TTC Renovates

In southern Ontario, we often say that there are two seasons: winter and construction. This Victoria Day weekend, the TTC began a remodeling project for Bay street station. The renovations affected service to nearby St. George station, forcing travellers to change trains at Museum station. Museum is not a station equipped with multiple levels allowing passengers to connect east/west/north and southbound. The TTC's strategic planning for the long weekend had incoming trains forcing all passengers to disembark on one side of the platform and board another train on the opposite side of the platform.

The "loading" side of the platform had a new sign on display indicating eastbound and westbound trains could be boarded on the platform. There were many TTC staff members on site in florescent vests with handheld signs indicating to passengers where they should board their train to reach their intended destination. There were many staff members equipped with signs indicating the direction of the arriving train which where held high in the air and accompanied with their own voices shouting the direction of the train.

I was aware of the service change after reading an article online at www.thestar.com. Further research showed similar information at www.torontosun.com. Service announcements were made over the TTC public address system, and signs were posted at every station.

As I was waiting for an eastbound train at Museum station, I noticed that there were many people confused about the service. One man charged the doors of a train going out of service and TTC staff members had to flag down the operator to re-open the doors and escort the confused gentleman out of the train. Also, in the five minutes I spent waiting for the train, two people with limited English skills approached TTC staff members for directions. After a lengthy conversation, they were sent on their way. I hope they got on their desired train.

At the end of the day, there was little disruption to service. My trip was delayed by about five minutes and most of the transit riders seemed to know where to go to get the appropriate train. However, the TTC could have improved their communication by displaying signs in other languages for riders with limited English. Toronto is one of the most multi-cultural cities in the world and I found it surprising that the TTC was unprepared to deal with riders in any language other than English. I am sure there are TTC staff members that are bilingual and it would have been an asset to have them on hand on the weekend. At the very least, signs in multiple languages could have been posted.