TTC: Other Items (catch all)

[nfitz]

Mandeep Lali is at Union Station tonight keeping tabs on things.

I'm surprised the CEO is supervising operations personally.

If it went 6.5 hours again, then there'd be passengers arriving at Union for the subway at 3 AM; so I'd absolutely expect the CEO to be on stand-by. Not to mention if something else went wrong. It's probably less work than dealing with the 3-days of media fall out. Byford would have done the same - and any incompetent fool who didn't do that should have been fired years ago from the top job.

That said, I wonder how Monday night worked, with the view party at Rogers. Though it looked quite thin by 2:30 AM - so perhaps a non-issue. However if it goes 18-innings tonight, I don't see many leaving early.

One thing to note when the Jays win: we will temporarily suspend bus and streetcar service in the downtown core between Church and Bathurst in the east and west and Bloor to the lake, allowing everyone to celebrate on the streets as safely as possible. Subway service will continue with staff on hand to monitor for and manage any crowding that's observed.

Ooh ... G20 rules. Though that time it was streetcars from Roncesvalles to Coxwell.

 

[Jonny5]

Hilarious thing on Friday. I was waiting for an eastbound 503 bus to come at King and York when three showed up all at once. I got on the second of the three, and I sat at those bizarre squishy seats behind where the driver sits (they should simply make it standing space). Anyway, at a red light at Jarvis Street, bus #3 goes into the right lane and pulls up beside my bus #2, and the driver of bus #3 opens the window and gestures for the driver of my bus to open his door. Then the driver of bus #3 starts screaming expletives at him for making him late by passing him somewhere earlier on King Street or something. I couldn't make it all out, but then they both jockeyed to get through the green light first and there was a traffic warden there witnessing all this who was like "yeah... I ain't touching this one, let them sort it out". My bus did manage to go through ahead, though the other bus #3 tried to get in first.

 

[chrisw]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1985085856013582367

Statement from #TTC CEO Mandeep S. Lali on social media posts regarding transit service last night.

“Last night, in anticipation of large crowds downtown, the TTC planned and delivered an enhanced service plan.

Throughout the evening, TTC staff were embedded in the Major Incident Command Centre (MICC), the City of Toronto’s Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) at Union, and the Rogers Event Command Centre, monitoring conditions and standing by to act. We had plans in place to extend subway service and deploy 30 additional buses downtown if the game ran late, if required. As the game ended at roughly 12:15 a.m. and crowds cleared quickly, those contingencies were not activated by Major Incident Command Centre (MICC), the City of Toronto’s Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), in unison with TTC Control Center.

We operated more than a dozen extra trains on Lines 1 and 2, running until the end of scheduled service. The last trains left Union Station around 1:45-1:47a.m., with Line 2 connections at approximately 1:55 a.m. In total, subway service continued for more than 90 minutes after the game ended, ensuring fans had time to travel home.

Beyond the subway, our Blue Night network, which includes buses and most downtown streetcar routes, 95% of our streetcar lines have 24/7service, so customers had overnight options.

We’re aware of social media complaints about GO and UP Express service at Union Station, but Metrolinx, operates those services, not the TTC. Based on reports GO trains faced crewing constraints that limited their ability to extend service. These decisions were outside TTC’s control.

From 12:30 a.m. to the end of service, our Transit Control Centre logged very few issues, just three minor delays related to medical and emergency alarms, all resolved within minutes, and nothing was raised by the EOC or MICC to act upon.

Major events always provide opportunities to learn, and we’ll review our operations for improvements, including customer feedback.

But it’s important to note: we can only speak for TTC service. Other agencies will need to address their own operations.”

 

[T3G]

At Union station this morning, they had a whole team of POOs checking people's fares right next to the actual fare gates. As in, within eyesight of the actual gates where they can see whether someone has tapped or not, and they asked you to tap your card to prove... what??

This doesn't seem like a very constructive use of a limited resource - it feels a bit like a cashier handing you a receipt and then demanding to look at it to see whether you paid for all your items - but hey, what do I know, bothering people is a highly precise and technical skill. Sure, have one guy around to ticket someone if they jump over or climb under, but if you don't see someone do that, they haven't evaded their fare, and you don't need a whole team of people to verify that.

 

[DSCToronto]

At Union station this morning, they had a whole team of POOs checking people's fares right next to the actual fare gates. As in, within eyesight of the actual gates where they can see whether someone has tapped or not, and they asked you to tap your card to prove... what??

This doesn't seem like a very constructive use of a limited resource - it feels a bit like a cashier handing you a receipt and then demanding to look at it to see whether you paid for all your items - but hey, what do I know, bothering people is a highly precise and technical skill

Perhaps there are counterfeit Presto Cards??

 

[Richard White]

Perhaps there are counterfeit Presto Cards??

I have heard of peopel recording the "tap successful" noise onto their phone in an attempt to trick operators who are not paying attention.

It's reasonable to assume there are scam artists out there.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

At Union station this morning, they had a whole team of POOs checking people's fares right next to the actual fare gates. As in, within eyesight of the actual gates where they can see whether someone has tapped or not, and they asked you to tap your card to prove... what??

This doesn't seem like a very constructive use of a limited resource - it feels a bit like a cashier handing you a receipt and then demanding to look at it to see whether you paid for all your items - but hey, what do I know, bothering people is a highly precise and technical skill. Sure, have one guy around to ticket someone if they jump over or climb under, but if you don't see someone do that, they haven't evaded their fare, and you don't need a whole team of people to verify that.

Perhaps they should redo that disaster of a fare gate area and replace the existing geriatric gates with full height ones like those used by MTA instead.

And while we are at it, get rid of those space wasting ticket booths and utilize the full width of the concourse to handle the heavy flow. Enforcing fares when you already have a fare gate system is the epitome of system failure (and piling one waste of resource onto another). I swear the TTC have absolutely NO sense.

AoD

 

[Richard White]

Enforcing fares when you already have a fare gate system is the epitome of system failure (and piling one waste of resource onto another).

Tell that to TFL.

London has people checking fares at some stations even though they have fare gates.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Tell that to TFL.

London has people checking fares at some stations even though they have fare gates.

That's because they don't use anything remotely foolproof - there are many things from TfL they should be learning from - pick better ones. While they are at it, it might be a good idea to investigate the possibility of getting rid of the platform escalators and replacing them with stairs - which I think would provide better overall throughput and help reduce the terminal problem of crowding at platform level.

AoD

 

[Northern Light]

Perhaps they should redo that disaster of a fare gate area and replace the existing geriatric gates with full height ones like those used by MTA instead.

There's little evidence of widespread gate jumping. I see no reason to spend the money it would require at this point, it could be looked at whenever the gates are at end-of-life and have to be replaced anyway, but I wouldn't be inclined to pay much extra for full-height gates.

And while we are at it, get rid of those space wasting ticket booths and utilize the full width of the concourse to handle the heavy flow. Enforcing fares when you already have a fare gate system is the epitome of system failure (and piling one waste of resource onto another)

The TTC does have a plan to remove booths, although last I heard the only station approved for that was St. Andrew.

The union has been very firm that if booths are removed, they expect an alternate room staff can go in the event of a security incident. One could discuss whether that should be necessary or is justified, but that's a hold up in that the TTC is looking in many stations are creating a new, secure room. They did this at Castlefrank actually..... I can't remember if they took the booth out.

swear the TTC have absolutely NO sense.

AoD

None is a strong word.......but I'd happily agree with far too little.

Perhaps there are counterfeit Presto Cards??

Not so much counterfeit as concession card wrongly used. (it. children's/seniors etc. )

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

There's little evidence of widespread gate jumping. I see no reason to spend the money it would require at this point, it could be looked at whenever the gates are at end-of-life and have to be replaced anyway, but I wouldn't be inclined to pay much extra for full-height gates.

The TTC does have a plan to remove booths, although last I heard the only station approved for that was St. Andrew.

The union has been very firm that if booths are removed, they expect an alternate room staff can go in the event of a security incident. One could discuss whether that should be necessary or is justified, but that's a hold up in that the TTC is looking in many stations are creating a new, secure room. They did this at Castlefrank actually..... I can't remember if they took the booth out.

None is a strong word.......but I'd happily agree with far too little.

Not so much counterfeit as concession card wrongly used. (it. children's/seniors etc. )

If you have experienced those gates on a daily basis at rush, you'd realize how poorly they are performing and how inadequate they are for the amount of flow. And if you are going to replace it, you might as well do it with versions that would do away with having POO hanging around what is a really cramped concourse engaging in counterproductive activities that slows down the flow, and in so doing frustrate the riders. Ditto staff using the concourse as a spot to assist in wayfinding, oblivious to the fact that they are in the way of other riders at the busiest time of the day.

And if major interchange/terminal station isn't the priority to implement improvements to deal with suboptimal conditions, where would it be?

AoD

 

[Richard White]

The union has been very firm that if booths are removed, they expect an alternate room staff can go in the event of a security incident. One could discuss whether that should be necessary or is justified, but that's a hold up in that the TTC is looking in many stations are creating a new, secure room.

Honestly, that's not a terrible idea and one also probably borne out of neccessity to satisify OHSA and other legal requirements.

Hypothetically, if someone brings an AK-47 into Yonge and Bloor at rush-hour I would not want to be out in the open. Similary, if you have someone lighting his shoes on fire while wearing them because the voices told him to, you don't want staff in the way for safety reasons.

In either case, I can see the Union making a valid argument here.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Honestly, that's not a terrible idea and one also probably borne out of neccessity to satisify OHSA and other legal requirements.

Hypothetically, if someone brings an AK-47 into Yonge and Bloor at rush-hour I would not want to be out in the open. Similary, if you have someone lighting his shoes on fire while wearing them because the voices told him to, you don't want staff in the way for safety reasons.

In either case, I can see the Union making a valid argument here.

There are two rooms - one on each side of the fare gates. Remove the west fare booth and extend the gates further along; extend the east booth so that you have extra space to create a dedicated information desk. Also instead of the visual chaos that currently exist - use design cues to try and help users unfamiliar to the system to the right line.

AoD

 

[Mihairokov]

At Union station this morning, they had a whole team of POOs checking people's fares right next to the actual fare gates. As in, within eyesight of the actual gates where they can see whether someone has tapped or not, and they asked you to tap your card to prove... what??

This was my complaint when this happened a few months ago at King Station - POOs standing between the fare gates and the stairs going down to the platforms. It's crowded enough at the station level and them checking people they watched pay to enter simply made things worse. There's a better way to spread these resources out.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

This was my complaint when this happened a few months ago at King Station - POOs standing between the fare gates and the stairs going down to the platforms. It's crowded enough at the station level and them checking people they watched pay to enter simply made things worse. There's a better way to spread these resources out.

It's like they do not give a **** about user experience. A system designed and run by lunatics.

AoD