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TTC: Other Items (catch all)

Has the TTC looked at the property they own at subways and tried to figure out how to utilize it better? Not like Build Toronto (selling land) but looking at how to service TTC's customers more effectively?

For example:
- With elevator accessible stations why do they have employee storage areas (e.g. cleaning supplies) on each platform & level? With crowding would they not be better utilized for passenger waiting areas? Or alternatively if it is at the concourse could it be for a retail use?

- At subway locations & some streetcar loops there is often large areas for parking in the bus loop. Mostly filled up with TTC employee cars. Can they rent out the space to Zipcar/cars2go which would make the customer experience more friendly?

- many subway stations have excess room at ground level now (and even more in the future without the ticket booth). Can some of these areas be converted to independent cafe's? So people can get their jolt of coffee in the AM and on the way home grab a ready-to-heat meal.

- pop-up tents on grassy areas, large sidewalks or inside the station with 2-3 farmers selling their wares (after the farmers markets are done they can then move to the TTC so they can make extra sales) or local food stores (e.g. bakeries). Attracting the after-work crowd on the way home.

Beyond servicing the customer it would ideally increase the rental revenue (beyond what Gateway pays) and reduce the after-work trips taken by cars (who have to buy something for dinner)
 
muller877 said:
Has the TTC looked at the property they own at subways and tried to figure out how to utilize it better? Not like Build Toronto (selling land) but looking at how to service TTC's customers more effectively?

For example:
- With elevator accessible stations why do they have employee storage areas (e.g. cleaning supplies) on each platform & level? With crowding would they not be better utilized for passenger waiting areas? Or alternatively if it is at the concourse could it be for a retail use?

- At subway locations & some streetcar loops there is often large areas for parking in the bus loop. Mostly filled up with TTC employee cars. Can they rent out the space to Zipcar/cars2go which would make the customer experience more friendly?

- many subway stations have excess room at ground level now (and even more in the future without the ticket booth). Can some of these areas be converted to independent cafe's? So people can get their jolt of coffee in the AM and on the way home grab a ready-to-heat meal.

- pop-up tents on grassy areas, large sidewalks or inside the station with 2-3 farmers selling their wares (after the farmers markets are done they can then move to the TTC so they can make extra sales) or local food stores (e.g. bakeries). Attracting the after-work crowd on the way home.

Beyond servicing the customer it would ideally increase the rental revenue (beyond what Gateway pays) and reduce the after-work trips taken by cars (who have to buy something for dinner)
Click to expand...

When I read this I immediately thought of Warden Station which has green space, a short term parking lot and converted storage spaces along with retail.

To that end, subway stations in Toronto are not designed to be somewhere you can sit and enjoy dinner or coffee. They are meant for people to get up and go. Warden has two food outlets that are well used and work just fine. If you start putting in full size cafe's with seating you then have to include areas for the seating, service and the facilities to clean the dishware. Doable but stations were not designed for it. You also have to worry about some "interesting" characters taking up resident at any sort of cafe. I see it at Warden where there are resident homeless, people who are regularly at the station asking for money. If you start opening up a full service cafe you have to take that into consideration. Before anyone mentions it, Union is a different beast with 24/7 security, lots of people and low tolerance for panhandling.

As for the parking, some stations are eliminating free parking for employees (a perk they had with employee passes). Some employees still park there but you need to keep in mind some employees arrive and/or leave when transit services are not easily available. They have to be there before and after the station opens/closes. Eliminate parking and you make it difficult for employees to get to the station hence why collectors and other station staff need parking.

Pop-up tents are not always doable. The footprint of most stations does not include much green space. Warden has such space but it is fenced off and more of an employee break area by Bay 9. You could access it but would need to do so by walking in the path of busses at a busy station. Most stations do not have green space as I mentioned so while this is a nice idea not exactly practical.

With the employee storage areas, the stations were designed that way. Warden had a buttload more space when it was constructed as a terminal BUT over the years the station was sectioned off to make it more manageable and allow for storage (see attached images). The way the station was designed there was no easy way to convert it to anything but storage. It was not like you could run plumbing up to the now closed off sections which consists of parts storage, an ERR (think corpse recovery) and TTC Jail (they throw hooligans here awaiting pickup by TPS). Stations like Warden also have issues with heat, not a place to put a cafe or things of that nature.
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Saw this at St George earlier. Personally I consider it to be rather awkward but somewhat funny placement of advertising. Ads for a somewhat blasphemous show called Jerusalem with an ad for the Jewish Community Centre slapped in between. While the show may have little to do with Judaism.. the name is rather inconvenient.
 
Once they stop selling tokens (and tickets), they will stop accepting as a fare after a few months. They will not be accepted for refunds.

They could be repurposed however. Maybe if your welding or soldering skills are good, they will become cuff-links.

From link.

il_570xN.712373847_dyf5.jpg
 
Richard White said:
Saw this at St George earlier. Personally I consider it to be rather awkward but somewhat funny placement of advertising. Ads for a somewhat blasphemous show called Jerusalem with an ad for the Jewish Community Centre slapped in between. While the show may have little to do with Judaism.. the name is rather inconvenient.
Click to expand...
Almost a decade ago, inside a TTC subway train, there was the atheist "There's Probably No God" ad located next to the evangelical Christian Bus Stop Bible Studies ad.

There were neither fisticuffs nor shouting matches between atheists and evangelical Christians in the TTC.
 
From the TTC CEO report

In February, the TTC will replace the 505 Dundas and 506 Carlton streetcar routes with buses until at least 2019, allowing those legacy cars that remain reliable and roadworthy, to be available for service on routes, like King Street, where demand is critical
Click to expand...
 
*Duplicate post in TYSSE thread for relevance.*

Report out on crowding on line 1 for the Jan 18 TTC mtg.

http://www.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Com...ports/6_Managing_Crowding_on_Line_1_Yonge.pdf

Of note is the hope that the TYSSE would reduce crowding on the Yonge side by 5%. No measurements available as to whether this has been achieved. (obviously its early)

The oft-stated hopes for ATC are also noted; w/the hope of cutting more than 20s btw trains by late 2019. Assuming senior management reads the same Steve Munro blog I do, I await a new terminal management plan to make this work.

For the future there is a re-do of Yonge-Bloor but no timeline.
 
Ridership Growth strategy and new Corporate Plan coming to special TTC mtg. January 25th. Reports not out yet.
 
Northern Light said:
*Duplicate post in TYSSE thread for relevance.*
Report out on crowding on line 1 for the Jan 18 TTC mtg.
http://www.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Com...ports/6_Managing_Crowding_on_Line_1_Yonge.pdf
Of note is the hope that the TYSSE would reduce crowding on the Yonge side by 5%. No measurements available as to whether this has been achieved. (obviously its early)
The oft-stated hopes for ATC are also noted; w/the hope of cutting more than 20s btw trains by late 2019. Assuming senior management reads the same Steve Munro blog I do, I await a new terminal management plan to make this work.
For the future there is a re-do of Yonge-Bloor but no timeline.
Click to expand...

It feels very much like an everything looks good on paper, thoughts and prayer response.

AoD
 
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