junctionist
Senior Member
The Star's Fixer column is looking for suggestions as to what to pressure politicians to fix about the declining cleanliness and overall appearance of the system. But with this sudden opportunity, what can we suggest? A new, tested signage standard?
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We're taking week-long look at the grubby, rundown TTC
Broken escalators, half-finished repairs, litter everywhere – but it wouldn't cost ton of cash to fix
Feb 09, 2008 04:30 AM
Jack Lakey
It's time to raise hell about the run-down state of Toronto Transit Commission facilities.
For anyone who's been riding the TTC for a dozen years or longer, the ongoing decline of its stations is startling, to say the least.
In terms of service and cleanliness, the TTC for decades set the standard for major North American transit systems. A quick look at any station except the few on the recently opened Sheppard line will confirm that those days are long gone.
It's not just too many escalators out of service, or doors barricaded with hand-lettered signs telling riders to find another way in or half-finished repairs left to languish for months. It is the overall grubbiness of the stations that's troubling. There was a time when litter would barely hit the floor at a TTC station before it was swept up. The facilities could honestly be described as spotless.
There is so much litter underfoot at any station and so much grime on the floors, walls and windows that they can only be thought of as a shabby embarrassment. Worse, the TTC seems indifferent to the decay; if it wasn't, things would be better.
For years, we've been getting emails and calls from readers who are fed up with the situation, but until now, we've always dealt with their complaints on a one-off basis.
We're planning a week-long look at maintenance and hygiene problems at stations, starting with an interview with TTC general manager Gary Webster about when the decline began and the contributing factors.
It's not that problems to do with service, equipment and routes aren't worth a bunch of stories; we'll save those topics for another day. We wanted to instead focus on things that the TTC might be able to improve without huge outlays of cash, which is always in short supply at any city agency.
Is it unreasonable to expect the floors and windows at a station to be kept clean? Is clearing the litter that blows around the front of so many stations too much to ask?
We need your input on what the problems are, and where to find them. Email us at the address below or call with the details.
We'll use four or five examples from readers to highlight the problems, then finish the week by trying to extract a commitment from the politicians on the TTC board to improve the situation, although we are prepared to be disappointed.
__
We're taking week-long look at the grubby, rundown TTC
Broken escalators, half-finished repairs, litter everywhere – but it wouldn't cost ton of cash to fix
Feb 09, 2008 04:30 AM
Jack Lakey
It's time to raise hell about the run-down state of Toronto Transit Commission facilities.
For anyone who's been riding the TTC for a dozen years or longer, the ongoing decline of its stations is startling, to say the least.
In terms of service and cleanliness, the TTC for decades set the standard for major North American transit systems. A quick look at any station except the few on the recently opened Sheppard line will confirm that those days are long gone.
It's not just too many escalators out of service, or doors barricaded with hand-lettered signs telling riders to find another way in or half-finished repairs left to languish for months. It is the overall grubbiness of the stations that's troubling. There was a time when litter would barely hit the floor at a TTC station before it was swept up. The facilities could honestly be described as spotless.
There is so much litter underfoot at any station and so much grime on the floors, walls and windows that they can only be thought of as a shabby embarrassment. Worse, the TTC seems indifferent to the decay; if it wasn't, things would be better.
For years, we've been getting emails and calls from readers who are fed up with the situation, but until now, we've always dealt with their complaints on a one-off basis.
We're planning a week-long look at maintenance and hygiene problems at stations, starting with an interview with TTC general manager Gary Webster about when the decline began and the contributing factors.
It's not that problems to do with service, equipment and routes aren't worth a bunch of stories; we'll save those topics for another day. We wanted to instead focus on things that the TTC might be able to improve without huge outlays of cash, which is always in short supply at any city agency.
Is it unreasonable to expect the floors and windows at a station to be kept clean? Is clearing the litter that blows around the front of so many stations too much to ask?
We need your input on what the problems are, and where to find them. Email us at the address below or call with the details.
We'll use four or five examples from readers to highlight the problems, then finish the week by trying to extract a commitment from the politicians on the TTC board to improve the situation, although we are prepared to be disappointed.
