Canada’s Debate

I’ve been getting increasingly disgruntled recently, so it’s time for a good rant. For quite some time I’ve been a staunch defender of governments, and public services in general among my family and friends. The number of times I’ve stood up for city hall, the TTC, and certain specific politicians and programs defies enumeration.

Recently however, it is getting harder for me to be the “Voice of Reason” (any Salon Tabletalk refugees out there?) when it comes to these things. First, this idea that the city should invest $700,000 in new street-food carts to encourage healthier options. The city has been crying poor (with good reason) for years. Under these circumstances a pilot-project with a cost that can only increase, which will achieve marginal short-term gains to fix a problem which is not urgent is appalling; it defies all logic and reason. It’s exactly the sort of thing that tempts me to run for City Counsellor a little bit more each election cycle… still a longshot mind you; but I’m getting closer.

The TTC on the other hand is rapidly losing both my confidence and support. Two recent incidents in particular have been challenging my perspective. The first occured last Thursday. While riding the subway east from Old Mill station to Bathurst we were informed (at Landsdowne station) that a fire had broken out at Spadina station (it was later reported as a power outage at St. George station.) The TTC said that shuttle-buses would be running from Ossington to St. George to bypass the service interruption. The train, the conductor said, would run to Ossington as normal and then go out of service. I chose (as did almost everyone else) to ride through to Ossington and make alternate plans from there. What the conductor failed to mention was that there would be a fifteen minute delay between Dufferin and Ossington… maybe a small quibble, but it’s information that could have been relayed either at Landsdowne or Dufferin station so that people could get off if they chose… So we rode on and escaped at Ossington, and went up to the bus platform to await the shuttle. Well, as it turns out the shuttle-bus wasn’t running from Ossington station; it was running from the intersection of Ossington and Bloor (which is not visible from the platform.) I only realized this when I gave up and walked down to Bloor street to try and flag a taxi. There was no announcement made, despite at least one hundred extra people crowding onto the platform (myself included) for nearly 25 minutes. Needless to say, the disorganized and poor communications during this minor interruption (didn’t even make the evening news) left me unimpressed.

So yesterday (Monday) I get to Bathurst Station at 5:50pm according to the clock on the transfer machine at the station. Now, the #7 bus is scheduled to depart at the following times around when I am heading home:

5:49pm
5:54pm
5:55pm
6:01pm
6:08pm
6:13pm
6:19pm
6:24pm

Anyone want to take a guess when I actually boarded my bus? If you guessed between 6:25pm and 6:30pm, you are correct. Even accounting for ONE of the two buses departing before 6 leaving early, and assuming that the bus I boarded was the 6:24pm one, that means that five buses either weren’t running, or were hopelessly behind schedule. That kind of poor service (I frequently wait for about 15-20 minutes for buses that run every 6-7) is one thing, but to once again not make any attempt to communicate to passengers that there was a delay indicates a total lack of respect for the riders of the TTC, managerial incompetence, or complete apathy on the part of drivers and staff who should be on-time, and report serious delays if they are not. I wrote a complaint regarding this situation as soon as I got home yesterday, and I’m curious to see how they respond… but I’m not expecting much. I know the bus-drivers work hard, and I appreciate their efforts, and the yeoman work that the TTC does. However, that respect diminishes a little bit every time a driver stops to chit-chat with a co-worker outside the Hillcrest depot when he/she is already behind schedule… or lingers at a stop for a few seconds so the light goes yellow and then red so he/she can take a sip of coffee/tea.

I know that this all might seem a bit petty (especially the second part), but it goes a long way towards making me feel better, and subsequently holding on to what’s left of my hair.