaining about the new trains need to either live in some other city, or stop taking public transit in Toronto altogether. It's as if EVERYTHING is somehow magnified to 11 for these people simply because of the way the train is.
Also, the announcements get really loud sometimes, like they're double tracked.
The trains smell like tuna for some reason.
"This is Sheppard Station, Transfer to the Sheppard Subway line"
You know what, while we're at it, "If you see something, say something"
So why are you surprised that people are coming up with gripes?
There's nothing wrong with pointing out how something can be improved. Hell, it's necessary. The TTC's (and Bombardier's) offering will be stronger if suggestions like these are listened to.
I see that as a good thing.
The automated announcements are better - they recorded voices from Bloomberg Radio who cleary say "The next stop is 34th Street Penn Station. Change here for the 1,2,3,C and E trains. Change here for the Long Island Rail Road" and so on. But they are also kind of blah. Honestly I liked the announcements on the previous Toronto subway trains -- "The next stop is Bloor. Bloor Station." Simple, human, but to the point.
As for door chimes, it's a function of relative civility. In Toronto, you had the whistles, and then the chimes; both started about five seconds before the doors would close. Very polite. They tried that in New York, but since people here ride the subways like crazed animals it had the effect of saying "The doors will close in five seconds. Why don't you run like hell and jam your foot in the door and hold the entire train for your slow-moving friends." So instead they only sound the chime here AS THE DOOR IS ALREADY CLOSING. Instead of "doors are closing momentarily, please stand back" they are effectively saying "get the fuck out of the way because the doors are trying to close, asshole". It's a bit harsh but I understand where they are coming from. Maybe civility in Toronto has declined to the point where they needed to place the chime closer to the closing action.
Door closing itself is a science you could probably take a graduate course in. Part mechanics, part psychology, part crowd behaviour. You want to scare the shit out of people to think that the door is going to chop their fucking arm off and hurt like hell, but you can't actually do that. (I dream of auto-electrocution doors. Pity.) There has to be an air of solidity to the act but also the feather touch of a liability lawyer. On older trains in New York, the doors are flimsy and weak and people feel like they are free to jam them at will. I've been on trains many times where it took 7, 8 tries to get the doors closed. (A limit of 3 is stupid.) The newer NYC train doors have a sort of snickering sound to them that seems to mean business, and people seem much more reluctant to stick a body part in there. I haven't been on the new Toronto trains enough to understand where they lie on the paper mache-guillotine spectrum but they should be as serious-looking and fast-moving as possible.
On the whole though, be happy you have those interconnected trains up in Toronto. We wish we had those here but instead have to suffer trapped in a single car (for up to 8 minutes between stations) prey to bodily liquids on the floor, foul odors, breakdancing acts, peddlers, begging, whatever. Toronto's streets are dirtier than New York's these days but the subways remain much cleaner.
#emo-winters?
Seen a lot of people caught thinking the doors would close at the logical time, not 4 seconds early.
Hmmm. That reminds me. Should clean the ceiling lights in the rec room.
They're less "private chauffeurs" as they are super-late-if-at-all services that people with disabilities must set up the day before their travel.
While it is (heavily?) subsidized, it doesn't work for the entire group who need it. It's nice to know that the subway is more often on time, and I'm glad that people in wheelchairs can access our subway.
In fact, I challenge you to try WheelTrans (if you can get a pass) for one week.
Its horrible, in human, and cold. Did they actually seek out this annoying human to voice everything thinking it would make people happy or be more attentive? It's just awful. Replace that voice with something less harsh and less nasally and the TTC could be just a bit better.
What used to be beautifully gentle, soft tones that resonated on the platform have been turned into horribly loud, intrusive, annoying and at times painful auditory assaults at each station on my trip, especially if I'm standing with my head nearer the ceiling of the car.
I don't think the engineers with the big brains at Bombardier have ever ridden a subway.
The drop down handles are also frightening for anyone over 6' tall who wants to avoid a head injury.
Having the announcements go "The next station is Summerhill, Summerhill Station. La gare prochaine est Summerhill, gare Summerhill." Would be unnecessary and take way too much time.
Hell, if it would cost too much, just use plastic. Montreal's subway seats are more comfortable, and those are just plastic - no padding or covering whatsoever.
And while not a deal breaker, I do wish the handlebars were more solid like the ones in the T1 trains.
A high power oxy-acetylene torch would improve them. Get rid of this un-rapid transit over-priced, over-hyped junk. Too much gadgetry and high-tech state-of-the-art crap that keeps the trains from actually running.
As for me, half of what happens on the TTC, I put up with knowing the difficulties in running a transit system, and also knowing how hard it is to run streetcars down busy streets with the tons of traffic that course down the streets of downtown Toronto. The ONLY problem I'll be having (and a lot of other people will be having as well) is with the future payment schemes, but I'll guess I'll have to adjust to that, too.
Many transit systems, many of which used to look up to the TTC, have implemented many of the suggestions mentioned into their subway cars. People here are just pointing out some of their features that they would like to see on new trains.
I think the new trains are fantastic, and have exceeded expectations in their quality and design. That said, they aren't perfect and there are some things which could be adjusted.
If you think they are perfect, then good for you. Simply say so and leave it at that, don't insult or complain that others have different viewpoints than you.
If you can't see the middle ground between accepting something as perfect and something completely awful with no redeeming qualities, then you may need to seek out professional help.
Add speakers to the outside to alert of door closings.
Use more then one line of the three line display matrix.
Seating like the H4 trains.
That voice needs to go. The voice on the old trains was nicer, but for a real treat get Patrick Stewart or something :)
They aren't as rickety as the T1 trains, but it still feels like a Buick only bouncier. The H5 trains are the most reliable, simple and elegant trains (mechanically) I wish they would have referbished them instead of buying more garbage from bombardier.
Would also try to make future cars linear retractable seating to reflect the fact that the capacity will be increasinly inadequate for seated passengers at rush hour thus if we are going to stand we should build the capacity to do so (like Tokyo has this) instead of making people wait a half dozen cars to get on (unlike Tokyo).
Finally (and I appreciate that this is probably a system issue rather than a car issue). TTC needs to do whateer is needed to have cars stop in the same place each time.
I don't deny that the TTC has problems that need to be improved, but what I don't agree is how bad they are. I think that the people who complain forget the old maxim about 'the grass being greener' and that they should go to anyplace poorer than Canada and see how REALLY bad the public transit is there (Nairobi being one of the places I've read about): I don't think that they'll be bitching about the TTC ever again. Heck, they should travel to New York for a week, and check it out, I'll bet it's the same result.
The map LEDs seem silly to be in green and red. I wonder if colour-blind users have an issue discerning the difference? I would have thought simply having the LED on for stations yet to come and off for those not being serviced would have sufficed.