Miscellaneous TTC Discussion & Questions

[TransitMotorcoach]

2 hours ago, Ed T. said:

Been reading Jordan Peterson again, eh?

ETA: I for one welcome our new alpha-lobster transit overlords.

One does not necessarily have to read Jordan Peterson's material in order to understand that Rick Leary is not all there in the head. Coupled with the fact that he is currently the big boss of a very major transit agency, and making some very irrational, impulsive, provocative, and absurd decisions that make absolutely no logical or practical sense, in addition to having a very sketchy and questionable past at the MBTA, you have to admit that something is very wrong and troubling with that picture when taking a look at it from an analytical and panoramic point of view.

[Ed T.]

1 hour ago, TransitMotorcoach said:

One does not necessarily have to read Jordan Peterson's material in order to understand that Rick Leary is not all there in the head. Coupled with the fact that he is currently the big boss of a very major transit agency, and making some very irrational, impulsive, provocative, and absurd decisions that make absolutely no logical or practical sense, in addition to having a very sketchy and questionable past at the MTBA, you have to admit that something is very wrong and troubling with that picture when taking a look at it from an analytical and panoramic point of view.

Right, you and I are much more successful in our careers than Rick Leary, who has merely been CEO of a couple of measly public transit systems and stuff.

I agree that Rick Leary seems to have been a disastrous choice for CEO of the TTC.

I disagree with your imputations of his mental state. Rick Leary has done very well for Rick Leary. Which may well be his main goal. How is that irrational etc.? Ayn Rand would find him objectively superior, I would assume.

[TransitMotorcoach]

13 minutes ago, Ed T. said:

Right, you and I are much more successful in our careers than Rick Leary, who has merely been CEO of a couple of measly public transit systems and stuff.

I agree that Rick Leary seems to have been a disastrous choice for CEO of the TTC.

I disagree with your imputations of his mental state. Rick Leary has done very well for Rick Leary. Which may well be his main goal. How is that irrational etc.? Ayn Rand would find him objectively superior, I would assume.

The way he runs the TTC, with a disregard for safety, restraining enforcement from doing their jobs like it should actually be done, and intentionally letting the state of the transit agency decline so much like this, it does say a lot about his state of mind. A man with a normal and logical mental state would clearly see that this is not the way to run things and actually take charge to fix things up and stabilize the situation. But him, the way he is so content with operating things in the destructive state that they are in right now, and somehow expecting things to magically improve, it is complete insanity.

[T3G]

You are overcomplicating the issue. He is not mentally unwell, he is what most CEOs are, a corrupt, greedy, self serving sleazebag who's only interest is in furthering his own career. There is nothing unusual about him, you'll find people like this at the helm of most organizations in the world, public and private.

To refer to him as a "soy boy" (which is fascist language for men they find insufficiently aggressive) because he makes decisions you as a front line worked can't comprehend or understand, betrays a fundamental lack of understanding of what the term actually means, and degrades the quality of discourse on the forum.

[TransitMotorcoach]

5 minutes ago, T3G said:

You are overcomplicating the issue. He is not mentally unwell, he is what most CEOs are, a corrupt, greedy, self serving sleazebag who's only interest is in furthering his own career. There is nothing unusual about him, you'll find people like this at the helm of most organizations in the world, public and private.

To refer to him as a "soy boy" (which is fascist language for men they find insufficiently aggressive) because he makes decisions you as a front line worked can't comprehend or understand, betrays a fundamental lack of understanding of what the term actually means, and degrades the quality of discourse on the forum.

The thing is, if one wants to further his or her own career, doing it in such a destructive and shady way is not exactly how to look good on a resume. If anything, it would show others red flags for why a resume should be rejected, and thinking that having a bad track record like this would actually create career advancement opportunities, that is insane in itself (unless the one doing the hiring is another slimy shithead like John Tory, which is why him and Rick Leary got along so well despite his notorious reputation from Boston).

[Ed T.]

3 hours ago, TransitMotorcoach said:

The thing is, if one wants to further his or her own career, doing it in such a destructive and shady way is not exactly how to look good on a resume. If anything, it would show others red flags for why a resume should be rejected, and thinking that having a bad track record like this would actually create career advancement opportunities, that is insane in itself (unless the one doing the hiring is another slimy shithead like John Tory, which is why him and Rick Leary got along so well despite his notorious reputation from Boston).

You appear to be missing the fact that Leary is the CEO of the TTC, while we are discussion forum keyboard warrirors. So clearly Leary's résumé was good enough to make him CEO of more than one transit organization. Results speak for themselves!

Do you think that if you put in your résumé, showing what a top lobster logical thinker you are, you would be offered the job of TTC CEO? (I would say, if that's what you think, Leary isn't the only one who may be "delusional".)

I have no illusions about my résumé qualifying me to be head of the TTC.

[TransitMotorcoach]

34 minutes ago, Ed T. said:

You appear to be missing the fact that Leary is the CEO of the TTC, while we are discussion forum keyboard warrirors. So clearly Leary's résumé was good enough to make him CEO of more than one transit organization. Results speak for themselves!

It was good enough simply due to the fact that his now-former boss John Tory is just as much of a corrupt and slimy sleazebag as he is. 

[Ed T.]

3 minutes ago, TransitMotorcoach said:

It was good enough simply due to the fact that his now-former boss John Tory is just as much of a corrupt and slimy sleazebag as he is. 

Yep. That's how it works. Neither Leary nor Tory are fools, at least not on this subject with their particular take on it.

If anything, one can hope that Olivia Chow isn't part of that nice self-perpetuating and self-rewarding corporate circle. Of course, she can be part of some other self-perpetuating and self-rewarding circle. I guess we'll see.

[nfitz]

1 hour ago, TransitMotorcoach said:

It was good enough simply due to the fact that his now-former boss John Tory is just as much of a corrupt and slimy sleazebag as he is. 

Though Leary was hired by TTC before Tory was mayor. And was hired by Byford. So his resume must have "looked" good enough.

I suspect he's the "used-car salesman" type, who talks a good story, and sucks his bosses every word. There hasn't been a TTC Chair recently with enough gumption to get rid of him. 

Hopefully that's changing.

[Turtle]

I'm the type of person that would enlarge and frame this photo to hang on the wall of my office if I had a role in engineering or safety, or even reported to Rick's office directly.

 

16 hours ago, nfitz said:

Though Leary was hired by TTC before Tory was mayor. And was hired by Byford

Byford? You mean the lipstick on a pig era?

[T3G]

22 hours ago, TransitMotorcoach said:

The thing is, if one wants to further his or her own career, doing it in such a destructive and shady way is not exactly how to look good on a resume. If anything, it would show others red flags for why a resume should be rejected, and thinking that having a bad track record like this would actually create career advancement opportunities, that is insane in itself (unless the one doing the hiring is another slimy shithead like John Tory, which is why him and Rick Leary got along so well despite his notorious reputation from Boston).

I don't see what Rick Leary has done that could actually be credibly tied back to him in a way that would actually affect his career prospects.

The sketchiness of the system increasing? Circumstantial, and it would be difficult to pin that on him, considering policing is the city's responsibility and the city itself has gotten sketchier in the last few years.

Safety being cut back in other ways? Good luck pinning that on him either. Informally, I don't think it unreasonable to conclude that through negligence and neglect, the SRT ended the way that it did (at civilized transit systems, these kinds of incidents don't occur), but unless you could produce a letter saying that Rick Leary actively encouraged the deferral of maintenance or such like, it's a circumstantial conspiracy theory at best.

Service being cut back? Well, considering that doing more with less is the MO of most major organizations in the 21st century, they would probably congratulate him on finding ways to reduce costs. The fact that in doing so he screwed over both his employees and his customer base is completely irrelevant.

The decline of employee morale? Well, nothing unusual about that, and the big cheeses of most major organizations care little for the underlings that are responsible for actually running the organization. So no loss for him there either.

Whatever way I try to look at it, his situation is watertight. Wherever he will go post-TTC, he will invariably fall upward, into a position he is ill qualified to make meaningful change at, and enjoy a very nice salary at it. He's not mentally ill, he has the organization by the balls.

[TransitMotorcoach]

36 minutes ago, T3G said:

I don't see what Rick Leary has done that could actually be credibly tied back to him in a way that would actually affect his career prospects.

The sketchiness of the system increasing? Circumstantial, and it would be difficult to pin that on him, considering policing is the city's responsibility and the city itself has gotten sketchier in the last few years.

Safety being cut back in other ways? Good luck pinning that on him either. Informally, I don't think it unreasonable to conclude that through negligence and neglect, the SRT ended the way that it did (at civilized transit systems, these kinds of incidents don't occur), but unless you could produce a letter saying that Rick Leary actively encouraged the deferral of maintenance or such like, it's a circumstantial conspiracy theory at best.

Service being cut back? Well, considering that doing more with less is the MO of most major organizations in the 21st century, they would probably congratulate him on finding ways to reduce costs. The fact that in doing so he screwed over both his employees and his customer base is completely irrelevant.

The decline of employee morale? Well, nothing unusual about that, and the big cheeses of most major organizations care little for the underlings that are responsible for actually running the organization. So no loss for him there either.

Whatever way I try to look at it, his situation is watertight. Wherever he will go post-TTC, he will invariably fall upward, into a position he is ill qualified to make meaningful change at, and enjoy a very nice salary at it. He's not mentally ill, he has the organization by the balls.

One example that can be pinned on him, his reaction and response to the Osgoode station near-collision on Line 1 in 2020. Wanting to cover things up instead of being transparent about an occurrence that could have proven catastrophic, it goes to show an example of how it is fair and reasonable to question his competence to run a transit agency.

[Ed T.]

And he would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for those meddling kids.

[TransitMotorcoach]

1 hour ago, Ed T. said:

And he would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for those meddling kids.

He did get away with it. His slimy ass is still employed, and collecting quite a massive salary too. All because of a corrupt mayor and spineless city council enabling his ways.

[Turtle]

5 hours ago, TransitMotorcoach said:

He did get away with it. His slimy ass is still employed, and collecting quite a massive salary too. All because of a corrupt mayor and spineless city council enabling his ways.

I'm sorry, but the 2 people that were completely responsible for that Osgoode pocket near miss in the subway are still employed as well, so what is your point? As far as I know, the south end operator is still operating trains on line 1. If you want to start trying to fire people for incompetence, maybe we should start with people who made the choices that led to the outcomes.

[Xtrazsteve]

Why don't we fire everyone, disband TTC, reclaim the assets and rehire new people under new organization with new management and contracts. Or just keep all the operators/mechanics and fire all management and garbage route supervisors. Oh wait, do they even have route supervisors? 

[TransitMotorcoach]

4 hours ago, Turtle said:

I'm sorry, but the 2 people that were completely responsible for that Osgoode pocket near miss in the subway are still employed as well, so what is your point? As far as I know, the south end operator is still operating trains on line 1. If you want to start trying to fire people for incompetence, maybe we should start with people who made the choices that led to the outcomes.

My point is that covering up something this serious is worthy of an immediate dismissal. It also makes one wonder which other skeletons have been covered up at the TTC under his watch that we don't even know about yet.... especially seeing the state of the TTC fall apart under his leadership. 

[Turtle]

7 hours ago, TransitMotorcoach said:

My point is that covering up something this serious is worthy of an immediate dismissal.

 

The union is also  involved in that Osgoode coverup. Carlos Santos was all over the news criticizing the commission. Carlos Santos is currently relegated to causing huge delays on whatever streetcar line he is on, because safety rules have to be followed right? He is out there getting himself 30 minutes late, in a few trips, just so he can get turned or placed on a storage track for his time, just because less than 10km/h through a switch means 6km/h for him. Eff everyone, he is operating safely and according to the rules in  streetcar, even though he had no comprehension of the subway rules or safe operation in the subway when he was holding anti-ttc press conferences and reading from a prepared script that he didn't understand.

 

The union even posted a bunch of anti-OPTO propaganda videos about how that near miss was saved from being a serious collision because two ops were onboard. Nevermind that it was both operators who were completely responsible for setting up and executing the near miss at Osgoode. Every single cringeworthy video they posted showed their members not doing their jobs correctly, but they tried to frame it as lives were saved because the trains had a guard onboard.

 

It has far bigger implications for the entire system than anybody was willing or able to deal with at the time. The way it was dealt with in the media wasn't a coverup, people who need to know about what happened and understand the consequences of the choices that were made, are comfortable with how it worked out.

 

Policy and procedures were violated hugely in that Osgoode pocket incident, but policy, and procedures were being interpreted the wrong way on a regular basis prior to that incident.

[Ed T.]

17 hours ago, TransitMotorcoach said:

He did get away with it. His slimy ass is still employed, and collecting quite a massive salary too. All because of a corrupt mayor and spineless city council enabling his ways.

I meant, almost got away with the coverup. While it was reported by the Star, the Commission apparently was in the dark for most of a year.

The “Near Miss” At Osgoode Station – Steve Munro

Look, I agree with you that Rick Leary is not the boss that the TTC needs or deserves. Where we totally don't agree is throwing a dumb label like "soya-latte gamma boy" on him. I expect that in any kind of bureaucratic or organizational infighting, it's not going to be soya-gamma Leary who gets the knife in the back, but quite a few self-characterized alpha males will be wondering why they are bleeding out while Leary cackles gleefully.

(And Leary has hardly been the only lousy TTC GM/CEO. Whether he is the worst, or the worst in the last XX years, I couldn't say.)

[TransitMotorcoach]

35 minutes ago, Turtle said:

Carlos Santos is currently relegated to causing huge delays on whatever streetcar line he is on, because safety rules have to be followed right? He is out there getting himself 30 minutes late, in a few trips, just so he can get turned or placed on a storage track for his time, just because less than 10km/h through a switch means 6km/h for him. Eff everyone, he is operating safely and according to the rules in  streetcar, even though he had no comprehension of the subway rules or safe operation in the subway when he was holding anti-ttc press conferences and reading from a prepared script that he didn't understand.

When it comes to streetcar delays and going 6 km/h through track switches, I would too if I was a streetcar operator. The operating environment along streetcar routes is very hazardous with lots of landmines to watch out for like suicidal bike couriers ,  and that is one place where schedule adherence flies out the window. I would get short turned MULTIPLE times a day if I was in streetcar. 

[Turtle]

38 minutes ago, TransitMotorcoach said:

When it comes to streetcar delays and going 6 km/h through track switches, I would too if I was a streetcar operator. The operating environment along streetcar routes is very hazardous with lots of landmines to watch out for like suicidal bike couriers ,  and that is one place where schedule adherence flies out the window. I would get short turned MULTIPLE times a day if I was in streetcar. 

No need to be dramatic. The rule is Max 10km/h, so you are allowed to do up to 14km/h before you get disciplined. 11km/h is very safe and comfortable, and falls well within the guidelines, since the speedos and "blue bar" on the display are all calibrated differently on each car. 

 

But I'm sure if you are 3 minutes late on a 5 minute recovery time, you would leave in 2 minutes right? Rules are rules 

1 hour ago, Ed T. said:

I meant, almost got away with the coverup. While it was reported by the Star, the Commission apparently was in the dark for most of a year.

Huh? They had their heads buried so far up their ass they couldn't read or comprehend the internal and external reports on the incident? For almost a year???

[Ed T.]

13 minutes ago, Turtle said:

Huh? They had their heads buried so far up their ass they couldn't read or comprehend the internal and external reports on the incident? For almost a year???

That's what Steve Munro is saying, in the piece I linked to. Of course I am not a Commissioner personally, but Steve (who actually exists as a human being that I see in a common venue from time to time) seems pretty trustworthy.

[TransitMotorcoach]

12 minutes ago, Turtle said:

But I'm sure if you are 3 minutes late on a 5 minute recovery time, you would leave in 2 minutes right? Rules are rules 

No, I would use those 5 minutes anyway, especially if I feel I need to. The only rules and regulations I follow are safety ones. The service guidelines, I don't care one bit about. Those run schedules are the equivalent of torture and abuse anyway, so I just go at my own pace,  take as much of a layover as I feel I need, and kill a full trip or two in the process. If I get called into the manager's office about it and get written up (I already have) or suspended,  it honestly is no big deal for me. My mission is to protect my safety record and well being at all costs. 

[nfitz]

6 hours ago, TransitMotorcoach said:

The service guidelines, I don't care one bit about. 

One of the problems  with TTC is that operators who don't care even a bit about service guidelines are not fired.

[Turtle]

7 hours ago, TransitMotorcoach said:

The service guidelines, I don't care one bit about. Those run schedules are the equivalent of torture and abuse anyway, so I just go at my own pace,  take as much of a layover as I feel I need, and kill a full trip or two in the process.

You never worry about wasting someone else's time? Your only concern is yourself? You're in the wrong job.