TTC - Take The Car indeed...
>> Mar 19, 2010
The new decade has not been good to Toronto transit at all. We’re only in month 3 and the TTC has been people’s choice for scandal and harsh criticism. From the TTC booth operator caught sleeping to Giambrone’s sex scandal/1 week run for Mayor of Toronto, to YouTube videos of terrible customer service. And while the TTC has done little to salvage their poor image, 2 more stories regarding the transit commission has surfaced.
A couple of days ago, a TTC driver was caught operating a TTC bus while under the influence. Riders called in the police when they were concerned with the erratic driver, and while she wasn’t over the legal limit, she had enough in her to warrant a 3-day licence suspension. The TTC is still deciding her fate on whether to slap a harsher punishment on her, fire her or just let her be. And they said that their decision will not be made public. Now hold on a tick. No decision will be made public? I think that is the most preposterous thing I’ve heard.
The TTC is a public service that is paid for by us: the taxpayers. Not only are we paying tax money to run the service, we’re paying quite high fares to use the service, fares that don’t reflect the quality of service, and we don’t have the right to know if this driver is allowed to drive again? I understand that she was under the legal limit, but not only did she endanger her life and the life of other drivers on the road, but she endangered the innocent lives of the passengers on that bus. I’m an avid user of the TTC and I rely on it a great deal to get me around the city for school, work and personal reasons, and every single time I step foot into a bus, subway, streetcar or RT car, I am putting my life into the hands of the operators. And I don’t think it’s fair that that TTC disregards that the lives of the passengers on that bus were compromised. I personally think she should have been fired on the spot. It should be understood that anyone operating a public service, like the TTC, should never have a drink to begin with, even before their shift; especially since they have the lives of their customers literally in their hands. It upsets me that I’m paying hundreds of dollars a year into this service and there could be a possibility that I enter a bus where a driver has had a couple drinks.
The TTC is a public service that is paid for by us: the taxpayers. Not only are we paying tax money to run the service, we’re paying quite high fares to use the service, fares that don’t reflect the quality of service, and we don’t have the right to know if this driver is allowed to drive again? I understand that she was under the legal limit, but not only did she endanger her life and the life of other drivers on the road, but she endangered the innocent lives of the passengers on that bus. I’m an avid user of the TTC and I rely on it a great deal to get me around the city for school, work and personal reasons, and every single time I step foot into a bus, subway, streetcar or RT car, I am putting my life into the hands of the operators. And I don’t think it’s fair that that TTC disregards that the lives of the passengers on that bus were compromised. I personally think she should have been fired on the spot. It should be understood that anyone operating a public service, like the TTC, should never have a drink to begin with, even before their shift; especially since they have the lives of their customers literally in their hands. It upsets me that I’m paying hundreds of dollars a year into this service and there could be a possibility that I enter a bus where a driver has had a couple drinks.
And just yesterday reports were shown that Giambrone had spent $3,000 on cab fare over the past year. Whatever happened to practice what you preach? He doesn’t own a car and is usually seen on the TTC to promote its service, but then Giambrone announced today that $10 of that $3,000 was expensed as a business trip, but was used to take him to one of his first dates with his ex-mistress Kristen Lucas. He then ‘refunded’ and apologized for the “mix-up” and continued on with his day. And once again his affair has resurfaced. How in the world did he think he could even get away with that? Yes, it’s only $10, but knowing that was being used to visit your mistress? That’s just careless and irresponsible.
The TTC needs to take their PR more seriously. Whether it’s strengthening their Communications Department or hiring an agency to handle any issues or crisis management. I would even go so far as to say that maybe the TTC needs a rebranding strategy and start fresh.
And their internal communications is just as important because with a company as large as the TTC, the employees are not all getting the message about customer service and its necessity for the success of the service. For every rude or cold TTC employee, there are hundreds of kind, helpful and happy ones, and the TTC needs to focus more on their stories and how they’ve helped. A campaign should be developed to highlight the positives to try and regain the trust and respect of their customer base.
I don't have my driver's licence, but the way the TTC has dealing with their issues is pushing me to take the driver's tests and invest in a car, because at this point, I'd rather deal with the traffic than deal with the terrible customer service.
The negativity surround the TTC is spreading too quickly through the six degrees in between and without any momentum to stop it, they are en route to a head-on collision.
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