Toronto Uncovered

Posts Tagged ‘TTC’

photo via BlogTO

The TTC has taken a pretty hard hit lately: workers sleeping on the job, their chairman caught in one sexually scandalous lie after the next, a Facebook group lashing out at TTC riders, videos of blatantly rude drivers; and all of this after a substantial and hotly contested fee hike.

TTC employees,  TTC management and the union are being called into question, and rightly so. I take the TTC to and from work everyday by way of the King streetcar.  I don’t expect perfection, but  I do expect to a) get where I am going and b) be treated with respect.  A is usually satisfied, although I still don’t understand how 15 streetcars can go by in one direction while you wait over 30 minutes for one in the opposite direction. But that’s a subject for another post.

TTC drivers are taking a brunt of the backlash as they are the featured “stars” of these videos and photos. My feelings on this are as follows: There are definitely times throughout the day when I might feel like curling up and taking a nap, or dropping the phone mid conference call and running to get a doughnut, but guess what? I have responsibilities and a job and I act accordingly. I also feel that if I have a question for a streetcar driver about an upcoming stop, I should be answered with respect, minus the attitude. At the end of the day, TTC employees are working and we, the riders, are their clients – it is fair that we expect to be treated as such.

All that said, there are also TTC employees that are amazing – funny, nice and even personable. These guys get the real shit end of the stick, branded with the same cloth as their less than stellar counterparts. Despite the bad rep the fact that they probably put up with way more shit than we could ever imagine, they are friendly and even manage to maintain a sense of humour. They deserve to be rewarded.

With the influx of mobile applications I would love to see a rewards system put in place which works to highlight impeccable service and point out employees not meeting expectations.  I would definitely input information via my smart phone on good vs bad experiences and drivers. People are already tweeting about it all the time – why not create a systemic solution using mobile communications? This would serve to reward those who truly do go above and beyond, penalize those who are taking their frustrations out unnecessarily and re-empower a public who feels they are currently paying for a service that doesn’t take into account their basic requirements.  Lets face it, a stern memo to workers about their recent behaviour isn’t going to cut it! We need something more compelling, that gets everyone involved.

What do you think??

For the last gazillion years my friends have organized a streetcar party on Halloween. The idea is simple: charter out a streetcar and bar hop until you can bar hop no more. Its always a smashing success. This year, I helped organize and recruit people, which wasn’t hard since I have been raving about it since last year. One thing that most people (including myself) didn’t realize is that you can charter out a streetcar for your own personal partying pleasure anytime you want. If you’re interested in organizing a similar type of event, here are some things you should know:

1. Cost: A single streetcar, which has capacity of about 70 people, is about $1000.00 for 4 hours. A double streetcar, which can hold upwards of 110-120, is about $1600.00 for 4 hours. Additional TTC info can be found here.

2. Bars: My friends contact different bars (along streetcar routes) ahead of time to make sure they are bar hop friendly. Any bar owner with even the slightest iota of business sense will jump at the chance to have 100 drunken patrons brought their bar.  Make sure you choose bars that don’t get too crowded as it can be difficult to round everyone up to head to the next stop. Some good bars include: Raq n Waq, The Rex, Midtown, Prohibition, and Bovine Sex Club.

3. Bar Treats: Most of the bars will offer complimentary shooters and/or food. Don’t be scared to ask for some extras, including easy entry and no cover.

4. Timing: We usually start early. If you only have 4 hours of streetcar,  5 bars to hit, and the last bar closes at 2am (making your latest arrival time 1am).. carry the 3.. and that gives about 1 hour at each bar when you factor in travel time. This year’s meet time was 6:30. Of course we didn’t actually leave the first bar until just after 7:30.  We arrived at the last bar around 12:30. Make sure to time everything out.

5. Theme: For Halloween, no other theme is necessary. If you are going to plan a streetcar party on a normal night a theme is a good idea.   Its way more hilarious for everyone to dress up, not to mention far more interesting for everyone on the streets and in the normal streetcars to see a TTC vehicle come to a stop and unload 100 dressed up, rowdy partiers.

6. Make it charitable: The cost per person is usually around 40.00. After all the expenses (ie. streetcar, wrist bands, on-street-car jello shots) are taken care of, you will definitely have some extra cash left over. We always donate the proceeds to a local charity.

The Streetcar barhop is a great time and an experience most people have yet to come across. Let me know if you want any more info or details on how we organized things this year.

Photo taken by Rachel Sklar

I attended the Mesh Conference this past week at the MaRS Centre. The web-inspired conference offered  insights on  social networking, community building, monetizing online, and the ongoing growth of new media and citizen journalism. The morning sessions were filled with great keynote speakers, including an hour long discussion with Mayor David Miller.  I’ve never really been the biggest Miller fan. Until recently, I struggled to see the positive impact he claimed to have on our city. I know that I saw more homeless people on our streets, heard of more violence and murders in our neighbourhoods, and felt the sting of higher taxes in my bank account. I honestly believed for a long time that the only mark he would successfully leave on Toronto would be increasing the number of fancy, count-down traffic lights. I guess you could call me a bit of a cynic. I felt he was too ‘grass roots’ for a city the size of Toronto, and wanted to know what else he had planned, where our tax dollars were being spent, and what his vision held for our city.

Last year, David Miller joined Twitter.  Unlike many of our other politicians/political parties who sign up, tweet a few times, and then pass the responsibility off to one of their minions, or let the account die altogether (ahem, Stephen Harper), Miller actually made, and continues to make, a real effort to connect with Torontonians. During his keynote address he continually checked his Blackberry for incoming tweets, and responded to the direct questions and concerns of his followers.  It is hard to question his sincere engagement and effort to communicate both politically and personally with anyone who is listening.

Miller made a number of exciting announcements of things to come for our city – things I think we have all been anxiously awaiting. His first announcement was the incoming of real time GPS networks for all TTC vehicles. FINALLY!  TTC riders will be able to check their computers or smart phones and find out exactly how far away a streetcar, bus, or subway is from their stop.  There will also be Google Transit maps to help you map out TTC routes and availability in real time. He also announced a 3-1-1 call centre which will serve as a 24/7 question and answer service. Each problem will be tracked and recorded to ensure it is followed through to resolution. Data from these inquiries will be  tracked and mapped to give a better understanding of ongoing problems and needs city-wide. Miller was even brave enough to bring up the waterfront and Queens Quay debacle, promising one continuous and connected waterfront  – I’m still a little sceptical of this promise. Id like to believe, I really would, but will reserve excitement until visible action has been taken. All of these new, online services will be available at the new site www.toronto.com/open, coming soon to an ISP near you.

Following his presentation, Miller took a number of questions from the audience, and interviewer Jesse Brown. He was asked how Toronto planned to replace money lost by the flailing manufacturing sector. He was asked why he hadn’t made more of an effort to promote Toronto Tech Week, and what he planned to do to promote the growth of information and technology in Toronto.  He answered. He answered honestly, admitting that he dropped the ball during Tech Week, and has been working to make up for it ever since. He answered that he absolutely believes Toronto should emerge as the technology hub of Canada, and needs to focus on attracting more venture capital and opportunities for start ups.  He closed by proposing a challenge to the audience and tech community. He asked for leaders to emerge and collaborate.  To develop a coherent plan which would see Toronto emerge as Canada’s tech champion. “Don’t wait for the city to unveil a plan to you” he said, “Get involved and be part of developing that plan.”  Miller promised to return for Mesh 2010 and share the progress made on this initiative.

Miller seems to have embraced collective action and transparency. His vision for Toronto’s future is bright and includes collaboration and input from all of its citizens. I think we will continue to see exciting developments in the coming months, and look forward to playing a part in shaping the future of Toronto.  Am I 100% sold on the Miller Kool-Aid? No, but I am definitely willing to give it a shot. Looks like I may even vote for him next time around.

For more on Millers Keynote and post speech interview check out MeshTV.

Torontoist also featured a post on Miller’s Keynote: Mesh, Media, and the Miller