Toronto Public Library website crashes over demand for free CN Tower passes

The Toronto Public Library's addition of free CN Tower passes to its tpl:map program this week has apparently generated enough demand to crash its dedicated website almost immediately, leaving many members disappointed.

The institutions' joint announcement on Tuesday spawned even more buzz than anticipated, with locals appearing extremely excited about the prospect of getting a trip up the world-famous building not for the usual $14 (for children) to $43 (for adults) fee, but completely free of charge with their library card.

Complimentary passes for the destination were to be added to the tpl:map site at 2 p.m. Thursday, but it seems that quite a few people who logged on to try and reserve their free passes were unable to do so.

The site crashed

— Aby Rinston (@AbyRinston) May 16, 2024

Residents have been taking to X to say that the portal crashed within minutes of the free tickets going online, with their devices showing error messages or just failing to load the page.

@torontolibrary Looks like your https://t.co/eRZVWUDCfm site is down pic.twitter.com/Y3l6Hsslkk

— Oki K. (@ITSupremacy) May 16, 2024

Some arrived at the link shortly after the specified time only to have it say that passes were no longer available, though more will become available each month.

Though TPL has not yet posted about the issue on social media or responded to complaints, a service update on the tpl:map site now says, "We're currently experiencing login issues while reserving a tpl:map pass due to extremely high demand. Our team is actively working to resolve the issue. We appreciate your patience."

From spinning waiting to no passes in 5 mins? HOW? @torontolibrary not to mentioned the site crashed... pic.twitter.com/w7SEifBSxg

— Liliana (@lillyspan_) May 16, 2024

The message appears on the tpl:map homepage as well as after users select "CN Tower" from the list of attractions.

Even with the alert, people seem to be trying their best to score the deal, with some even calling the experience "worse than trying to get a Taylor Swift ticket" and complaining about the lack of planning for strong interest at the launch.

Looks like its up now but after 2 minutes of CN Tower ticket availability there are no more?? pic.twitter.com/qsLnFxOK3t

— Oki K. (@ITSupremacy) May 16, 2024

As of 2:30 p.m., people are still grumbling about not being able to access the site properly, and the service issues appear to remain.