Next Mayor of Toronto?

[kEiThZ]

If you think Air Canada is anywhere close to being the best airline in North America then you clearly don't know anything about tourism and commercial aviation.
...
That's what they got the award for isn't ... best North American airline flying out of Pearson 1 ... on Tuesday afternoons ... in October? Come on, Westjet is better for long haul international. And quite frankly, the long-haul flights I've had on Northwest have been better handled ... though it's been a couple of years, so I can't be sure they are still better.

Hey, it's not me. If they win the award for it, somebody obviously thinks they're good. So when Skytrax comprehensively surveys 12 million passengers worldwide and they say AC is the best in North America, that comes down to Pearson T1 on Tuesday Afternoons in October for you?
http://www.canoe.ca/Travel/TipsTrends/Trends/2005/11/01/1288289-sun.html
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=219800

Granted that the rating was 4 years ago and they have slipped since then....

If you think a Westjet flight is long-haul, you definitely don't get out much.... They aren't even a full service airline so I really don't know what service they have to offer over and above what Air Canada provides, other than corny jokes.

Domestically, I still think Porter is better. But in my experience AC is far and away one of the best airlines in North America. Maybe not the best (they've obviously dropped in the rankings of late), but fairly close. And survey after survey shows that. Take a few more trips on any legacy carrier in the US and you'll be grateful for Air Canada.

I never said it was head and shoulders above the american aviation sector. Some US airlines are equally awful; but not all. I've been quite impressed with Southwest for example. I'm not sure why you are making statements about my travel habits ...

...because if you are going to say they are terrible for a North American airline, you surely have to have some experience on the other side of the border to back that up. Southwest is good for bumming around. Too bad it doesn't cross any oceans (save for that short stretch to Hawaii). And I really don't see what service they offer other than a seat on a plane. And even that's awkward. No assigned seating? You get a "boarding group"? What kind of service is that?

 

[kEiThZ]

Precisely ... perhaps you could point out where the terminus break room is for the 310 Bathurst at 3 AM? I'm not aware of one. My point is that there is a systemic problem here, and crucifying the operators is not the entire solution.

The problem sure is systemic alright. But not in the way you characterize it.... What's wrong with carrying a Thermos full of coffee when you know you work the same route every night and you know there's no place (that you're allowed) to stop along the way. Heavens, what did these drivers do back in the day when there weren't many 24 hr coffee shops? And again if it's a workplace issue, let's hear if the driver brought it up before and told his supervisor that he would have to take a break along the way since he won't have access to break room.

You and I both know, that such breaks are far too common. They are by and large tolerated by the public. But that does not make them right. Operators who do this are breaking TTC policy (which as a taxpayer I care about...just like littering or scratchitti), putting riders at risk, and often breaking city idling by-laws. If there are issues with break timings and facilities, the union can always negotiate that with the TTC. Why is it that passengers have to suffer for the intransigence of the operators?

As for crucifying all of them, that didn't happen did it? As far as I know only one guy got disciplined. None of the nappers got disciplined.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

What's wrong with carrying a Thermos full of coffee when you know you work the same route every night and you know there's no place (that you're allowed) to stop along the way. Heavens, what did these drivers do back in the day when there weren't many 24 hr coffee shops?

i'm guessing one thermos for coffee and one for potty. you know how they knew if the coffee was any good? if it made them aware enough not to mistake it with the other thermos.

all joking aside, what happens if a driver has to make an emergency bathroom stop? if they come back with coffee but took ten minutes, maybe they spent nine of those minutes in the can?

 

[lead82]

Then in that case the driver should announce to the passengers that he needs to make an emergency bathroom break. According to the rider, this driver makes this same coffee break almost each day at the same time. Thus, it cannot be an emergency bathroom break. ;-)

In any case, are drivers that incapable of doing a route run without getting coffee BEFORE hand. Isn't that what the end points of the route are supposed to be used for?

What we need is to implement a German style system, where operators are fined for being late on their routes. Use the GPS system for goodness sake, it cannot be difficult to track buses to see where they are. If a bus hasn't moved in 7 minutes from the same spot, something is a miss. I'm glad the driver has been suspended. This should come as a warning to all operators, stop taking random coffee breaks while on the route. I think next time the passengers should take turns driving the bus to their destinations and leave the operator stranded at his coffee stop.

 

[adma]

All this TTC talk belongs in a Transportation board thread, not in a Next Mayor thread--Giambrone's status notwithstanding.

 

[js97]

If they initiate a toll system I doubt that this will cut taxes.

As for who I'm going to vote for... I'm not sure at this time. What I am sure of is that Rossi is a no vote because he wants to sell Toronto Hydro and that will probably drive prices up.

prices are regulated by the province, so it would not have an impact.

It would be interested to see how much revenue it actually generates for the 1.2 billion dollars it's worth.

Perhaps we could leverage the asset against a loan? The city would have to ensure income generated goes directly to paying down the debt of the loan and not into general coffers. But as I think about it, it's probably not be a realistic scenario to expect the porkers to maintain such dispcipline, span over a few terms, especially over the span of a few terms. As a general business rule, it's always bad practice to sell income generating asset to pay down dept... unless you're downsizing.

 

[Darwinkgo]

^ Or if you are returning to core competencies. Plus, the Hydro profits are treated by some Councilors as found money, and city deficit has been covered by having Hydro buy assets from the City for a price set by the owner of Hydro, the city! If you are going to fix the budget process, you need to get rid of all the tricks that are used to cover the big budget gaps. When council has to make hard decisions about services, taxes and debt we will be better off. Did any department or agency stick to the spending freeze/cut even?

 

[GenerationW]

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/760176--ttc-driver-s-coffee-break-caught-on-video

Every pic and story like this is a nail in Giambrone's electoral coffin. He should quit now and hopefully keep his seat. These stories are not going to stop coming out. The public has now got a taste and it won't stop....and come election day it'll all be pinned on Giambrone.

Looks like they were posing for the cover of a Beatles album.

"You've got to be careful ... Take a look at the structure of the commission and see what the chair of the TTC does," he cautions. "The chair of the TTC is chair of the board of commissioners ... The commission is ultimately responsible for the policy; it hires the chief general manager and the chief general manager and staff are responsible for operations."

What a pathetic statement. Ever hear David Miller say that he's only the mayor and something wasn't his fault?

Giambrone is finished.

 

[SunriseChampion]

^Seriously. Kinda sounds like the shit I used to come up with to cover my ass when I was fucking around in school.

 

[Fresh Start]

Giambrone is finished.

Sweet!

And now for his campaign swan song... enjoy![video=youtube;_G8BL8fPDLQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G8BL8fPDLQ[/video]

Oh and lest the electorate forget why we ought to oppose Giambrone: [video=youtube;8Ntfm4OCnlc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ntfm4OCnlc[/video]

 

[urbandreamer]

^Some enterprising hiphop or electro outfit should do a spoof on his video.

 

[GraphicMatt]

That second video is ridiculous - "Giambrone is so disliked [in his own ward] that his own campaign launch has to take place outside of his own ward."

Ignoring that the dude was re-elected with almost 70% support in the last election, his campaign launch was held at Revival, which is literally like a block away from his ward boundary. What the hell.

 

[nfitz]

It's disgusting isn't it ... kind of like reading old wartime propaganda. Makes you wonder why there is a need to stoop to such a level; hmm, by the same standard, if Ford declares, he'd have to do his launch near Oshawa

 

[waterloowarrior]

here's my contribution... lame, I know
[video=youtube;gJ-Wf1iNImM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ-Wf1iNImM[/video]

 

[prosperegal]

[video=youtube;Jv8P89_aaVg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv8P89_aaVg[/video]

This was the video I created shorty after Giambrone's vid went live. A little lame, I know.