Miscellaneous TTC Discussion & Questions

[Xtrazsteve]

I happen to be at DM station today around 6:45pm. What a mess on the 185. There was a fleet of 5 or 6 185s going northbound within less than 10 minutes and none southbound. They really got stuck in traffic.

[leylandvictory2]

Don Mills is down to 2 lanes.  One lane can be used for making right turns. Essentially you have 1 lane to work with.  There is some cable work done on kingston Road and Lawrence (East bound) the traffic was backed up all the way to Guildwood Go Station.

[andyman]

Pretty poor planning to be already running a reduced schedule this week. No school trip buses etc.....

[H4 5600]

Anyone know if 15 evans has a schedule change? I couldnt find anything on the ttc website but it seems to be missing a bus every day and comes at a different time then scheduled.

[Xtrazsteve]

46 minutes ago, H4 5600 said:

Anyone know if 15 evans has a schedule change? I couldnt find anything on the ttc website but it seems to be missing a bus every day and comes at a different time then scheduled.

Everything is running on holiday board which is similar to the summer board. The 15 only has 3 buses right now not 4.

[andyman]

9 hours ago, Xtrazsteve said:

Everything is running on holiday board which is similar to the summer board. The 15 only has 3 buses right now not 4.

Nice they released these service changes. 500 kids were standing out front of Michael Power for 32, 48, 112 school trip buses that never came. 76/15 brutal this week as well with no 76Cs running in am.

[H4 5600]

16 minutes ago, andyman said:

Nice they released these service changes. 500 kids were standing out front of Michael Power for 32, 48, 112 school trip buses that never came. 76/15 brutal this week as well with no 76Cs running in am.

 The missing 15\76C buses are causing even more overcrowding on those routes than before, and not just south from the subway, north as well has been terrible this week. I actually witnessed a fight between a customer and driver on the 15 because the bus was full, but they waited a long time for it and didnt want to wait a lot more time for the next 15. Schedule should have been changed next week. What i also noticed is that the new 15 schedule is scheduled so that it leaves islington seconds before a 110 south arrives. Nobody transfers from 15 east to 110 south, but some people transfer from 110 south to 15 east, most of them trying to avoid crowds on 76\15 south, but with the cold weather the longer wait is terrible.

[Xtrazsteve]

32 minutes ago, andyman said:

Nice they released these service changes. 500 kids were standing out front of Michael Power for 32, 48, 112 school trip buses that never came. 76/15 brutal this week as well with no 76Cs running in am.

No, one can only find the schedules through nextbus data. Anyone could use their apps to look up would notice there is no school trips. There's no university/college classes this week. TDSB still have classes. 

The 45 was insane. There was a 30 minute gap going northbound between 3:30-4pm. People basically watch their buses head southbound at Kipling/Eglinton and had to wait for them when they came back up from the station.

3 minutes ago, H4 5600 said:

 The missing 15\76C buses are causing even more overcrowding on those routes than before, and not just south from the subway, north as well has been terrible this week. I actually witnessed a fight between a customer and driver on the 15 because the bus was full, but they waited a long time for it and didnt want to wait a lot more time for the next 15. Schedule should have been changed next week. What i also noticed is that the new 15 schedule is scheduled so that it leaves islington seconds before a 110 south arrives. Nobody transfers from 15 east to 110 south, but some people transfer from 110 south to 15 east, most of them trying to avoid crowds on 76\15 south, but with the cold weather the longer wait is terrible.

They schedule doesn't change till next board in January when school resumes. It would be fine if it was the holiday season. TTC always do this but they did it earlier. Perhaps they ran out of money with their over the moon ridership projection. TTC might not even make 540m riders this year.

[H4 5600]

9 hours ago, Xtrazsteve said:

           

They schedule doesn't change till next board in January when school resumes. It would be fine if it was the holiday season. TTC always do this but they did it earlier. Perhaps they ran out of money with their over the moon ridership projection. TTC might not even make 540m riders this year.

It would have been nice if, you know, maybe they LET PEOPLE KNOW about the schedule changes, on the website or with sigins on the poles, instead of just changing it with no notice. When you have to come to a transitfan site to find out why buses have just not been showing up for no apparent reason, theres a problem.

[Xtrazsteve]

36 minutes ago, H4 5600 said:

It would have been nice if, you know, maybe they LET PEOPLE KNOW about the schedule changes, on the website or with sigins on the poles, instead of just changing it with no notice. When you have to come to a transitfan site to find out why buses have just not been showing up for no apparent reason, theres a problem.

Indeed I agree. I'm not a big fan of them removing the schedules from the bus stops either. Many people read them even if they are not so accurate. 

[lip]

12 hours ago, Xtrazsteve said:

Indeed I agree. I'm not a big fan of them removing the schedules from the bus stops either. Many people read them even if they are not so accurate. 

We're talking about an organization that has no ability to plan whatsoever, and they give very little thought to these kind of things. The least they could do since they are going to proceed with this nonsense is to place route maps on the bus stops, and the actual number customers can text to see when the next bus will be coming. Not everyone has a smartphone, but clearly the TTC has missed that memo.

[dayone]

On 12/21/2016 at 8:03 PM, andyman said:

Nice they released these service changes. 500 kids were standing out front of Michael Power for 32, 48, 112 school trip buses that never came. 76/15 brutal this week as well with no 76Cs running in am.

The problem was addressed by @TTChelps on Monday and Tuesday. Not even the employee knew about the service changes initially.

 

[Xtrazsteve]

3 hours ago, lip said:

We're talking about an organization that has no ability to plan whatsoever, and they give very little thought to these kind of things. The least they could do since they are going to proceed with this nonsense is to place route maps on the bus stops, and the actual number customers can text to see when the next bus will be coming. Not everyone has a smartphone, but clearly the TTC has missed that memo.

It seems like they want to cut the cost and never update them ever again.

[Ed T.]

13 hours ago, Xtrazsteve said:

It seems like they want to cut the cost and never update them ever again.

That is exactly it. Some TTC person (not Mr. Ross) was quoted on Metro Morning as claiming that this will save $450,000 a year that can then go to their "digital platforms".

Darwin O., better apply for your slice of this loot!

[raptorjays]

Do you guys know why the TTC is using a presto machine which do not show the remaining balance unlike MIWAY and GO Transit? Is it because they are running out of money?

[Hexagonal 10]

1 hour ago, raptorjays said:

Do you guys know why the TTC is using a presto machine which do not show the remaining balance unlike MIWAY and GO Transit? Is it because they are running out of money?

If you mean the card readers, yes the TTC is using a different device unlike the ones seen on YRT/VIVA and MiWay. I believe the ones the commission uses are newer models.

[Xtrazsteve]

1 hour ago, raptorjays said:

Do you guys know why the TTC is using a presto machine which do not show the remaining balance unlike MIWAY and GO Transit? Is it because they are running out of money?

I heard the excuse is something entirely stupid. If it displays the amount, it has to be completely accessible to everyone. A blind person can't possible read the reader and they can't announce the amount due to privacy so heck they decided not to show it cause people have phones and could look it up themselves or use the *cough cough* reloading machines.

[raptorjays]

39 minutes ago, Xtrazsteve said:

I heard the excuse is something entirely stupid. If it displays the amount, it has to be completely accessible to everyone. A blind person can't possible read the reader and they can't announce the amount due to privacy so heck they decided not to show it cause people have phones and could look it up themselves or use the *cough cough* reloading machines.

If that is a reason... Other transit systems like Miway and Go Transit should use the same way...

TTC is just fuckin stupid and Andy Byford and Brad Ross is operating everything like 12 year old kid

[GTAmissions1]

9 hours ago, raptorjays said:

Do you guys know why the TTC is using a presto machine which do not show the remaining balance unlike MIWAY and GO Transit? Is it because they are running out of money?

I think it is more of how the TTC doesn't have time based transfers. The current transfer system is one-way. Though, it has been coded that if you accidentally tap the same device again, you won't be charged a second fare as long as it is within 90 minutes. 

OC Transpo has the same kind of devices the TTC is using. Different operating system customized to their needs and it shows the time or the expiration of the period pass. When I tap, it shows the time of the transfer remaining. 

Go Transit has a three hour transfer credit. Stating how much time is on the transfer. Along with MiWay Transit which is 2 hours from the first tap. 

 

[6254]

Many buses especially the York U Expresses such as 60F, 199B, 41E are almost if not all empty these few weeks, especially when all things including the food courts, Tim Hortons, Star Bucks (all private companies) are closed after Dec 22.

[Xtrazsteve]

1 hour ago, GTAmissions1 said:

OC Transpo has the same kind of devices the TTC is using. Different operating system customized to their needs and it shows the time or the expiration of the period pass. When I tap, it shows the time of the transfer remaining. 

 

Last board meeting, they are saying it's different. It looks the same but it's not.

[Ed T.]

15 hours ago, Xtrazsteve said:

I heard the excuse is something entirely stupid. If it displays the amount, it has to be completely accessible to everyone. A blind person can't possible read the reader and they can't announce the amount due to privacy so heck they decided not to show it cause people have phones and could look it up themselves or use the *cough cough* reloading machines.

So how do the reloading machines report the balance so that it's accessible to everyone?

(I suspect they don't, but the TTC can plausibly deny any notion of how they work: they're Metrolinx' machines, Metrolinx problem.)

10 hours ago, GTAmissions1 said:

I think it is more of how the TTC doesn't have time based transfers. The current transfer system is one-way. Though, it has been coded that if you accidentally tap the same device again, you won't be charged a second fare as long as it is within 90 minutes. 

OC Transpo has the same kind of devices the TTC is using. Different operating system customized to their needs and it shows the time or the expiration of the period pass. When I tap, it shows the time of the transfer remaining. 

Go Transit has a three hour transfer credit. Stating how much time is on the transfer. Along with MiWay Transit which is 2 hours from the first tap.

The machines should always indicate whether it's a free transfer, or a new fare. From what I've observed, I don't think so.

With a time-based fare, that's easy enough to program in, and you can vary the beep(s) and lights to indicate that.

With the TTC's transfer policy, can any one machine tell right on the spot that it's a valid transfer? I guess maybe.

My understanding of Presto's original GO setup was that if you tapped on at a default station, you were automatically charged for the fare to your other default station (i.e. for commuters who use the same origin/destination every day); then you wouldn't have to tap off. Otherwise, it would charge you the maximum possible one-way fare, then rebate you when you tapped off at something less than the maximum distance. (Oh, yeah, weren't you supposed to push an override button if you're getting on at a default station, but not getting off at the other one?)

So the code that was assuming the commuter-rail type of riding is now trying to deal with riders who will make ad-hoc trips, getting on at various stops, transferring at various stops, and getting off at various stops. If there's a non-Presto vehicle in the chain, then I assume Presto is lost. If you don't tap when getting on a bus/streetcar from within the fare-paid area of a subway station, again the chain is broken.

The way I would use Presto is to ask for a transfer every time I started my trip, and then use the transfer for the rest of the trip. No additional taps. Of course the TTC would like to get rid of transfers too.  (If I made what the TTC would consider a "stopover", and the operator objected to the paper transfer, I'd tap and see if Presto agreed with me or the op. )

This is why I purchased a January 2017 Metropass. Still $125 (VIP).

[Xtrazsteve]

7 minutes ago, Ed T. said:

So how do the reloading machines report the balance so that it's accessible to everyone?

(I suspect they don't, but the TTC can plausibly deny any notion of how they work: they're Metrolinx' machines, Metrolinx problem.)

 

The machine isn't mandatory for loading funds. They could just the website or ask a representative at TTC HQ or GO station. Regardless, this is stupid.

[Ed T.]

16 minutes ago, Xtrazsteve said:

The machine isn't mandatory for loading funds. They could just the website or ask a representative at TTC HQ or GO station. Regardless, this is stupid.

I know the reload machine isn't mandatory.

Let's start at the top: TTC sez, can't display/announce balance on the onboard readers, because accessibility/privacy.

What is TTC's guidance for TTC Presto users to actually find out their balance? They must have said something officially, right?

If they have said something officially, are the methods accessible?

Note, if the answer is, "visually unimpaired people can use reload machines in TTC stations, visually impaired people can visit Union Station and ask a representative" or something like that, I would say not accessible, and I would think Mr. Lepofsky will be right on it too.

 

[Xtrazsteve]

Just now, Ed T. said:

I know the reload machine isn't mandatory.

Let's start at the top: TTC sez, can't display/announce balance on the onboard readers, because privacy.

What is TTC's guidance for TTC Presto users to actually find out their balance? They must have said something officially, right?

If they have said something officially, are the methods accessible?

Note, if the answer is, "visually unimpaired people can use reload machines in TTC stations, visually impaired people can visit Union Station and ask a representative" or something like that, I would say not accessible, and I would think Mr. Lepofsky will be right on it too.

 

Actually, there's a headset jack where someone could get audible instructions. Of course I don't know if it works or not.