The Toronto Star partnered up with The Onion website to produce this advertisement filled, fake news piece of crap. Since no one watches TV, listens to the radio, or pays for a newspaper anymore, I think a lot of people will be getting false news as their primary source of news. I’d bet that more than half of TTC riders won’t even realize it is fake news!

Luckily, I’m kind of a computer nerd and have heard of the Onion before. It is a funny news website where they make fun of real news. I totally didn’t fall for it and tell all my friends the protests are over…

Yep, I was on a brand new TTC train. Clean floors, clean seats, clean windows. All the carts connect so you can walk from the front to the back of the train. There were blinking LEDs on the map to show you which stop you are at, as well as a display with the name of the stop. A nice voice tells you to “please stand clear of doors” before they squish you, and the air conditioning seemed to be working better too.

When I busted out my phone to take the videos, some 12 year old kid saw me and gave me the stare down. I thought he thought I was an idiot, but then he took out a camera and started taking videos too! His YouTube channel probably has better videos than mine. Anywho, I arrived at Yorkdale and said goodbye to the new chariot of the Gods (aka. new TTC)

I’ve seen the ads in the Metro Newspaper saying that there are public TTC meetings going on all week. I have never been to one, but I kind of imagined it to be a couple of TTC speakers at a table and a room full of reporters (and dedicated citizens) asking questions. In fact, I even thought that there would be refreshments!

To my disappointment, the meeting was pretty much just a room with about 40 posters showing what the route changes are. The info on the posters were pretty much identical to the info on their website.

Sample:
8 BROADVIEW – No service after 10:00 p.m., Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
120 CALVINGTON – No service after 10:00 p.m., Monday to Saturday. No service on Sundays and holidays.
20 CLIFFSIDE – No service after 10:00 p.m., Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.
(times 37 other routes)

There were also some TTC workers standing in front of the posters answering questions and giving out comment forms. I wouldn’t call the event a meeting. It was just an info session for people that don’t have the internet or just want a human to relay the info to them.

I don’t think it’s worth it to attend these meetings. You tell the TTC surveyor that service ends at 10pm, but your shift ends at 11pm. Some will write stuff down on their notepad, while others will just “remember” to bring it up with the people in charge. As the TTC surveyor has no power, once the meeting is over, they can pretty much throw away their notepad and your comment cards. It’s a way to console the public after giving bad news.

I think the TTC is run in a really bad way, but as normal Toronto citizens, there’s not much we can do about it.

Entrance. Get a comment card from the nice lady:

Posters of the route changes aka reductions:

More posters, and a poser!?!:

The new plan is to just build subways (which are about 3-4x as expensive). I have no idea where Ford will get the money to do it, but hell ya, subways are key. Anyone who has ever played Sim City knows that subways are well worth the cost. If you build subways, people will start using it and the roads will clear up.

Anyway, I was reading some of the comments on the news sites and someone made a very good point.

Note that these subway maps are totally to scale. I looked at a Google map, used my fingers to measure their distances, then resized the Tokyo subway map to about the right size.

If you’ve seen the Tokyo subways at rush hour, just imagine if they didn’t have a subway! All those people would be driving on the 401!

Now, I am forced to share some secret techniques that some people use to save money on TTC.

Pay the fare in dimes, nickels, and pennies
Just grab a handful and put it in the collection box. Those lazy attendants won’t stop you. For the few that do, just ask them how much you are short by. Make those guys actually do some work.

Pay with a dime instead of a token
When the change box has change and tokens, throw in a dime. I don’t need to explain this one, I’m sure everyone here has thought about it before.

Sell TTC transfers
Get a whole bunch of transfers at the subway station, and when you get to the transfer point, start selling your transfers for like $1. The people that were going to pay cash fare or use a token would gladly buy a transfer. Chances are that the bus will be late anyway, so you might as well capitalize on the waiting time.

Photocopy a TTC monthly pass
Color photocopy one of those monthly passes and put the piece of paper in an old wallet. If you want, you could also get a blank BestBuy giftcard and glue your photocopy onto the card. Flash it to the bus drivers and toll collectors and see if they notice. If you want something more high end, I hear you can get some “exact” replicas for 20 bucks.

Please note that these plans are not recommended and I don’t support such underhand tactics. I am just saying that some people might use these methods and easily get away with it. But you should definitely pay the full fare price. Cheating the system only hurts other riders, especially the ones who are willing to pay fare hikes.

Nov 13, 2009 – Fare Protest
Nov 19, 2009 – Fare Discussion Meeting
Jan 3, 2010 – New Fare Effective Date

I am attending this event, though it is going to be as useless as trying to bargain with an automated token dispenser. In fact, they already reduced the number of tokens you can buy at one time. You’re only allowed to buy 5 tokens, instead of the usual 10, because they are worried about people hoarding tokens. People are buying lots of tokens and they “don’t” want that? The only reason I can think of is that fare hike has already been decided and the “fare meeting” is merely there to pretend they are listening.

TTC has a monopoly on the only cheap method of transportation. They could raise the fare to $4 and nobody can do anything about it. Let’s face it, the majority of TTC riders are poor, being more environmentally friendly, or reducing traffic congestion. As long as it is cheaper than owning a car or taking a taxi, people are going to take the TTC regardless of the price.

The government should just tax gasoline another 2%. Less drivers means less traffic, less smog, less potholes to fix, remaining drivers get to their destinations faster, and more money to the TTC. The TTC union should also be abolished and everyone with an over-sized paycheck takes a pay cut or a pink slip. The bus drivers get paid close to what they deserve, but the fare collectors can easily be replaced by a McDonald’s cashier for 1/3 the wage. As for the people running the whole thing, they should all be fired and replaced by people who actually care and are willing to take up the position for minimal salary.