What is your take on the TTC situation??

[Brookstone]

With the main problem being protection for the drivers, they are now looking at a strike monday.
Personally, i havent/dont often take streetcars, mostly subways, so i cant really say too much from experience or anything about being on streetcars.

When the ttc/subway, goes on strike cuz they want more money etc, i am one of the 1s who generally is against it, because reasons like, they are still rude to customers who pass by etc etc .... i'm sure you all know.

But this current issue is about safety of employees. Just like every other employer, i feel they need to protect their employees. Having a camera or a shield would definitely be a lot better than nothing at all. So in this case, i do think the ppl in charge should do something for the safety of their employees. I dont think thats asking too much.

I guess, ttc has different unions/groups for streetcar workers and subway workers ?? Thought they were all connected, in same union/group.

 

[LancsLad]

This is about union muscle flexing now that ridership numbers are up.

 

[Jade4u]

About the rudeness issue I totally agree I only go to Toronto 2 or 3 times a year and everytime they all seem so stuck up and rude and you cannot ask them questions about how to get to point a and point b so easily as the drivers here in Mississauga. Unfortunatly summer is here and very soon those 2 or 3 trip I take annually is almost here and I am not looking forward to asking how to get about the city again. I have no idea why they at that way but here in Sauga I rarely ask how to go anyplace but if I do the drivers here are not snooky looking. This is my personal experience. The drivers here will at least smile and answer and not ignore and look frustrated. They will even say sit right there and I will tell you where to get off.

 

[james t kirk]

I wouldn't want their job.

 

[Keebler Elf]

That's what everyone conveniently overlooks while they lambast TTC drivers.

 

[frankcastle]

I'm all for their safety and as for the rudeness I haven't experienced that.

When I first moved to T.O. I would sometimes ask for help with directions etc and the drivers have been nice about it.

Since then I find the experience pretty bland. I drop the money, token or ticket in grab a ticket from the driver shuffle off to my seat.

I actually get a kick everytime I'm on the subway and I listen to the guy over the PA system. Sometimes they sound so depressed or uncaring while other times you get a guy that tries to spice it up a bit. I love the anticipation of what type of PA announcer am I gonna get today.

Sorry maybe you guys have caught the drivers on a bad day. I've never had a problem with the drivers and that's with 2 solid years of regularly commuting (5 days a week) and another 3 years of more casual commuting (weekends).

 

[Fabulous]

I have no sympathy for the ttc drivers and their demands, and I am always happy to hear when somebody lays a good beating on one of those ttc bullies.

 

[james t kirk]

You have some very real issues.

 

[tboy]

I have no sympathy for the ttc drivers and their demands, and I am always happy to hear when somebody lays a good beating on one of those ttc bullies.

You my friend are a complete dick....

As for protecting the drivers, half of them don't want to be stuck in an acrylic box or wire cage all day. Adding cameras won't do a thing because even with a positive ID and they catch someone in the act the courts will let em off with a slap on the wrist anyways.

IMHO if one driver gets hurt, that is one too many but then again, just regular folks walking on the street or working at a convenience store get hurt everyday so what else is new?

I think before the union strikes they should take a vote to install cages or not. If their members vote 51% to install cages then they should...

 

[Frosty]

One time, I bought a roll of tokens and the ticket agent gave me a hard time. After I handed him the money, he kept saying "open". I didn't understand what he meant until he looked at his buddy who was laughing and then he said "I was just asking" and handed me the roll. Wasted 5 mins of my time and I didn't do anything to deserve that. Sorry man, but some of these guys are asking for it.

 

[frankcastle]

One time, I bought a roll of tokens and the ticket agent gave me a hard time. After I handed him the money, he kept saying "open". I didn't understand what he meant until he looked at his buddy who was laughing and then he said "I was just asking" and handed me the roll. Wasted 5 mins of my time and I didn't do anything to deserve that. Sorry man, but some of these guys are asking for it.

I think the key part here is to look at the number of incidents.

 

[Fabulous]

personal experience

I don't take the ttc but my daughter does. Her first year in high school and her first year taking the ttc. A few months ago I drove her to school one day. She usually arrives home after school at a certain time. Well this one day she didn't come home on time and I was starting to worry. I was about to call the police because she was almost 1 hour late getting home and this was completelly out of her character and I was loosing it, worrying about her. Well she finally gets home and explains why she was late: she didn't have any money, no cell phone, no ttc tickets, and no student id because she forgot her purse at home. She bummed a ttc ticket from a friend, got on the streetcar and dropped her ticket in the box, after which the ttc driver asked her for student id. She told him she didn't have it. He told her to get off.

She is 14 and still looks like a baby, getting on the ttc in front of her high school at rush hour on a major street and a grown old miserable ttc driver tells her to get off. If I was there I'd beat him myself, and I ain't got no dick but I would have tore out what little hairs he had left in him.

She didn't get off because she already dropped the only ticket she had and
no other way to get home.

You wanna know what the ttc driver did, he announced that untill the people who got on the streetcar without student id, get off - he is not moving. And so he sat there for 20 minutes untill the next street car came up behind him.

She was in tears, but thankfully some nice people on the ttc told her to just stay on, that the driver can't kick her out, he'd have to call the police and she found comfort in that because at least she figured she'd be safe or at least get a ride home with the cops.

These inhumane DICKS deserve to be treated the same way they act. When a grown man does that to a young female, yeah you bet I would love to know he got a good beating.

 

[canucklehead]

Not to be a dick but so anyone baby faced should be allowed on the TTC with a student ticket?
I am sure they see many more abuse and rude and un understanding people everyday then we see in a life time.... kind of toughens u and makes u callous. Maybe be empathetic towards them and put your self in their shoes and think about it.
Sorry about your daughters experience and i understand i would more then likely feel the same way if it was my daughter. But their are two sides to every story.

 

[PHNINE]

My take? I'm driving.

LOL I haven't been on public transit since the late 90's. LOL And that was only becuase I was forced to do so. I drive everywhere. It's an SUV too. I pollute. I liter. I smoke. Fuck I am bad. I do recycle though.

 

[tboy]

Fab, I can feel your pain but what did the driver do wrong in your eyes>?

He followed the rules (bad bad BAD man)
YOUR daughter forgot her purse, he didn't force her to leave her ID at home
YOU should have made sure she always had money to either get home or at least use a payphone.
The rules are the rules and yes, there are exceptions, but if you think about it, the driver was probably instructed to watch for, and pay particular attention to people taking advantage of student discounts.

Sure, he could have let her slide but what would she have learned if he had?

I bet dollars to donuts she doesn't forget her purse/id/money again.

Dude, maybe you should thank him for teaching her something. Someone told me a story once about how his 18 month old used to jump off the 2nd last step of their staircase. He'd do it even if someone wasn't relatively close to catch him. They kept on and on and he'd do this all the time. So finally one day he put a thick carpet at the foot of the stairs and the next time the toddler jumped, they let him fall. Needless to say he didn't jump anymore!

Yes, your daughter was embarassed. Yes, the driver eventually (and could have a little sooner) drove on. But like I said, your daughter learned a tough lesson that being irresponsible has consequences and it was HER problem, not the driver's.

Again, it was probably very tramatic for her and I hope she learned from it.

 

[WhaWhaWha]

Seriously and without emotional embellishment I hope that Stupid fucker of a Streetcar driver dies of excruciating painful bleeding festering cancer but only after two decades of suffering that devastates and depletes the financial resources of every member of his immediate and extended family, leaving his grandchildren with bills to pay while he writhes in a hell where it's his eternal role to say please and thank you to a busload of pitchfork bearing demons who jab at his eyes and testicles while he drives through hellfire in perpetuity. I really do.

On the other hand that girl could have followed the rules and called her Daddy collect.

 

[Southern_Knight]

I don't take the ttc but my daughter does. Her first year in high school and her first year taking the ttc. A few months ago I drove her to school one day. She usually arrives home after school at a certain time. Well this one day she didn't come home on time and I was starting to worry. I was about to call the police because she was almost 1 hour late getting home and this was completelly out of her character and I was loosing it, worrying about her. Well she finally gets home and explains why she was late: she didn't have any money, no cell phone, no ttc tickets, and no student id because she forgot her purse at home. She bummed a ttc ticket from a friend, got on the streetcar and dropped her ticket in the box, after which the ttc driver asked her for student id. She told him she didn't have it. He told her to get off.

She is 14 and still looks like a baby, getting on the ttc in front of her high school at rush hour on a major street and a grown old miserable ttc driver tells her to get off. If I was there I'd beat him myself, and I ain't got no dick but I would have tore out what little hairs he had left in him.

She didn't get off because she already dropped the only ticket she had and
no other way to get home.

You wanna know what the ttc driver did, he announced that untill the people who got on the streetcar without student id, get off - he is not moving. And so he sat there for 20 minutes untill the next street car came up behind him.

She was in tears, but thankfully some nice people on the ttc told her to just stay on, that the driver can't kick her out, he'd have to call the police and she found comfort in that because at least she figured she'd be safe or at least get a ride home with the cops.

These inhumane DICKS deserve to be treated the same way they act. When a grown man does that to a young female, yeah you bet I would love to know he got a good beating.

Umm, what, the school wouldn't let her use the phone? Not ONE person on the streetcar coughed up a buck to get the car moving? She couldn't have explained her situation to a local merchant to use the phone? I suggest some lessons in street-proofing.

 

[papasmerf]

Umm, what, the school wouldn't let her use the phone? Not ONE person on the streetcar coughed up a buck to get the car moving? She couldn't have explained her situation to a local merchant to use the phone? I suggest some lessons in street-proofing.

One needs to enbelish to make a point. Ask for the copy of an official complaint and you will find none

 

[Uzo]

this is the biggest headace in Toronto..the TTC...

I have lived in New York, London and Toronto and the service here is so fucken simple compared to the other two cities yet there are ALWAYS problems on the system.

I dont see how strikes will sit with the person who lives pay-cheque and now is going to miss work b/c its not viable to cab it to work (e.g. lives in west-end and works in the east end)...this was not the only means to get their point across but this is what the workers have selected and sadly, I feel this will cause more customers to resort to assults and more people will return to cars...The implications on the single parent trying to make a living gets my sympathy rather than the striking workers....they could have got a mediator or even IF they wanted to strike, give their loyal customers a heads-up.

 

[papasmerf]

this is the biggest headace in Toronto..the TTC...

I have lived in New York, London and Toronto and the service here is so fucken simple compared to the other two cities yet there are ALWAYS problems on the system.

I dont see how strikes will sit with the person who lives pay-cheque and now is going to miss work b/c its not viable to cab it to work (e.g. lives in west-end and works in the east end)...this was not the only means to get their point across but this is what the workers have selected and sadly, I feel this will cause more customers to resort to assults and more people will return to cars...The implications on the single parent trying to make a living gets my sympathy rather than the striking workers....they could have got a mediator or even IF they wanted to strike, give their loyal customers a heads-up.

Sure you do

the idea is to cause a problem. Make it impossible for the common man to work. Force a vote to cave in. BTW I am a member ot the IBEW