TTC: Customer Service

[Voltz]

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.

I agree more or less, but for actual POP fare inspections and enforcement, they would be better off with special constables,

 

[unimaginative2]

I find UD2's comments quite disturbing. One should only be treated with basic courtesy if one pays extra for the privilege? What kind of world is that?

On the other hand, TTC personnel are paid at least double the standard market wage for their jobs. Should that not mean that they provide extra-courteous service?

Never mind all of that--this isn't about smiles when you get on the bus. Many (certainly not all) TTC employees' lack of concern for their performance of job duties doesn't just result in grumpy customers--it results in bad transit service. Steve Munro's examinations of the TTC's own data show that many operators deliberately "soak" other operators to avoid picking up passengers and operators routinely ignore their schedule resulting in confused headways and poor resource utilization (the first streetcar in a pack is packed to the gills while the third is virtually empty). The TTC needs to get a handle on its management issues of which extended coffee breaks and discourteous collectors are merely the tip of the iceberg.

 

[unimaginative2]

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.

I lived in Berlin where the large majority of stations is unstaffed.

 

[kEiThZ]

I lived in Berlin where the large majority of stations is unstaffed.

Same in Munich. A bunch in Vienna too. I think it's more the norm than people think. And they don't even have turnstiles in those countries, just the little ticket punch machine. I wonder what those cities do with their injured operators.

 

[UD2]

I find UD2's comments quite disturbing. One should only be treated with basic courtesy if one pays extra for the privilege? What kind of world is that?

On the other hand, TTC personnel are paid at least double the standard market wage for their jobs. Should that not mean that they provide extra-courteous service?

Never mind all of that--this isn't about smiles when you get on the bus. Many (certainly not all) TTC employees' lack of concern for their performance of job duties doesn't just result in grumpy customers--it results in bad transit service. Steve Munro's examinations of the TTC's own data show that many operators deliberately "soak" other operators to avoid picking up passengers and operators routinely ignore their schedule resulting in confused headways and poor resource utilization (the first streetcar in a pack is packed to the gills while the third is virtually empty). The TTC needs to get a handle on its management issues of which extended coffee breaks and discourteous collectors are merely the tip of the iceberg.

1. The average pay for a TTC operator is not double the standard market wage....

2. poor preformance should not be excused, my post was directed to the large number of complaints toward the fact that operators are not returning "thank yous" with a big wide smile.

my last post on this topic...

 

[kEiThZ]

1. The average pay for a TTC operator is not double the standard market wage....

If you're comparing to another transit bus driver. But if you consider all bus drivers, they are quite well paid. How convenient for the transit unions to ignore how much other bus drivers who can carry far more difficult passengers (like school bus drivers for example) get paid.

2. poor preformance should not be excused, my post was directed to the large number of complaints toward the fact that operators are not returning "thank yous" with a big wide smile.

They've just hired a hotelier to tackle all their CS issues. While you may not think returning a "Thank you" is a big deal, the fare and taxpaying public disagrees. And apparently now the TTC itself thinks this is something that can be improved on.

I am willing to bet money that if the city allowed competition against the TTC, that all of a sudden we'd discover that the TTC's operators know more jokes and show tunes than a Westjet flight attendant. People accept their sullen attitudes because they've gotten used to it. That's no excuse. And it should not cost more.

 

[bleeepbluuup]

They've just hired a hotelier to tackle all their CS issues. While you may not think returning a "Thank you" is a big deal, the fare and taxpaying public disagrees. And apparently now the TTC itself thinks this is something that can be improved on.

And hopefully this new CS guy will actually have some clout. I would not be all that surprised if this is just a move to appease the public.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Hotelier named to head TTC advisory panel
Steve O’Brien will examine customer service

From The Star:

Hotelier named to head TTC advisory panel

February 17, 2010

David Rider

The TTC’s new customer service czar says the key to improving the transit experience for riders is changing how the service reacts when things go wrong.

“It’s when that negative experience happens, it’s what you do about it then and how you handle it then that could potentially turn what could be a real bad negative experience into a real positive one …,†veteran hotelier Steve O’Brien told a TTC meeting this afternoon, where his appointment as chair of the new customer service panel was announced.

“We’re all customers, we all have expectations and with the rest of the panel we’re going to work very hard to help and provide recommendations and talk to customers and talk to staff and do everything we can to provide recommendations that will get the TTC to where we want to be and where we need to be.â€

O’Brien is currently general manager of One King West Hotel and Residence in downtown Toronto and has 30 years at several other hotels in the city.

“I spent most of my younger life using the TTC to get to and from school and, although I use GO Transit to get work because I live outside the city I still utilize the transit services and utilize the TTC to get around Toronto. So I understand how important and how vital the TTC is to the city,†he told TTC chair Adam Giambrone and the other commissioners at City Hall.

“It encompasses every aspect of Toronto. It’s important to tourism, it provides a means of transportation to many, many people.â€

O’Brien said he will work with the commissioners to pick the other commissioners, who are to include riders, academics and other business people, within the next couple of weeks, with an eye to presenting the commission a report with recommendations by June.

The panel was announced last month after a groundswell of rider complaints about poor customer service from TTC employees, including ones caught napping on the job and forcing bus riders to wait while they took long breaks. The commission has said all 11,000 TTC employees will undergo customer-service training.

TTC vice-chair Joe Mihevc told the meeting that “this has been a difficult couple of months at the TTC and we need to convert this crisis into an opportunity.†He cited past examples, including the 2005 fatal subway derailment that led to mechanical maintenance reforms which he said has made the TTC a world leader in that area.

“We hear the call now at the TTC that we need to up the ante around customer service. The age-old adage that public transit is about getting to A to B, we need to shift that to a culture that says the experience of a ride is very, very important.â€

Giambrone, at his first TTC meeting since a sex scandal forced him to torpedo his mayoral campaign and which spurred calls for him to step down from the TTC post, made no mention of last week’s events, instead plunging right into TTC business.

He said he is “very excited†about O’Brien’s appointment and looks forward to seeing the fruits of its labours.

The commission has already put some quick fixes in place. Secret evaluators are riding around the city, reviewing customer service, and some technological updates are also on the way.

The much-anticipated online trip planner is up and ready for feedback. A new service allowing riders to use text messaging to find out when the next bus or streetcar is coming is slated by the end of this year. And electronic screens should soon be ready to let riders know about delays or route changes.

Mints on each seat? Morning coffee? We already have the free newspaper.

 

[rbt]

Mints on each seat? Morning coffee? We already have the free newspaper.

The lesson taught will be that if you increase service levels by 25% over the competition you can increase the price by 100% and your customers will love it even more because it keeps the riff-raff out.

 

[SlickFranky]

The lesson taught will be that if you increase service levels by 25% over the competition you can increase the price by 100% and your customers will love it even more because it keeps the riff-raff out.

God, I hope that's not the lesson. $6 fares!?!

 

[rbt]

God, I hope that's not the lesson. $6 fares!?!

I'm not sure what other lesson they could learn. Hotels focus all of their attention on frequent visitors and virtually none of the guy who stays once per year; airlines too. Nothing like being on the top of a points program. Free upgrades to first class from Toronto to Hong Kong, free meals from the Hotel when you are there, extra service and privilages from the Concierge for touring the city, then a bump to first class home and all because you happen to travel once per month instead of twice per year.


Lesson for the TTC will be to increase cash fare to $6, tokens to $4, and metropass for $150; then hand out bagels and newspapers to metropass holders as they go through the fare gate and juice or coffee on the way home for metropass holders ($2 to $3 extra for each passenger).

This can be done by co-operating with the in-station restaurants and requesting them to give a substantial discount (25%?) to metropass holders. Some of them might get really into that particularly if there is no rule agaist them raising prices by 25% to start with.

 

[Disparishun]

I'm not sure what other lesson they could learn. Hotels focus all of their attention on frequent visitors and virtually none of the guy who stays once per year; airlines too. Nothing like being on the top of a points program. Free upgrades to first class from Toronto to Hong Kong, free meals from the Hotel when you are there, extra service and privilages from the Concierge for touring the city, then a bump to first class home and all because you happen to travel once per month instead of twice per year.

Your assumption that a guy who works in the hotel business is unable to recognize what's transferable to public transit and what isn't doesn't seem very grounded. What do you base it on?

 

[sixrings]

My wife use to live in missisauga. I live downtown. I use both te Go and Sauga transit.. BOTH SYSTEMS have vastly superior customer service. In fact I have ridden VIVA a couple times and that too was better. There shouldnt be a cost associated with customer service. You shouldnt get paid extra to be nice to your customers. That should be common sense. It should be implied. It shouldnt have to screened for. The fact that some people think that we have to pay extra for good service which is polite just shows how poorly customer service is in general in our society. The difference is that when I get crappy customer service at a wal mart or a Mc Donalds I think to myself for these people its not a career its a job which theyll likely not be working at in 6 months to a year. These people are getting paid little wages and have almost zero benefits. TTC employees get paid well recieve great benefits. AS a result I cant fathom a good excuse for their lack of care for the general customer.

 

[rbt]

Your assumption that a guy who works in the hotel business is unable to recognize what's transferable to public transit and what isn't doesn't seem very grounded. What do you base it on?

The 50 to 100 days per year (depends on the year, some are more and some are less) I spend sleeping, eating, and generally in various major hotel chains.

Unless this fellow is significantly more worldly than the average General Manager (what is he doing at 1 King selling discounted rooms?); it isn't going to amount to much. It will be up to the chair of this panel to combine the opinions of the panel as a whole into something more applicable.

That said, I would seriously consider buying a metropass for $150 instead of tokens if I got a bagel in the morning when catching the subway.

 

[Disparishun]

The 50 to 100 days per year (depends on the year, some are more and some are less) I spend sleeping, eating, and generally in various major hotel chains.

Unless you have had long conversations with the general managers of each of those hotels about what they think about public transit, and discovered that those who have spent much of their lives commuting by public transit are so blinded by their hotel experience that they are unable to apply any other lens to thinking about transit, that is certainly not a good basis for your presumption that Mr. O'Brien is unable to view transit in any other way than as a kind of hotel.