TTC: Customer Service

[PinkLucy]

Are TTC drivers given courses in basic customer service? I don't know, I'm asking. If they are, then it's part of the job.

And I'm not saying that service has to be over-the-top or extra. It doesn't have to be luxury. TTC drivers don't have to bring you coffee, but they can do more than offer you a blank stare if you say "good morning" to them. I've met some very polite and pleasant TTC drivers and some rude and grumpy ones.

And as for mandatory business courses, I ran a successful business for 25 years, thank you very much.

 

[UD2]

Are TTC drivers given courses in basic customer service? I don't know, I'm asking. If they are, then it's part of the job.

And I'm not saying that service has to be over-the-top or extra. It doesn't have to be luxury. TTC drivers don't have to bring you coffee, but they can do more than offer you a blank stare if you say "good morning" to them. I've met some very polite and pleasant TTC drivers and some rude and grumpy ones.

And as for mandatory business courses, I ran a successful business for 25 years, thank you very much.

If you read the post above by a TTC employee, they are given very little training in customer service and most of these training have to do with how to deal with a jackass rider.

Therefore no, the cost that we're paying now do not include the cost of customer service training or the cost of providing customer service on the job. Again, their jobs are to get you from point A to point B and that's all you're paying for.

And honestly, your Good morning may be the 6th hour that they've been driving that bus and I honestly remember planty of time when I offered my boss a blank stare when she says good night to me at the end of the day. People get tried or have bad days. Everyone only usualy go over and above on their jobs when they themselves are happy and energized, and most TTC operators I found are going over and above by being friendly their riders. But you can't take that for granted, because after all, once again, their job is to drive that bus.

Although sleeping on the job should never be allowed and anyone who does it should be dragged in for a lecture.

 

[PinkLucy]

OK fine, but then what about when they disrupt that journey from point A to point B to go to the ATM? And what about the ticket taker? His job isn't to get you from point A to point B, it's to be awake and make sure you're paying your fare or sell you a fare.

 

[UD2]

OK fine, but then what about when they disrupt that journey from point A to point B to go to the ATM? And what about the ticket taker? His job isn't to get you from point A to point B, it's to be awake and make sure you're paying your fare or sell you a fare.

We're talking about customer service and not about complete disregards for organizational policy.

There are always lemons...and lemons should be disciplined accordingly...

 

[kEiThZ]

I'd be very careful with this line of thought that they can get away with providing minimal service because they are a public sector organization. There are growing calls from the public for the TTC to be privatized. Suggesting that it's okay to expect less from a public sector organization will only add fuel to this fire.

And there's a big difference between an organization being underfunded and employees being underpaid. TTC operators are more than adequately compensated. That token collector makes 3-4 times more than any cashier. And that bus driver makes 2-3 times more than say a school bus driver who's carrying passengers deemed far more fragile but who tend to be far more demanding. The public sees this disparity and they feel that TTC employees are being paid enough to be more than just apathetic.

 

[UD2]

I'd be very careful with this line of thought that they can get away with providing minimal service because they are a public sector organization. There are growing calls from the public for the TTC to be privatized. Suggesting that it's okay to expect less from a public sector organization will only add fuel to this fire.

And there's a big difference between an organization being underfunded and employees being underpaid. TTC operators are more than adequately compensated. That token collector makes 3-4 times more than any cashier. And that bus driver makes 2-3 times more than say a school bus driver who's carrying passengers deemed far more fragile but who tend to be far more demanding. The public sees this disparity and they feel that TTC employees are being paid enough to be more than just apathetic.

The public feels everything should be privatized and the public is often very much so misguided and blind to the fact that any precieved ineffeciencies in a publicly ran organization will be outranked by the profits that private corporations are set out to make. The OPG disaster is a perfect example.

And plus, many people have tried private public transit, most of them failed to make money. Go to China and you'll see hundards of these example that didn't work out.

On the subject of pay. Althought I am a huge proponent of the TTC and I support most of the decisions that they have lately made and am very satisfied with their overall service, especially when compared to other part of Canada and the USA, I do not and will not in anyday support the TTC union.

The overcompensation of TTC employees are not a result of TTC's managment policies, but rather the power of its union. And the union is the root of much of the society's qurrels with the TTC.

But the public must remember that the TTC managment are not on the same side of the union, infact, taking most union managment relationships into considerations, this relationship between the TTC and its union should be rather hostile.

Most of the public, on the other hand, do not understand this fact...

so 2 things in my opinion

1. TTC union need to be reorganized or disbanded.
2. Public need to be better informed and more understanding.

 

[DavidH]

The OPG disaster is a perfect example.

OPG is a not a private company.

 

[kEiThZ]

UD2,

Just a note. I've never said privatization was right. But all the recent problems have definitely lead to increased calls for privatization, in my observation. People who choose to ignore the whole customer service dimension by saying that the TTC should only deliver you from point A to point B, could one day wake up to a politician who's privatizing the TTC with the public's backing. For better or for worse, the public conflates issues. That's why it's important to nip this one in the bud.

On the issue of the union...this is why I've long said that the TTC needs to be broken up. The subway network should be spun of (and maybe even merged with GO). This would create a different union. And it would allow for a different fare scheme (fare by distance for example).

 

[UD2]

OPG is a not a private company.

The Mike Harris government attempted to make it private back in the 90's, a process which never got completed because it simply did not work. But unfortunately some divisions of OPG, such as its IT department, is now privately owned. But it is not costing us any less money than it did before as any cost savings gained from effeciency has gone into corporate profit for its European based holdings company.

 

[GraphicMatt]

Privatization isn't going to happen.

The new streetcars will see the operators in a separate cab, separated from passengers, won't they? I wonder if the ideal labour arrangement for the TTC could be:

1) Operators (unionzed) who focus solely on moving their vehicles, maintaining headways, etc.

2) No ticket taker positions (replaced with smart cards and machines)

3) A new contingent of TTC customer service representatives (non-unionized) placed at stations and on-board select routes to give directions, answer questions, and enforce fare policies.

 

[DavidH]

The new streetcars will see the operators in a separate cab, separated from passengers, won't they? I wonder if the ideal labour arrangement for the TTC could be:

1) Operators (unionzed) who focus solely on moving their vehicles, maintaining headways, etc.

2) No ticket taker positions (replaced with smart cards and machines)

3) A new contingent of TTC customer service representatives (non-unionized) placed at stations and on-board select routes to give directions, answer questions, and enforce fare policies.

Exactly. The model works well for GO.

 

[nfitz]

2) No ticket taker positions (replaced with smart cards and machines)

In any city I've been in where they have gone the full monty with automation, there is still a booth similiar to what the TTC has, with a person there ... answering questions, giving out maps, selling smart cards, etc.

 

[RedRocket191]

Washington D.C. is a great example of that. The station collector does not sell fares, but he taught us the finer points of buying a SmarTrip card.

 

[DavidH]

I know that GO is reevaluating the role of station attendents for when Presto is in place. While GO has no current plans to eliminate current fare media, I suspect that station attendents will do very little selling of tickets two years from now.

PS, expect to see quite a few customer service types in GO stations during the Presto role out phase. There will be lots of people to help out and answer questions.

 

[kEiThZ]

Privatization isn't going to happen.

The new streetcars will see the operators in a separate cab, separated from passengers, won't they? I wonder if the ideal labour arrangement for the TTC could be:

1) Operators (unionzed) who focus solely on moving their vehicles, maintaining headways, etc.

2) No ticket taker positions (replaced with smart cards and machines)

3) A new contingent of TTC customer service representatives (non-unionized) placed at stations and on-board select routes to give directions, answer questions, and enforce fare policies.

Works for a lot of cities in Europe. And having real, trained CS reps makes a huge difference, particularly for tourists. I'd prefer the smartly dressed, fresh faced young lady in Munich who was fully knowledgeable about that city and fully able to explain the intrincacies of their transit system to the barely awake collectors I sometimes come across at TTC stations. The problem though, is what do you do with the injured. So far the TTC has used them as effectively "free" labour to fill its customer service roles. If you create a new job category with specific skill sets, how do you fill 'em with the infirm from elsewhere in the organization? You can bet the union would fight his one.