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TTC: Other Items (catch all)

The TTC agenda for Jan 27th is now out.


Mostly, nothing too exciting. Though there is a 'capital priorities' placeholder report. I believe this will detail the expenditures made possible by the City Building Levy.

There is a tease though, in the CEO's Report.


"The TTC is also grateful to City Council for approving the incremental City Building Fund dedicated transit in Toronto. It provides the TTC with much-needed sustainable funding and helps reduce the unfunded portion of our Capital Investment Plan by more than $4 billion over the next 10 years.As a result of this new funding, TTC staff have identified several key areas to allocate the funding. They are: State of good repair and capacity enhancements on Line 1, signal modernization and capacity enhancements on Line 2, and an accelerated vehicle procurement plan "

From the same report, it is noted that Royal Station's elevators are now up and running.

***

Also there is a notice of motion to examining taking all TTC station signage to bilingual as renovations/updating is occurring.

It is noted in said motion that Eglinton Crosstown and all new stations, as provincial projects will have bilingual signage, as will any interchange station with a legacy TTC line. (Eglinton and Eglinton West for starters)
 
From link:

Executing Bilingual Subway Signage at New Stations/ Affichage bilingue dans les nouvelles stations de métro

Summary
WHEREAS, Canada has two official languages.
AND WHEREAS, both official languages are displayed in signage throughout much of our transportation and public transit systems, both in the City and the region; such as the 400 Series highways, most of Union Station's concourse area, and GO Train stations to name a few.
AND WHEREAS Eglinton Crosstown, as a provincially funded project, is required to have bilingual signage when complete
AND WHEREAS, municipal public transit systems across Canada systemically display bilingual signage, such as OC Transpo in Ottawa.
AND WHEREAS the TTC IS already planning to address bilingual signage at TTC interchange stations with Metrolinx LRT projects.
Recommendation
The TTC Board directs that:
1. That TTC staff report back through the Wayfinding Strategy on the costs to install bilingual signage in any existing subway station undergoing an overhaul, reconstruction or renovation.
2. That the report also identify costs for all new wayfinding signage to be bilingual.

Résumé
ATTENDU QUE le Canada a deux langues officielles.
ET ATTENDU QUE nous affichons dans ces deux langues officielles dans presque tous les réseaux de transport privé ou en commun, à Toronto et en région: entre autres, les autoroutes de séries-400, la majeure partie des Bay et York Concourses de la gare Union, et les stations du service ferroviaire GO.
ET ATTENDU QUE la ligne Eglinton Crosstown, qui constitue un projet financé par la province, est tenue d’avoir des affiches bilingues.
ET ATTENDU QUE, un peu partout au Canada, les réseaux de transport en commun municipaux affichent systématiquement dans les deux langues, par exemple OC Transpo à Ottawa.
ET ATTENDU QUE la Commission de transport de Toronto prévoit déjà d’aborder la question de l’affichage bilingue aux stations de correspondance entre la Commission de transport de Toronto et le système léger sur rail de Metrolinx.
Recommandations
Le conseil d’administration de la Commission de transport de Toronto formule les recommandations suivantes :
1. Que, dans le cadre de la stratégie sur la signalisation, les employés de la Commission de transport de Toronto fassent état des coûts de installation de l’affichage bilingue dans toute station de métro remise en état, reconstruite ou rénovée.
2. Qu’ils fassent aussi état des coûts du bilinguisme pour toute nouvelle signalisation.

How about pictographs? Else, we'll need about 7,111 languages.
 
How about pictographs? Else, we'll need about 7,111 languages.
Why would we need 7,111 languages?

The discussion here is that French is already required for any provincially-owned station.

The request is for consistency is signage across all stations.

That's one additional language, essential to comply with the existing French Language Services law which is a statutory obligation.

There is no statutory requirement for any other languages.

To be clear, the TTC is already moving to pictograms see this from Toronto Life in 2013

1579638269547.png


Proper names won't change.

So I expect what we're talking about here is Exit/Sortie; Rue Yonge Street, buses/autobuses etc. Which really won't be all that many signs to change, and only as stations are renovated or signage replaced for routine reasons.
 
Why would we need 7,111 languages?

The discussion here is that French is already required for any provincially-owned station.

The request is for consistency is signage across all stations.

That's one additional language, essential to comply with the existing French Language Services law which is a statutory obligation.

There is no statutory requirement for any other languages.

To be clear, the TTC is already moving to pictograms see this from Toronto Life in 2013

View attachment 226587

Proper names won't change.

So I expect what we're talking about here is Exit/Sortie; Rue Yonge Street, buses/autobuses etc. Which really won't be all that many signs to change, and only as stations are renovated or signage replaced for routine reasons.

I love how Line 5 is listed as ''future line'' in this picture, despite the fact that by 2023, it will be opened.
 
Why would we need 7,111 languages?

The discussion here is that French is already required for any provincially-owned station.

The request is for consistency is signage across all stations.

That's one additional language, essential to comply with the existing French Language Services law which is a statutory obligation.

There is no statutory requirement for any other languages.

To be clear, the TTC is already moving to pictograms see this from Toronto Life in 2013

View attachment 226587

Proper names won't change.

So I expect what we're talking about here is Exit/Sortie; Rue Yonge Street, buses/autobuses etc. Which really won't be all that many signs to change, and only as stations are renovated or signage replaced for routine reasons.

Coun. Mike Layton made a big deal about a Chinese sign in his neighbourhood. See link.
chinatown-development-sign.jpg

Maybe signs in languages of the neighbourhood? Could have 7,111 languages (the approximate number of languages around the world)?

English and French and pictographs is enough.
 
We could use Paul Arthur-style signage for the stations on Line 5. Here are some examples:
  • Mount Dennis: camera (referencing Kodak)
  • Keelesdale: Burned-down school (referencing York Memo)
  • Caledonia: Thistle (referencing Caledonia, which is a poetic name for Scotland whose national flower is a thistle)
  • Fairbank: Lumberyard (referencing the former Fairbank Lumberyard)
  • Oakwood: An oak leaf (obvious)
  • Cedarvale: A cedar tree (obvious)
  • Forest Hill: A forest on a hill (obvious)
 
We could use Paul Arthur-style signage for the stations on Line 5. Here are some examples:
  • Mount Dennis: camera (referencing Kodak)
  • Keelesdale: Burned-down school (referencing York Memo)
  • Caledonia: Thistle (referencing Caledonia, which is a poetic name for Scotland whose national flower is a thistle)
  • Fairbank: Lumberyard (referencing the former Fairbank Lumberyard)
  • Oakwood: An oak leaf (obvious)
  • Cedarvale: A cedar tree (obvious)
  • Forest Hill: A forest on a hill (obvious)

This could be very interesting and may end up causing confusion. Think about it.

  • Instagram used a Polaroid camera as their logo
  • Most applications use a 3 1/2 floppy disk to represent the save feature
  • The receiver of a corded telephone is used to represent calls.
The point I am trying to make is that items are re-purposed over the years to mean something different than originally intended. Just because Kodak made cameras does not mean anyone will understand that they made the Polaroid camera in 20 years. I personally had not idea that Caledonia is another name for Scotland. If you have not lived out near Fairbank Station for decades the lumber yard may not make sense.

This was the downside of the Paul Arthur signage. Nobody knew what the dragon represent at St George nor did the color coded numbering make any sense at the time.

It is like in Scarborough, nobody knows what West Hill, West Rouge, Highland Creek or Woburn are unless you have lived there for years.
 
This could be very interesting and may end up causing confusion. Think about it.

  • Instagram used a Polaroid camera as their logo
  • Most applications use a 3 1/2 floppy disk to represent the save feature
  • The receiver of a corded telephone is used to represent calls.
The point I am trying to make is that items are re-purposed over the years to mean something different than originally intended. Just because Kodak made cameras does not mean anyone will understand that they made the Polaroid camera in 20 years. I personally had not idea that Caledonia is another name for Scotland. If you have not lived out near Fairbank Station for decades the lumber yard may not make sense.

This was the downside of the Paul Arthur signage. Nobody knew what the dragon represent at St George nor did the color coded numbering make any sense at the time.

It is like in Scarborough, nobody knows what West Hill, West Rouge, Highland Creek or Woburn are unless you have lived there for years.
I think at some point, an icon is just an icon. People do not need to know the origins of it for it to be effective. Using one of your example, the floppy disk - there are people who do not know what that is, yet they know it represents the save function.
I don't think people in Mexico City can tell you the story behind every icons used on their metro system.
 

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