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Corrections To TTC.ca Route Schedules (Official Thread)

Edward Skira

Edward Skira

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Please submit instances of incorrect or omitted information in the bus and streetcar route schedules on ttc.ca. The moderator for this thread has the job of regularly reposting the submissions as one comprehensive text and also arranging to have them formally submitted to the TTC.

Metro transit columnist Ed Drass has asked TTC marketing director Alice Smith to consider this effort as a test of community “crowdsourcing†-- in the way that commercial providers of GPS and online mapping services now augment their own update process with corrections submitted by consumers of their products.

We’re starting with online route schedules only, to determine how best to package provided information. If there is sufficient interest, both among the community and transit officials, perhaps this pilot can be expanded to other forms of TTC information media.

Please submit corrections in the following format (which can be revised as necessary).
Route:
Problem:
URL:
Description of Problem:

Your assistance with this experiment is appreciated.
 
Route: 510 Spadina

Problem: Unexplained route/branch designations.

URL: http://www3.ttc.ca/Routes/510/Southbound.jsp

Description of Problem: The “Branch Legend†includes symbols meant to distinguish the full route (denoted by a red square) and the branches K, and Q.

The list of stops, however shows two additional branches, A and F. These are not described on the Branch Legend nor the route description page:
http://www3.ttc.ca/Routes/510/Routemap.jsp
 
There are a lot of routes with this issue. A good proportion, even. It should take a while to list them all.

Just off the top of my head, if you want to see the route with the craziest branch designations that are not properly explained, check out:

85 Sheppard East
Included on map and in detailed descriptions: 85, A, B
Included in schedule "branch legend": 85, A, B, C, D, F, G, H, J, N
Included in schedule "stop listing": 85, A, B, C, D, F, G, H, I, J, N
 
Last edited:
Well, the other day I was pondering whether it was worth taking the 506 east from Bathurst to Coxwell at 2:30 AM or going along Bloor.

At the 506 Bathurst stop it shows cars to Main Station at 2:06 AM, 2:13 AM, 2:23 AM, 2:33 AM, 2:43 AM; but by the Spadina stop 2-minutes later there were only cars at 2:08 AM, 2:15 AM, 2:45 AM ... I'm not sure where the 2 missing cars go, if they teleport straight to Main or what ...
 
72 and 75 bus.

The online "all stops" timetable shows that both the 72 and 75 busses stop at The Esplanade and Frederick on their northbound trips. The stop is actually located on The Esplanade midway between George Street South and Frederick Street and the bus shelter is marked "George St" (sic). The automated announcement refers to George Street South.

On the southbound 72 the stop (no shelter) is called George Street S in the timetables and the automated announcement says "George Street South". (The 75 does not go along The Esplanade southbound .)

It would be good if the names used on the timetables, announcements and bus shelters were identical for the northbound busses - I suggest George Street South so that it matches the southbound stop, which is at the corner of George South and The Esplanade.
 
Blackberry Support

Attempting to read and navigate the TTC site on a Blackberry is extremely frustrating. Yes, I know that all "real" IT geeks have full-browser iPhones, but in the real world, customers have a variety of devices. Indeed, it is that collection of PDAs that should be the most common on-the-fly way of accessing schedule info.

If there are specific options that must be enabled on a Blackberry browser (or any other PDA) to make the TTC site work properly, these should be listed in a "help" section somewhere on the TTC site that is actually easy to find (as in "How to set up your Blackberry to use this site"), and the site itself should be browser sensitive (adapt to the fact it's talking to a Blackberry or other PDA with device-specific requirements).

Looking at the TTC's capital budget, some options for future enhancements to their website are way off in a future "Phase 2", but considering that online information delivery is now much more common than using paper signs tied to hydro poles, the inability of the site to work properly with a Blackberry is inexcusable.
 
I haven't had much problem accessing the site with a Blackberry; I frequently pull up schedules, stop lists, route maps when I'm travelling; and have shortcutted the stop schedules for those that I frequently need.
 
Not necessarily the TTC’s fault

Everything that matters in the reading experience, from fonts (and rendering and whitespace) to Web browsing, is substandard on Blackberrys. It is much too much to expect a Blackberry to render standards-compliant sites properly, since Blackberry browsers ignore Web standards (and usually CSS).

Fixing this problem might be the wrong thing to do in the first place, as it rewards maladaptive developer behaviour. (Surely a device “that good” needs a better browser.) But if it had to be done, the fix would require a lot of server-side templating work to present intelligible no-CSS pages just to Blackberrys. Again, I don’t think this is the right thing to do even if it means people who had no choice in the matter suffer.

www3.ttc.ca is functional and usable in Lynx, which suggests the real constraint is a Blackberry’s narrow line width.
 
I think different versions of the BlackBerry have different versions of the web browser, making compatibility tough. You might want to look at downloading the mobile version of the Opera web browser to your database. I've heard it's much better at rendering pages.

Try here: http://www.opera.com/mini/download/
 
127 Davenport Eastbound

Does this qualify for this thread?

The 127 Davenport eastbound has been on a route diversion since November 13 due to resurfacing at Townsley Loop. This means it's making a right turn off Old Weston onto St. Clair West and then turning south down Ford Street.
It was supposed to be completed by November 16.
It's not, but yet it is not posted on the TTC site. I called last week to bring this to their attention as I use this bus regularly and I'm affected by this diversion. Nothing has been added to the TTC site so I basically wasted 20 minutes of my time and breath on the phone to customer service.

Any luck of something happening now I'm writing this post???

:D
 
Latest submission to TTC

Sorry for the delay...

Although the TTC did not take much heed of the original corrections I sent in late September, I've updated the list of outstanding schedule 'irregularities'. Here's what I sent to TTC marketing manager Alice Smith:

-- --
Hi, Alice.

I’m following up on an email sent in late September (attached). Listed were three examples of confusing information among route schedules on ttc.ca. A thread was also started at the discussion site Urban Toronto to solicit corrections in route schedules: http://www.urbantoronto.ca/showthread.php?t=10348

I have packaged some of the problems from the thread (see below and attached) so TTC can review the appropriate timetables and route descriptions. You and I spoke of the usefulness in updating the online schedules, since they relate to the base data for the planned Next Vehicle applications.

Of the original three corrections I submitted in September, only one has been partly addressed (the 59); another became moot (the sinkhole causing the 36 Finch West to detour was repaired) and the third (510 Spadina) remains.

Even before addressing minor corrections, it became clear from responses on Urban Toronto that there is a larger issue of branch designations for TTC routes. Many of the letters used on ttc.ca to indicate particular routings do not correlate to actual branches displayed on vehicles.

Obviously the task of depicting complicated routings is closely related with the TTC route planning process, however the result is often not customer-friendly. Can this information be reconciled to reduce confusion for riders?

Would you please have a look at the examples and get back to me on how TTC can address them? I plan to post this message and official responses in the Urban Toronto thread.

Thanks, Ed

---------------

Route: 59 Maple Leaf

Problem: Confusing route/branch designations.

URL: http://www3.ttc.ca/Routes/59/Westbound.jsp

Description of Problem:
The “Branch Legend†indicates the branches A, B, U and X.

The list of stops however shows an additional branch, C.

C is not listed on the Branch Legend; U and X do not appear on the route description page:
http://www3.ttc.ca/Routes/59/Routemap.jsp

Submitted to TTC: September 25, 2009

---------------------------------

Route: 510 Spadina

Problem: There are unexplained route/branch designations.

URL: http://www3.ttc.ca/Routes/510/Southbound.jsp

Description of Problem: The “Branch Legend†indicates the full route (denoted by a red square) and the branches K, and Q.

The list of stops, however shows two additional branches, A and F. These are not described on the Branch Legend nor the route description page:
http://www3.ttc.ca/Routes/510/Routemap.jsp

Submitted to TTC: September 25, 2009

----------------

Route: 506 CARLTON

Problem: Missing vehicle arrival times

URL:
http://www3.ttc.ca/Schedule/schedule.jsp?Route=506E&Stop=e.b._on_COLLEGE_at_BATHURST
http://www3.ttc.ca/Schedule/schedule.jsp?Route=506E&Stop=e.b._on_COLLEGE_at_SPADINA

Description of Problem:
At the 506 Bathurst stop it shows cars to Main Station at 2:06 AM, 2:13 AM, 2:23 AM, 2:33 AM, 2:43 AM; but by the Spadina stop, 2 minutes later, there were only cars at 2:08 AM, 2:15 AM, 2:45 AM.

Submitted to TTC: December 29, 2009

----------------

Route: 508 Long Branch

Problem: Unexplained route/branch designation.

URL: http://www3.ttc.ca/Routes/508/Eastbound.jsp

Description of Problem: Includes additional branch "A" that doesn't exist nor listed in the description.

Submitted to TTC: December 29, 2009

----------------

Route: 85 Sheppard East

Problem: Unexplained route/branch designations.

URL: http://www3.ttc.ca/Routes/85/Westbound.jsp

Description of Problems:
Included on map and in detailed descriptions: 85, A, B
Included in schedule Branch Legend: 85, A, B, C, D, F, G, H, J, N
Included in schedule "stop listing": 85, A, B, C, D, F, G, H, I, J, N

Additionally, please inspect schedule and infopost details for the Yonge to Don Mills portion of the route paralleling the subway. Can route designations be simplified here for users, especially westbound?

Submitted to TTC: December 29, 2009

--------------

Routes: All, during diversions

Problem: Lack of warnings on schedule pages of temporary diversions and closures.

URL: http://www3.ttc.ca/Service_Advisories/Route_diversions/index.jsp

Description of Problem:

In general, regular ttc.ca schedule pages do not link to the route diversion pages when needed, and riders may not be warned of time-consuming detours.

This occurs on surface routes as well as the subway/RT.

For example, there is a long-term partial line closure on YUS:
http://www3.ttc.ca/Service_Advisori...rsity_Spadina_Subway_Starting_February_15.jsp

But the static schedule does not indicate this:
http://www3.ttc.ca/Subway/Stations/York_Mills/station.jsp

If TTC does not currently have the resources to add and update diversion information on regular schedule pages, then the default note “There are no major disruptions for this route/station at this time†should be reconsidered.

Submitted to TTC: December 29, 2009
 
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