TTC Operators: Security Incidents

[ttcrecr]

TE

[FlyerD901]

Don't be a hero. Call Control. And run if you need to.

It sounds funny buts its being honest. I've been in two incidents were I was able to deescalate a violent situation, but obviously analyzing what's going on. And that because I was in some ways trap in it, so I had no choice. Its also good to anticipate things before you get caught up.

[ttcrecr]

On 1/24/2016 at 5:15 PM, FlyerD901 said:

TE

[TTCOpITM]

I'm pretty new to the job and haven't really experienced anything major. This might seem strange, but I feel safe out there. I guess because nothing has really happened to me yet. I've never put up the barrier.

[leylandvictory2]

I have been driving for over 4 years. I never had any problems. Choose your own battles and like Flyers d901 said, don't act like an hero. Don't ever hit or even tough the suspect as you can be charged with assault too. I hardly use the shield. I only use the shield when it is too cold.

Your job is to carry people from point A to point B safely. I don't feel unsafe. Heck I always see a police car/undercover cruiser at Kennedy Station literally everyday.

[FlyerD901]

It was threats. A customer threatening another customer and they all came into my cab . I was able to talk everyone down. The unfortunate part was the phone wasn't working so I had to use a PAX phone. It took me a long time to get in contact with control.

The other incident was a fair fight actually at College station. I remember looking at them both not saying a word, they looked at me, I went past them to reset the PAA. I guess they were surprise I didn't say anything, and the one guy ended up leaving the station, and I went to my guarding position. lol. Silence can be the best thing.

I had a drunk guy try to fight me, it appeared he was mental too. But the long train ride got him to calm down a bit. He still went to the supervisor to complain against me for something I forget, I think it was the service or something. Either way the supervisor clearly saw that he was intoxicated too. Because he kept to himself and not bothering anyone else I kept the train moving. I always thought the closer I get to the end terminal the better. I don't address every situation, especially if the PAA/PEA is not pressed.

There was a fight on my train yesterday. but it was a bunch of party-goers among themselves not against me. But no one reported anything, and I kept it moving. I don't mind entertainment like that. Haha.

I enjoy my job regardless. Things like that keep in interesting. And you learn from every incident and you become better and better and handling and dealing with various situations. I've never had to come off too authoritative. The best thing I've done as I said before was anticipating things, and being observant. But not dealing with every little thing. Sometimes you have to simply look away and pretend you didn't see anything.

When it comes to extreme violence everyone is vulnerable not just operators. The quotes and references you brought up was passengers against passengers and incidents on the streets somewhere. So its not TTC specific. You're not obligated to deal with all that. You may hear this a lot, but you just need to observe and report, you're not paid to get involved.

[TTC-Driver]

most violence against operators comes from enforcing fair, I was stupid and were doing it when I started and after almost get hit by a cheater that I caught, stopped doing that, now I don't even look how much they drop and I will give transfer to anyone asking for it with a big smile and no incident afterward, and when customers arguing and swearing to each other in my bus I just try to calm them down and most of the time others in bus help me out.

[Rekognize]

Don't be a hero. Put your barrier up, don't be sticky with fares and give everyone the benefit of the doubt.

[fidoo66]

I've had maybe one situation where I feared the safety of my passengers and myself. I remember doing the 29 Dufferin..I dont remember the exact time, but it was somewhere between 10-11 in the morning. I wasn't driving an arctic or anything just a regular 40ft bus.

Anyway, when Im at a red light I stop and in the corner of my eye I see a crazy man running as fast as he can to try and catch my bus. The man keeps chasing me chasing my bus and in his hand I see that he is carrying a bunch of empty beer bottles. The man got so frustrated that he then threw one of the beer bottles and it shattered in the middle of the road just barely missing my bus. NO JOKE.

It was at that situation I pretty much knew that there is NO WAY this dude is coming on my bus. If I did let him on, he would probably kill me. So here I am just trying to go away from this drunk dude chasing me with a bunch of beer bottles and ready to smash them on the bus. What I feared most was that he was going to hit one of the windows of the bus and break it, causing a passenger to get hurt. In the end I had to run a red/yellow light...I know it seems bad, but the light just changed from yellow to red. Once I hit the pedal I don't think I saw the man again. Once I was far away from him, I called CIS (didn't know if I should have called emergency..dont think so?) and told them exactly what happened. Pretty sure they sent out someone to look at the situation and the man before he does any harm to a pedestrian. CIS asked me if the bus was damaged or any passengers were hurt and I said no. That is probably the most craziest thing that happened to me while driving.

Another situation I remember is when a man is just plain staring at a woman and the woman feels threatened, however that happened on 320 Yonge.

And when it comes to fares, I just dont care if they come on for free...I mean I just waste my time telling the passengers to pay 40-50% of the time they will argue and say they're under 12 , my trump unit just starts going down and thats why I dont waste time for cash fares. However when it comes to transfers then Im a little picky on..

So yeah, theres my situation where I have had to deal with...not fun I tell you

[Turtle]

There are certain people that get their way and do whatever they want because they throw a tantrum if they don't get it, and are used to people giving them their way to shut them up. There are others that are angry at other employees for the way they feel that person treated them and will take it out on you unprovoked. There are tons of people that don't behave properly under the influence of any substance. There always is that one person who gets a kick of getting the bus driver irritated and in an argument. That's what you get for choosing a customer service job. Most people want to be left alone, and they want a quiet ride to wherever they are going. It's the 0.5% of jerks that make it hard.

You have to be aware of your surroundings when you wear that jacket with the target on your back, but you aren't generally in any more danger than the average person riding the system. A lot of operators take transit to work, but they wear their own jackets over the uniform so they don't get harassed by people.

Most cowards will take a cheap shot at you when they think they can get away, and those shields help with that. Keep your eyes open. You eventually develop a sense for when you are going to get trouble. Sometimes it'll surprise you. Don't go looking for it and you will do fine. Your job is to observe and report, not to be a hero. If you get involved, you can get fired for getting out of the seat.

[Magoo]

If you think your going to go through your whole career as a TTC employee without being verbally or physically assaulted once, your dreaming. You will witness and experience all sorts of drama. Like everyone else has advised - don't be a hero.

16 years of service:

4 death threats

Cant count the number verbal assaults - weekly thing (anything from a fuck you to your an asshole)

2 physical assaults

[Ed T.]

You might want to read Get Onboard by Richard Lee. He describes what it's like to be a TTC operator, both from his experience and statements from other operators. What I get from the book is that there's a lot of verbal abuse, and some spitting or coffee-throwing, but serious physical violence (with knives or whatever) is rare, probably as likely on the TTC as anywhere else (like the King/Yonge Shopper's Drug Mart). The library has 15 copies, but 30+ holds: http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM3341511&R=3341511

I am not an operator, but I've been on TTC vehicles for thousands of hours, and at various locations and times of the day. There's a good share of crazy people on the TTC, particularly on the Queen car. There was one night when someone paced up and down the streetcar on Queen, maybe high on crystal meth or something. It was worrisome, but nothing came of it.

The Sammy Yatim case is a big deal because it's not the ordinary way of things.

[FlyerD901]

Its a promise to see something on Queen night car. I took it while in uniform. That route lives up to the rumors and stories a Friday and Saturday typically is. I don't know about King night, I'm sure they took away some action I'm assuming. But I personally seen more action on Queen than 320 Yonge. But that's me.

I should go out and get to read that book, I've heard some good things about it.

[Ed T.]

I should go out and get to read that book, I've heard some good things about it.

My reading is that he almost quit as an operator due to verbal abuse, and the stress of shift work helped end his marriage. Those would be the two big things to look out for.

[ttcrecr]

On 1/25/2016 at 3:13 PM, Magoo said:

TE

[FlyerD901]

What stage of the process are you in? Have you been on the TTC before? I'm sure you have some idea of what its like. I was actually amazed that some people never been on the TTC until they applied and did the job shadowing. With prior experience dealing with customer have you dealt with violence or verbal assaults on any level, minor or major?

[ttcrecr]

TE

[Rekognize]

They give us $1 for driving. The rest is hazard pay

[GM5000]

Statistically, you are likely to be involved in an "occurrence" during your career. Remember your training and follow the established procedures, and you and your passengers will be okay.

And don't live your life in fear.....

[Magoo]

Jeez, anydetails Magoo?

Dont dwell on whatever happens it will only ruin your life. Eventually the verbal BS wont mean anything - just laugh it off. Remember you signed up for this line of work.

16 years still married I never take work home (key to successful family life). My last P1 I told my wife and children I was taking a 3 month vacation because I won a vacation lottery at work. No one will understand your work related problems better than your co-workers.

[FlyerD901]

That too. I know some operators thats never told any family member of their P1

I totally agree with the insults, I don't take in personally, in one ear out the other or simply a genuine smile. What a lot of people forget to put in perspective, the majority of passengers just want to go to where thy need to go. Despite all the stories its usually that one person, but must people are good. We have this mindset that its a bunch of zombies that ride TTC and they will start a riot. Which is not true. Some of their complaints are valid. I don't defend TTC, I'm not their lawyer, but I do know, we all know there's areas were they need to improve. Some of those improvements don't need funding.

Sometimes a conflict with a customer is not necessarily the problem, the root cause could be bad scheduling as an example which can lead to problems with the customer. Now we have a situation were TTC is not able to get proper funding for Bus Maintenance, as a result more buses breaking down, customers getting angry. And the only person in that situation is an operator, the front line employee that's now having to make some excuse he had no control over. Obviously you can't explain this everyone which will lead to frustration on both sides.

And too be honest fellow TTC co-workers can screw you too. In subways you deal with people who don't like working with new operators, which find totally ignorant, we were all new at one point. When I work with a new person, I make sure that person feels comfortable.

[Turtle]

You start out life in the TTC basically like her:

http://www.cjnews.com/news/canada/subway-operator-sings-while-she-works

and you have to do your best not to let it get the best of you after a few years of stress and work drama:

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2008/01/21/ttc_drivers_in_crisis.html

[busandjays]

Interesting article about the Willowdale incident...

I wonder if that driver had his shield on.

Nevertheless, this and many other factors make me to ALWAYS have my shield on... rain, shine, dark, light, blue or yellow.

And pardon my ignorance but what's a P1?

I've done the 300, 320, Queen and King blue nighters (and some others too) and for me, the 320 is the worst of them all in terms of that kind of customers...

[FlyerD901]

P1 or Priority 1's are suicides.

Interesting article about the Willowdale incident...

I wonder if that driver had his shield on.

Nevertheless, this and many other factors make me to ALWAYS have my shield on... rain, shine, dark, light, blue or yellow.

And pardon my ignorance but what's a P1?

I've done the 300, 320, Queen and King blue nighters (and some others too) and for me, the 320 is the worst of them all in terms of that kind of customers...

i would say 300 is worst. 301 is entertainment.

[TheAverageJoe]

P1 or Priority 1's are suicides.

i would say 300 is worst. 301 is entertainment.

They are not always suicides. Some are attempts, people pushed or bumped into by others onto the tracks. Also people who are to close to the edge falling over after a medical attack.