Twilight Moms?

It’s a matter of optics

The TTC continues to fall down all over itself this week – and like some bullied little child in the school yard, I almost feel sorry for it. It’s getting nearly embarrassing to watch screw-up after screw-up with no thought to public optics.

First we had fare hikes, then an unforeseen accident shut down a major section for a night, then there was token “hoarding,” followed by the brilliant answer – time sensitive tickets (except they don’t have enough tickets, so in the meantime we’re still using tokens). Who’s ever in charge of controlling the message they’re doing a lousy job.

So imagine the frustration riders must have felt at Bloor/Yonge station today when they were herded like cattle down towards the end of the platform in an attempt to stop people congesting the end where the entrance is.

In theory, this isn’t a bad idea. The first 3 train cars are always smashed and loading and unloading times add valuable seconds to the trip. But were 30 or 40 TTC employees and security guards needed? Were endless signs and barriers necessary? Did they really need to be shouting at us like prison guards?

The TTC reminds me of some over-the-top sitcom character where – no matter how good their intentions – the execution is always disastrous.

The thing that really irks me is that this whole debacle has forced me to do something I never thought I could – agree with Toronto city councillor Denzil Minnan Wong. Talking about the token shortage Wong was quoted as saying:

“A billion-dollar corporation should be able to plan and anticipate events such as these,”

That would be sensible and contrite – traits sorely lacking from the TTC.

Swell Season featuring Jason Segel

Love this

Toronto the (not so) great

Can we all agree that the TTC is just a poorly run organization? I think that’s a fair comment – not even a mean-spirited one. $106 million short-falls – even after ridership increases in the last few years – are clear indications that someone’s not doing their job well.

But as frustrated I am with the TTC’s constantly bad service, expensive price-tag and disgusting riding conditions, it’s symptomatic of a city that is failing on so many levels.

Photo courtesy of flipkeat

When I was younger and growing up in the suburbs, we looked at Toronto like Rome. It was an exotic destination that we found any excuse to visit. A few years back I was lucky enough to move here and was a little put off. It was meeting your favourite musician and finding out he’s kind of a dick. You still love the music but some of that shine has worn off.

I started to see that everything costs money – to the point of being petty and punitive. Toronto had a sneaky way of tacking extras on to almost everything. The price of something in the 905 was  always more expensive downtown (including a cup a coffee).

I had the most ridiculous run-ins with parking bylaw enforcement and finally hit my breaking point when I was issued a $100 ticket for failing to have a horn on my bicycle (it should be noted that this isn’t a municipal law, but it was a Metro cop and it’s my blog). It was all too much and instead of loving all the amazing burroughs and personalities of the city, I was just frustrated with it.

There’s a long list of problems in this city and each one of them seems to come with a price. We pour money into things like the land transfer tax, failed green-bin programs, the TTC and see little to no improvement. As far as things like technology, identity and unity go, this city is failing miserably.

I know it still has some amazing attractions, and trust me – I’m still enamoured with Toronto – there’s nowhere I’d rather live. But when I think of what it could be and all the potential it has I get sad. I get sad because I don’t see us moving anywhere near it. The people in charge just never seem to get it right.

Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe we’re waiting around for someone else to fix it instead of taking the first steps ourselves. Now I just wonder what those first steps are.