Toronto Eglinton Line 5 | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx | Arcadis

[ThenWhat]

Too many flashing ads. Pattison, which is the main advertising agency in the subway, says that ads work. Well, they do. To annoy many of us.

Yes, exactly. It is not enough to have bad experiences with transit because of the things that TTC is not able to control. Let's just add more annoying things that TTC can control. Then be surprised that people stay away and prefer to drive.

 

[T3G]

The Line 5 stations seem to be mercifully free of the TTC's incessant safety announcements. A nice break from "if you see something say something" every 30 seconds.

On opening day, the opposite was the case. Every 5 seconds or so at the termini you'd have a PSA about staying back from the yellow line, presumably because of the large amounts of people milling around. Sad to think this trash is all that is holding us back from the disastrous Finch West style operations, this country is never beating the allegations of being a textbook nanny state.

I actually find the TTC's safety announcements to be easier to stomach. Whatever voice software they use for them is not nearly as abrasive as the Metrolinx one, which every hearing of makes me break out in hives, and with noise cancelling headphones they're so easy to tune out as to not be a factor, but YMMV. The interior announcements gotta go, too.

 

[Thaboss]

more video pollution, with large screens flashing commercials no matter where you look as you wait on the platform.

Too many flashing ads. Pattison, which is the main advertising agency in the subway, says that ads work. Well, they do. To annoy many of us.

Yes, exactly. It is not enough to have bad experiences with transit because of the things that TTC is not able to control. Let's just add more annoying things that TTC can control. Then be surprised that people stay away and prefer to drive.

Sometimes I cannot tell if ppl here are joking or serious...this is one of those times....


Of all the things to share and complain about on urbantoronto this ain't it folks.

 

[thettctransitfanatic]

On opening day, the opposite was the case. Every 5 seconds or so at the termini you'd have a PSA about staying back from the yellow line, presumably because of the large amounts of people milling around. Sad to think this trash is all that is holding us back from the disastrous Finch West style operations, this country is never beating the allegations of being a textbook nanny state.

I actually find the TTC's safety announcements to be easier to stomach. Whatever voice software they use for them is not nearly as abrasive as the Metrolinx one, which every hearing of makes me break out in hives, and with noise cancelling headphones they're so easy to tune out as to not be a factor, but YMMV. The interior announcements gotta go, too.

I rode Line 5 again today and this time, the ''please stand clear'' announcements seemed to not be activating so some progress there...

 

[A 6264]

Too many flashing ads. Pattison, which is the main advertising agency in the subway, says that ads work. Well, they do. To annoy many of us.

Some are useful such as the 2026 Winter Olympics medal count. Some are pure excessive such as Steam Whistle Pilsner.

To clarify, I don't drink due to me having the alcohol flush reaction:

Alcohol flush reaction - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Where's the health warning? Alcohol ads, if they must exist, must be paired with health warnings in my honest opinion, especially given the known health risks of excessive alcohol consumption.

I don't recall seeing alcohol ads on buses and trains in the past. I wonder if they relaxed the rules recently, or if control of TTC ads has been privatized with different standards.
Sorry to hear about your AF reaction; I've never heard of it before. The article shows facial markings. I wonder if that's the origin of the term, "(bleep)-faced" (= drunk)?

 

[A 6264]

Sometimes I cannot tell if ppl here are joking or serious...this is one of those times....


Of all the things to share and complain about on urbantoronto this ain't it folks.

With all due respect, people can complain about whatever they feel is worth complaining about.

 

[A.Malik.77]

Might be a lateral move as the photo above looked fine to me but sharing one below.

Fun fact: every single Metrolinx map created for lines 5 and 6, including the ones in the digital kiosks, were developed by one person and executed by them along with one other. All the isometric drawings showing the levels within each station were drawn manually (the neighbourhood maps used shape files from open data sources as a base and which was then refined with labels and other elements added on top, the station interiors were all created from scratch). Unlike the rest of the wayfinding scope for line 5, Metrolinx had control over all the maps, except for the line diagrams on the sign band above the platform edge, and everything was done in house.

Each neighbourhood map even has a little isometric drawing of the station exterior near the you are here label.

View attachment 715459

Thanks for sharing that. Interesting fact!

One question I have for the team making these maps is the continued use of the old LRT logo. Metrolinx replaced that on their wayfinding standard with a unified symbol with the subway.

 

[A.Malik.77]

Who do you even complain to about this? Metrolinx? TTC?

TTC are supposed to be the public-facing agency and responsible for collecting feedback. They have a survey linked on this page: https://www.ttc.ca/riding-the-ttc/Line-5-Eglinton

 

[Johnny Au]

February 15, 2026:

Eglinton Station:

 

[81-717]

Every 5 seconds or so at the termini you'd have a PSA about staying back from the yellow line, presumably because of the large amounts of people milling around. Sad to think this trash is all that is holding us back from the disastrous Finch West style operations

Are you saying the primary cause of L6's crappy operation was/is people standing too close to the edge / trespassing onto the tracks?

 

[Thaboss]

With all due respect, people can complain about whatever they feel is worth complaining about.

Oh absolutly I agree. But my friend, lets engage on such issues like we are normal humans having a normal conversation..

for example, someone suggested that the ads may cause:

"people stay away and prefer to drive"


There is reasonable complaints that one can engage in reasonable debate and discussions over and then there's this.....

 

[A 6264]

Are you saying the primary cause of L6's crappy operation was/is people standing too close to the edge / trespassing onto the tracks?

'Scuse me for replying for somebody else, but as I interpreted it, that is indeed what T3G was saying - but with sarcasm.

 

[A 6264]

Oh absolutly I agree. But my friend, lets engage on such issues like we are normal humans having a normal conversation..

for example, someone suggested that the ads may cause:

"people stay away and prefer to drive"


There is reasonable complaints that one can engage in reasonable debate and discussions over and then there's this.....

What we have here is not a disagreement of opinion, but rather, a disagreement on how important it is.
At the risk of going off topic with a personal anecdote (it's okay, I do it all the time), I remember being in a grocery check-out line with an older person who was asked by the cashier if they wanted to fill out a survey which included giving their name and address. The older woman refused and strenuously ojbected to having to give out personal information, just to give feedback. A much younger woman in line then laughed and berated her for being one of those silly old people with loony ideas about personal privacy. A generation gap was revealed. To me, ads are trashy and annoying, and yes, I do avoid them. Another example: At one time, I took note of the fact that I rarely shop in malls because most of them play canned music in their hallways, but I did enjoy shopping at the Eaton Centre downtown because at that time, they were one of the few malls that did not. So yes, I can well imagine some people are discouraged from using public transit because of the overbearing use of ads, if it's something that did not exist when they were growing up, while others who did grow up with it, can't understand how upsetting it can be.

 

[White Pine]

Not sure driving is much better with the amount of billboards and road signs and car decals one has to look at.

 

[McGillicuddy]

So yes, I can well imagine some people are discouraged from using public transit because of the overbearing use of ads, if it's something that did not exist when they were growing up, while others who did grow up with it, can't understand how upsetting it can be.

Personally, I'd argue it's easier to ignore transit advertising today than it was a century ago.