Alan Yule also gave a presentation about the TTC, which included promoting Nextbus.com, giving an update on the TTC’s decision to not charge people when they text for bus or streetcar arrival times, and talking about the Province’s position on funding the TTC. Check out Alan’s presentation.
WAYS TO GET INVOLVED AND IMPROVE TRANSIT
Representatives from Olivia Chow’s campaign talked up the
NDP Act (Bill C305) that would require the Federal government to develop a National Transit Strategy. Check out the
proposed law,
sign the petition, and make sure to
contact your MP.
Herman Rosenfeld from the Greater Toronto Workers Assembly spoke about the No Fare is Fair campaign, which is calling for free transit for all. (We don’t pay tolls for roads, why should we pay for mass transit?) The group’s next action is on Nov. 2nd, 11am – 2pm. Contact [email protected] to get involved. Their next meeting is this Thursday 7pm at the Centre for Social Justice, 489 College St.
Herman also spoke about the Fair Fare Coalition, which wants free transit for seniors on smog days. You can contact them on facebook or through Sistering.
And there’s also a new group starting up called Scarborough Transit Action. Contact them at [email protected]
List of Upcoming Public Transit Events
CUTA Fall Conference – www.cutaactu.ca
Toronto Talks Mobility (FREE but you should RSVP: )
- Toronto Talks Mobility Public Forum. City Hall. Nov. 7-9pm.
- Toronto Talks Mobility Symposium. Nov. 10. 8am-5pm.
Metrolinx Board of Directors meeting. Nov. 23. 8.30am start.
TTC Meeting. Nov. 23 1pm onwards. Could be last chance to stop service cuts.
TTC Meeting. Dec. 14 1pm onwards. Talking about proposed $0.10 fare hike.
SUMMARY OF CHRIS UPFOLD Q&A SESSION
Then it was Q&A time with
Chris Upfold, the TTC’s new chief customer service officer.
Thank you for coming Chris! Chris started us off by briefly speaking about the value of customer service and his role to improve the relationship between the TTC and its customers. He also recommended people apply to join the
customer service liaison panel (which is starting up and taking applications), and encouraged the riders union to align around common goals and perhaps a contender for the liaison panel.
Then the floor was opened up to questions (and statements and comments, and everything else you get when you’re in the public comment period of a public meeting).
Here are some summaries of those questions (and comments) from individual people.
- Yonge/University line seems slower and over-crowding is bad (Chris response: not intentional.)
- The TTC should announce why trains are delayed. (Chris said there’s no policy around this; will look into it.)
- Website with information about the TTC and schedules should be updated more promptly. (Chris said they’re looking into keeping customers better informed.)
- Why do repairs take so long? Especially elevators. Perhaps change work crew schedule so projects get done quickly and one at a time. (Chris: elevators take a long time to repair as sometimes parts are custom built.)
- Why do three buses come at the one time? (This got cheers!)
- Why should we pay to ride the TTC? Cost of collecting fares is considerable. And we would save money with reduced costs in road maintenance because there will be less cars on the road. (Chris said his personal opinion is that customers should pay something.)
- How could the TTC be more accountable to riders? (Chris said we are working on a customer charter. TTC is accountable to taxpayers via City Council.)
- Does our aging infrastructure affect service? (Chris said yes, and we’ll have more closures when we upgrade infrastructure in the short term.)
- We need you to be more visible so we can express our ideas and concerns.
- Improve signage.
- Don’t cut buses, especially in working-poor areas where people depend on these buses to get to work.
- Improve ticketing. As a senior I shouldn’t have to wait to show my paper ticket.
- Ticket takers should be better at helping people.
- Drivers should be rewarded for being nice.
- Complaints are being lost. (Chris said that they’re going to change the policy so that customer service will contact YOU with an update on how they responded to your complaint. All complaints about drivers are followed up on.)
- How much do you earn? (Chris’ salary is about $117 to $137K. This writer and notetaker is not 100% certain this is what Chris said so these figures are ballpark. Anyway, it’s part of the public record so we’ll all know soon enough.)
- Pregnant women deserve priority seating. Could you do a public awareness campaign around this? Or distribute cards for people who want priority seating to use? (Chris said cards don’t work.)
- What do you think of paying fares according to the distance you travel? (Chris said it doesn’t necessarily save money.)
- Maybe cutting services is not such a bad thing if only a few people are using the bus.
- What about a congestion charge?
- TTC has an authoritarian culture. TTC staff needs better conflict resolution training. (Chris said bus operators are re-certified every five years; conflict resolution is one small component of their training.)
- What can the TTC do to help Toronto’s creative class solve their problems? (Chris said let’s get some of these people on the customer service liaison panel.)
- Improve the TTC’s ability to speak in mics please.
- TTC is a public service, not a business.
- TTC is not accessible to people with disabilities, and mothers with strollers. (Chris said the TTC is scheduled to be accessible by 2025. Buses and street cars are easier to make accessible than the subway.)
- The TTC tokens are too small.