TTC: Other Items (catch all)

[ARG1]

Observations- the TTC‘a new announcement chime is a welcome change from their old chime (which seems to date from the 90s).

The assumption here is that change in itself is necessarily good - which I find to be a questionable premise, especially since we're changing to such a generic chime that's used in so many other cities.

Its an issue that is plaguing Metrolinx in general - we're abandoning design details that were unique to Toronto (TTC Logo at subway stations, TTC Font) in favour of generic sludge you can find in many other cities (the T logo, Clearview ADA).

 

[smallspy]

Or are TTC too incompetent to sell ads?

The TTC doesn't sell ads or ad space. They sell the rights to that to a third party, who then does the legwork and pays the TTC for it.

As part of the contract, the TTC also gets a small proportion of the ad space to put their own PSAs up.

Dan

 

[Northern Light]

From the CEO's report on next week's TTC Agenda:

https://ttc-cdn.azureedge.net/-/media/Project/TTC/DevProto/Documents/Home/Public-Meetings/Board/2023/July-12/1_CEO_Report_July_2023.pdf?rev=a720569d73c6446596da3fd1f3408fdf&hash=68F2165E7F2360DE2B3CA12508F6C4E5

 

[cplchanb]

From the CEO's report on next week's TTC Agenda:

View attachment 490262

https://ttc-cdn.azureedge.net/-/media/Project/TTC/DevProto/Documents/Home/Public-Meetings/Board/2023/July-12/1_CEO_Report_July_2023.pdf?rev=a720569d73c6446596da3fd1f3408fdf&hash=68F2165E7F2360DE2B3CA12508F6C4E5

so will 5G be available for all carriers and not just Rogers customers?

 

[Northern Light]

so will 5G be available for all carriers and not just Rogers customers?

TBD. Probably, but deals aren't done yet.

 

[yrt+viva=1system]

WHO BROKE THE TTC?​

Toronto used to have one of the best transit systems in North America. Now it’s overcrowded, underfunded, unreliable and dangerous. The inside story of what went wrong and who’s to blame

https://torontolife.com/deep-dives/who-broke-the-ttc-inside-torontos-public-transit-disaster/

It’s a somewhat long read but a great synopsis of the current state of the TTC. I highly suggest reading it with a cool head. I mistakenly decided to read the article while stuck at Lawrence while the TTC suspended subway service and dithered on their PA communications; thus I got a bit angry while reading the article.

 

[Northern Light]

WHO BROKE THE TTC?​

Toronto used to have one of the best transit systems in North America. Now it’s overcrowded, underfunded, unreliable and dangerous. The inside story of what went wrong and who’s to blame

https://torontolife.com/deep-dives/who-broke-the-ttc-inside-torontos-public-transit-disaster/

It’s a somewhat long read but a great synopsis of the current state of the TTC. I highly suggest reading it with a cool head. I mistakenly decided to read the article while stuck at Lawrence while the TTC suspended subway service and dithered on their PA communications; thus I got a bit angry while reading the article.

Its a good piece. It addresses many different components, I'll take them in order.

Fares:

Source: https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/TTC_Fair_hikes-2000x726.png

See that $26 Metropass from 1980.........we all know inflation is a thing, so I ran the numbers, using the Bank of Canada's Inflation Calculator

Actual Price (2023) $156 or 65% higher than what an inflation adjusted number would be.

****

The next couple of bits tackle politicians and planning.......

Then we come to Mx.......

I'll bring this bit forward:

There's lots more in the piece...........

Read it UT!

Oh, and screenshot the nice senior management charts for Mx and TTC........you never know that info might come in handy!

 

[voilan]

WHO BROKE THE TTC?​

Toronto used to have one of the best transit systems in North America. Now it’s overcrowded, underfunded, unreliable and dangerous. The inside story of what went wrong and who’s to blame

https://torontolife.com/deep-dives/who-broke-the-ttc-inside-torontos-public-transit-disaster/

It’s a somewhat long read but a great synopsis of the current state of the TTC. I highly suggest reading it with a cool head. I mistakenly decided to read the article while stuck at Lawrence while the TTC suspended subway service and dithered on their PA communications; thus I got a bit angry while reading the article.

Sure wish someone would present some data on the "forgotten" King Street Corridor. Drivers I know certainly haven't forgotten about it... I understand that flagrant violations of the rules are irritating, but overall the project seems to have done a good job at limiting through traffic. Unfortunately, the Toronto media Twitter outrage junkies have decided that it's a total failure, and that seems to have become received wisdom.

Rest of the article was interesting enough, just wish we could lower the hysterical pitch of transit coverage in Toronto. See the subhead of this piece: does anyone deny that Toronto has "one of the best transit systems in North America"? Guess you gotta get those clicks somehow. Worked on me, sadly...

 

[adys123]

Sure wish someone would present some data on the "forgotten" King Street Corridor. Drivers I know certainly haven't forgotten about it... I understand that flagrant violations of the rules are irritating, but overall the project seems to have done a good job at limiting through traffic. Unfortunately, the Toronto media Twitter outrage junkies have decided that it's a total failure, and that seems to have become received wisdom.

Rest of the article was interesting enough, just wish we could lower the hysterical pitch of transit coverage in Toronto. See the subhead of this piece: does anyone deny that Toronto has "one of the best transit systems in North America"? Guess you gotta get those clicks somehow. Worked on me, sadly...

Toronto DID have one of the best transit systems in the world back in the 1980s...

 

[Admiral Beez]

Toronto DID have one of the best transit systems in the world back in the 1980s...

The 1980s has the fix as well. Here's how:

1) Everyone pays their fare. Back in the 1980s there was no POP, rear door entry, honour system or free rides for students. If you didn't pay your fare at the front doors, you weren't getting on the bus or streetcar.
2) No vagrants, no loitering. Today when you go down the stairs at College Stn. there's always some wigged out beggar between the doors of College Park and the station. In the 1980s those were told to move it. And no we didn't GAF where they went, just be gone. No tolerance for crazies and junkies. Bring back 1980's law and bylaw enforcement.
3) Affordable Fares. Bring back 1980's Provincial funding for the TTC.

That's it. Fare compliance, safety, affordability. 1980's style.

10 signs you rode the TTC in the 1980s

The TTC can be a storehouse of nostalgia for people who grew up in Toronto. Given that this particular brand of longing isn't necessarily related to …

www.blogto.com

 

[tiffer24]

A man has serious injuries after he was stabbed on a TTC subway car near Eglinton Station Thursday, Toronto police say. The stabbing shut down service on Line 1 between Lawrence and Davisville stations, with shuttle buses deployed to replace the subway trains. Meanwhile all bus service at Eglinton Station was redirected to St. Clair, the transit agency said.

Police were called about the incident shortly after 12:20 p.m. The victim, described only as an adult male by police, was taken to hospital with "possible life-threatening injuries."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/stabbing-ttc-eglinton-1.6898949

 

[cplchanb]

Its a good piece. It addresses many different components, I'll take them in order.

Fares:

View attachment 490286
Source: https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/TTC_Fair_hikes-2000x726.png

See that $26 Metropass from 1980.........we all know inflation is a thing, so I ran the numbers, using the Bank of Canada's Inflation Calculator

View attachment 490287

Actual Price (2023) $156 or 65% higher than what an inflation adjusted number would be.

****

The next couple of bits tackle politicians and planning.......

Then we come to Mx.......

I'll bring this bit forward:

View attachment 490288


There's lots more in the piece...........

Read it UT!

Oh, and screenshot the nice senior management charts for Mx and TTC........you never know that info might come in handy!

i can see why they rehired accenture to finish the project. had they gone with somebody else the other vendor would have to essentially rehash
everything that accenture did to fit their architecture and essentially start from square one. guarantee that would be much more susceptible to cost increases and delays.
i wouldnt be surprised if the final bill would be even higher than the initial contract.

the damage was done at the start when they sole sourced accenture.

 

[SashaLemon]

Really upholds the transit stereotype that it is only used by the poor and the disheveled when you don't put the money into the system. We need security and work done to make the old infrastructure reliable. We don't let highways get to this state.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Really upholds the transit stereotype that it is only used by the poor and the disheveled

Back in 2004 I interviewed for a job in Fredericton, NB. I asked in the interview if there was a city bus stop nearby the office, as Fredericton had a sizeable transit network for such a small city. My future employer laughed and said, only poor people, students and old people take transit. Everyone else drives.

 

[Jonny5]

Sure wish someone would present some data on the "forgotten" King Street Corridor. Drivers I know certainly haven't forgotten about it... I understand that flagrant violations of the rules are irritating, but overall the project seems to have done a good job at limiting through traffic. Unfortunately, the Toronto media Twitter outrage junkies have decided that it's a total failure, and that seems to have become received wisdom.

Oh yeah, I definitely notice this. I think a lot of those in the media and extreme-online Twitter outragers actually have no idea what it used to be like compared to now, perhaps because they didn't even live here back then or experience it.

Sure enforcement is near-zero, and there's increasingly worse behaviours, notably passing stopped streetcars and busses on the left by driving in the oncoming traffic lanes is something I see nearly every ride now, but they seem to have no comprehension of how bad that traffic was before, particularly the variability where in the afternoon rush going either direction from University to Yonge could be 10+ minutes one day and then 25+ minutes the next. And then whenever Hydro or a fire truck randomly blocked a lane who knows when you would ever even get through there.

Plus that rush hour jam was starting to extend well out of the normal rush hours then too. It started up by 3:30 and wouldn't die out until 6:00, but then it would start up again as that's when the streets with no left turn restrictions had them lifted (a notorious one was eastbound at Jarvis) and then traffic would get backed up again until after 7:00 p.m.

It doesn't mean the rule breaking now isn't bad and dangerous, but it is still a vast improvement.