[DSCToronto]

Does the TTC have to "pay" Toronto Transportation Services for any traffic signals that they request? If it has to come out of the TTC operating budget, they have other "priorities" like the subway "go slow zones"..

As far as I know Transportation pays but all requests for signals need Council or Community Council approval and this is often not given if Transportation objects. TTC can certainly not just ask Transportation for a new signal.

 

[T3G]

Since the new temporary terminal is now outside the pay area, riders will have to do a double tap to use the bus or the subway and raise a question related to the 2 hour transfer time. Depending on riders travel time from various parts of the city, some riders could be near max time when they hit the bus concourse and ran out of time while waiting for the bus that had no impact on them. Now having to wait outside and a longer time to get to their bus stop, they will have to do more time management or end up paying an extra fare.

Just like quite a lot of people already using the temporary terminal at Kennedy, then.

 

[Tim MacDonald]

Thanks Tim as this is the only way we can see what is going on until it hits grade. The hole is a lot smaller that what it says from the street. I have before phots for the area, but impossible to do it today.

Don't if anyone has done a flyover for the station before construction started as a before view of what existed for the whole area before the whole area is redeveloped for history.

I've been flying it since 2021 so lots of historical photos in my archive.

 

[evandyk]

Just spent most of the last two weeks in Paris, and man is it depressing to come back to the TTC.

 

[Northern Light]

Just spent most of the last two weeks in Paris, and man is it depressing to come back to the TTC.

Perhaps you could elaborate on what particular differences you enjoyed about your Paris experience and find lacking here.

 

[81-717]

Just spent most of the last two weeks in Paris, and man is it depressing to come back to the TTC.

I feel the same about Stockholm and Oslo, and while I'd never feel that way about Paris, I definitely agree coming back to the TTC afterwards is depressing enough to wanna boycott TTC fanning entirely.

 

[evandyk]

Perhaps you could elaborate on what particular differences you enjoyed about your Paris experience and find lacking here.

That would take a while! 14 lines criscrossing an area much smaller than the City of Toronto. Frequent service on all of them, even on weekends. Regional trains that come every 8 minutes.

Everything was spotless and shiny, no doubt thanks to the Olympics. Nobody sleeping, smoking or doing drugs on trains. (There were no homeless people anywhere in the city, also no doubt due to the Olympics.)

The kid got his first ride on a high speed train, from Paris to Lyon, and loved it.

 

[Richard White]

As far as I know Transportation pays but all requests for signals need Council or Community Council approval and this is often not given if Transportation objects. TTC can certainly not just ask Transportation for a new signal.

They did put a temporary one in at Eglinton Station where the bus drop off area is so it is a possibility.

Having said that, I can see one being put in shortly.

 

[evandyk]

I feel the same about Stockholm and Oslo, and while I'd never feel that way about Paris, I definitely agree coming back to the TTC afterwards is depressing enough to wanna boycott TTC fanning entirely.

In previous trips to Paris I haven't really depended on transit because we'd walk almost everywhere, but that's more challenging with a five year old. Everything just worked.

 

[Northern Light]

I feel the same about Stockholm and Oslo, and while I'd never feel that way about Paris, I definitely agree coming back to the TTC afterwards is depressing enough to wanna boycott TTC fanning entirely.

As I noted above in response to another comment; to help keep this tangent related to the TTC, it would be useful if you could tie your thoughts to specifics.

I can think of many things I like about the systems mentioned, and some others I'm less keen on; but we can't make the TTC any better on generalities.

 

[T3G]

Personally, my single biggest bug bear with the TTC is their atrocious line management. On paper, many services that the TTC runs should be very good, but the issues with line management must run deep in the institutional blood, because it's been on going for decades - surely there must have been some personnel turn over in the last 20 years - and I haven't seen it in such a large capacity in any other city I've been to. Prague's trams (apart from not being slowed down by ridiculous safety rules like they are here) run in a mix of private ROWs, mixed traffic, and pedestrian only zones, and I've never experienced anything like this there.

Also would like to see:

-better communication vis a vis delays
-all door boarding, everywhere, at all times
-for the drivers to be taught finally that they're not the stars of John Wick and to stop yelling at transit photographers

 

[81-717]

As I noted above in response to another comment; to help keep this tangent related to the TTC, it would be useful if you could tie your thoughts to specifics.

Part of it is bias due to living in Toronto (always more interesting to travel abroad), the other is that the TTC is simply boring and bland as of 11 years ago (if I lived in New York, I'd definitely prefer fanning there rather than travelling to Toronto), although some systems abroad (i.e. London or Paris) I like even less than the TTC. Lastly, the anti-Hawker conspiracy is the main reason to hate on the TTC.

 

[Northern Light]

Personally, my single biggest bug bear with the TTC is their atrocious line management. On paper, many services that the TTC runs should be very good, but the issues with line management must run deep in the institutional blood, because it's been on going for decades - surely there must have been some personnel turn over in the last 20 years - and I haven't seen it in such a large capacity in any other city I've been to. Prague's trams (apart from not being slowed down by ridiculous safety rules like they are here) run in a mix of private ROWs, mixed traffic, and pedestrian only zones, and I've never experienced anything like this there.

@smallspy might be able to add some colour on that one..........

For my part........

To my understanding field supervision used to be done at the Division level (so out of the various yards that buses/streetcars were dispatched), personnel were regularly in the field, and generally knew their routes.

A few years back now, I gather, supervisory roles were all consolidated to transit control; and in-field supervision reduced greatly.

There are definitely more issues of supervisors/control not understanding the routes they oversee (based on conversations with operators who have been told to divert down back lanes, the wrong way on one-way streets and given other questionable instructions)

Supervisors are also union now. I'm pro-labour, but find the idea of front-line management being union as rather odd.

Also would like to see:

-better communication vis a vis delays

Yes.

-all door boarding, everywhere, at all times

Agree.

-for the drivers to be taught finally that they're not the stars of John Wick and to stop yelling at transit photographers

I haven't experienced this issue w/operators.

That said, I do think TTC personnel would benefit from greater customer service training. Some of that should probably be policy.

The simple idea that an operator has a name (not just an operator ID); first-name only is fine........would do wonders...........communication can be so much friendlier with "Hi Bob, I was wondering if this bus is going to O'Connor"? Rather than 'hey you'.
I would not want operators to be pressed in to the old flight attendant 'goodbye, goodbye, goodbye etc) that has been the subject of so much comedic parody. But the idea of a single announcement when arriving or departing a station that's simple, straight-forward and friendly (comparable to a CSA on a GO Train) would be welcome.

ie. "Good Morning, everyone, this is the Victoria Park 24 bus departing for Steeles Avenue, making all-stops, I'm you're operator Bob, we'll be leaving in 30 seconds, estimated time to Steeles is 'x minutes'. Thank you for riding with the TTC today"

That might be a bit verbose, but you get the idea. It makes the operator human, friendly, etc. It also serves to fly the TTC flag (we care, thanks), and it provides as moment for anyone who may be on the wrong bus to get the @#$ off.

 

[Richard White]

The simple idea that an operator has a name (not just an operator ID); first-name only is fine........would do wonders...........communication can be so much friendlier with "Hi Bob, I was wondering if this bus is going to O'Connor"? Rather than 'hey you'.

My father as you know is a retired operator and used to use a fake name with customers.

The reason for this was because of "TTC Groupies". There are women out there that tend to leech onto male operators for potential relationships. It used to be an issue so some operators refused to give their real name to avoid people trying to find them.

Think of it like the TTC Version of Puck *****. They hang around talking to operators thinking they can get something from them given their somewhat oversized wages.

 

[Northern Light]

My father as you know is a retired operator and used to use a fake name with customers.

The reason for this was because of "TTC Groupies". There are women out there that tend to leech onto male operators for potential relationships. It used to be an issue so some operators refused to give their real name to avoid people trying to find them.

Think of it like the TTC Version of Puck *****. They hang around talking to operators thinking they can get something from them given their somewhat oversized wages.

I've worked in customer service oriented, public settings in my life and always used my real name, which was on a name tag.

I have difficulty believing this was ever a pressing issue. But if 'Bob' or 'Sue' wants to use their middle name........sure, whatever.

***

Further, when I was a kid and riding transit on my own from the age of 10, I knew the name of almost every (weekday) driver on my route.........and the operators of the most frequent Line 2 Trains I would catch in the morning, back when it was common for operators to leave their cab door open (and customers still had access to the opposing seating area).