People in Toronto are sick of hype videos showing off new LRT nobody can use

Members of Metrolinx's social media team certainly have their jobs cut out for them, having to strike an impossible balance between sharing important new information about forthcoming transit lines and dealing with public blowback about the manifold delays of said lines.

The public seems to get most heated about any and all updates on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT — now 13 years in the making and four years late — such as one new video the agency shared on Thursday.

An attempt to maintain public interest in the project and assure residents that it is still moving ahead, the clip also provides some much-needed education on the route's tech, with staff explaining how other road users should navigate new traffic signals around LRT guideways once operations eventually kick off.

Framed as a "do you know your traffic signals" game, the lighthearted and educational post has not garnered much positive feedback so far.

Unless you have opening dates, just shut up.

— Dawn Bernstein (@guitardawn) August 29, 2024

"With the new light rail infrastructure in the region, it's crucial for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians to understand the new traffic signals," the voiceover starts, going on to outline when left turns and U-turns are okay (only when a left turn arrow is present and illuminated), and which signals are only for TTC trains.

In response, though, many citizens are simply demanding the only news they want from the government arm: when the railway will be running.

"Please, more time opening transit lines and less time promoting them," one person urged on X.

The best part about this is that it implies that the work will actually be done at some point.

The sun will have reached the end of its life, explode and kill us all before Metrolinx is finished even a kilometre of delayed, over budgeted, lazy construction union work.#Toronto

— James (@JamesCanuckCA) August 29, 2024

"Utterly irrelevant if you never get the damn thing done," another added.

Along with inquiries about when transitgoers will finally be able to board Line 5, people also had criticism about the design of the lights, calling them "over complicated for no reason" and speculating that they will lead to accidents.

"If you need to make a video explaining the design, your design is a comprehensive failure," one person suggested. Others questioned the lack of standard transit priority signals.

Why adopt standard practices from the Outside World, such as special transit signals and arrowed traffic lights for turns used literally everywhere, when you can make an educational video trying to explain this signal mess and call it a day?

Quintessential Ontario. https://t.co/WQcq0FPB07

— Marco Chitti (@ChittiMarco) August 30, 2024

Unfortunately, even with flashy videos detailing all sorts of features of the Crosstown, riders still have no idea when it might open.

Initially due to debut in 2020, the ill-fated line has run into setback after setback — including legal battles between construction crews, Metrolinx and the Province — leading the government agency to eventually decide to keep quiet on any projected completion date.