It just gets worse…
Finally, someone caught one of these jerks doing his personal crap while on duty, causing everyone to wait for him. This happens ALL THE TIME, whether it’s for banking, coffee, or pizza slices (I’ve seen them all). I hope everyone clicks more pix like this one and these guys get heavily reprimanded. This sense of entitlement really needs to stop and the TTC Union boss–Constant Argument for Birth Control, Bob Kinnear–needs to piss off. The COMMENTS section contains the full story (yes, it’s the Sun, but again, I have a reason to be here…):
February 2nd, 2010 at 3:06 am
We’ve been down this route before.
Another day, another disgruntled TTC rider and more photos posted online of a taxpayer-funded employee slacking off.
This time a streetcar rider snapped a series of six photos of a Red Rocket driver stopping mid-route on Jan. 20 to use a TD Green Machine.
Patrick — who asked that his last name not be used out of fear of reprisal — snapped the photos out of frustration as his lunch break was ticking away and he was trying to get back to work on time.
“I was ticked off,” he said. “I couldn’t believe how brazen this was.”
He posted the photos on his Facebook account under the title, “The TTC is a joke.”
The photos show the driver of the eastbound 501 Queen streetcar stopping to hit the ATM on Queen St. W., just west of Spadina Ave., while about 40 stalled riders sit and wait to continue on the self-proclaimed Better Way.
Patrick said the driver, after waiting in line behind other customers, did his banking, moseyed back to the vehicle, climbed on board and started the route again.
“I think the elapsed time was about seven minutes,” the 24-year-old said, adding traffic at the busy downtown intersection ground to a standstill behind the closed car.
“I just couldn’t believe it. Especially with the (fare) hike.”
Earlier this month, the cost of a one-way ride on the TTC jumped by 25 cents along with increases to the cost of Metropasses, child and senior fares.
TTC spokesman Brad Ross confirmed Friday that streetcar drivers aren’t permitted to hit the brakes to conduct personal banking or even to get a coffee.
“It’s not permitted,” Ross said bluntly. “If they need to stop for a bathroom break they can do that but to conduct personal business, it’s not permitted.
“If they’re due for a break they need to notify Transit Control — and we have ways of putting another operator on or managing the route to accommodate breaks — but stopping mid-route to conduct personal business is not permitted.”
If riders notice something wrong they can complain to the TTC at 416-393-3030.
Ross said when riders make a complaint they should have a vehicle number, date and time.
“We want feedback, we need to hear when things aren’t operating as they should be,” Ross said. “That’s the only way that we’re going to be able to fix things.”
Criticism of the TTC has been going full throttle since a rider snapped a photo of a sleeping TTC collector and posted it online a week ago. The photo went viral and sparked a firestorm of rider outrage. Collector George Robitaille apologized, but Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 president Bob Kinnear blamed the riders for not checking to make sure he was all right.
Both the union and the TTC maintain that the vast majority of staff are hardworking employees who serve the city dutifully.
Days later, TTC chairman Adam Giambrone delivered a general apology to riders for treating them badly and vowed that the Better Way would actually try to be better.
“Certainly the public is more aware (because of this week’s media coverage) that the TTC has some challenges on the customer service front,” Ross said.
February 2nd, 2010 at 10:23 am
I love it when people snap pictures on the spur of a moment like this … and then post those pictures on line for everyone to see. Sadly, I’m not a bit surprised by the TTC driver’s antics. Unfortunately, the majority of them believe that they are entitled to behaving that way, and wouldn’t care less if passengers get inconvenienced in the process.
I often take the TTC late at night after work, which puts me in the subway about half an hour before it shuts down for the night. Yet, we regularly stop half way and wait in a station so the drivers can do a “shift change”. For the longest time, I wondered why they would do a shift change so close to the end of the night, so one day, I asked. Apparently, drivers switch cars because it conveniently puts them on their way home. Never mind the fact that in the process, I lose a few precious minutes, which often costs me my connection (and I’m willing to bet I’m not the only one). In the end, I often have to take a cab home to finish my journey. So, I certainly appreciate the frustration this man must have felt when he took those pictures… but I doubt there will be any consequences for this driver. I went on Facebook trying to find the pictures he posted, but I couldn’t find them, so if you know where to locate them, can you please post the link?
Now, having said that, I still believe that there are outstanding drivers within the company. Unfortunately for them, they are outnumbered by those who would rather slack on the job.
I also try to NOT jump to conclusion too fast when something appears in the media about the TTC. Sure, I got a good laugh when I saw the picture of the TTC employee sleeping on the job, but now that I have read more information about him, I tend to believe that he is actually a good employee. And his sleeping on the job was probably caused by his medical condition rather than pure lazyness. I do make a distinction between the two.
As a side note, I find amusing that you need to (almost) apologize for reading the Sun. Don’t worry, we all do sometimes… so we forgive you
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:43 am
Yeah Lily, I’ve had some great TTC drivers and actually called up the TTC to commend them. I’ve also called to complain about ridiculous breaks and never hear anything back from them. They really need to change the culture at the TTC from top to bottom. You should have heard their union boss on the radio in interview after interview. He blames the public–those who pay his salary!–and the management and pretends nothing is wrong with his employees.
As for the Sun, I have a long history of negativity toward the paper. So yeah, I do feel compelled to apologize…but one of the radio stations I listen to always makes reference to some story in the Sun so I check it out and if it’s not in the Star, I’m too lazy to check the Globe and thus…
February 4th, 2010 at 6:15 am
And it keeps getting uglier, as this link and video shows: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/760176–ttc-driver-s-coffee-break-caught-on-video?bn=1
The sad thing is, only now are people finally taking action. Hundreds more drivers and ticket takers should have been nailed!
February 13th, 2010 at 8:04 pm
I’m the first to admit that my hour TTC commute to work every morning makes me angry every single day but It’s not the unscheduled breaks or sleeping ticket booth guy that makes me angry. I could handle that, it’s the constant delays on the subway EVERY DAY “signal problems” or whatever ‘they’ call it and the rudeness of the booth workers/bus drivers. I could swallow the other stuff if they tried to be a bit more pleasant.
Working in customer service sucks, but other jobs that you get $30+/hour require a chunk of cash in education and training. They picked this job and are compensated quite nicely so, cheer the fuck up and slap a smile on your face and try to listen to your customer. I’m sure this would reduce the anger towards them.
And what’s with the money spent on digital signs and other shit when the TTC is falling apart. Those things don’t placate us, we’re still just as grouchy.
Stupid TTC.
February 14th, 2010 at 4:25 am
Thank you for the message, Amanda. I agree and these breakdowns in service and attitude are a slap in the face when Miller and Giambrone pretend that they’ve made such improvements. And of course, the Union boss, Bob Kinnear, has always been a delusional thug who blames everyone else except for his own staff.
February 19th, 2010 at 1:01 am
Okay, today I was witness to a bus driver losing his temper and it was actually pretty terrifying. Here’s what went down….
I got on the bus on route South bound to 70 Coxwell station and lucky me I found a seat near the back. Things carry on as usual and once we approached the busiest stop before reaching the subway (the hospital at around 4:15pm) the driver starts shouting to move all the way to the back up the stairs, a lot of of people need to get on (everyone was on the bus), He comes out of his little bus booth and screams at a group of people including a woman trying to push her babies’ stroller on as much as she could. People began to stand on the back of the bus. (It’s really hard to keep your balance up there) and there was a good four feet of room between the clump of people and the line near the driver. Then the driver starts SCREAMING that if people don’t move back he’s going to put the bus out of service. Meanwhile people start grumbling, giggling, shouting back, as people do when faced with tension. The driver responds by closing the bus doors and screaming the previous threat several times.
Now, we’re trapped. He pulls away and drives about halfway between the stops and slams on his breaks sending everyone standing flying. I don’t know what set him off but he totally lost control and started screaming at a passenger to “Come up here and tell me what I should do”. At this point he did open the doors and I got the hell off that bus and walked to the station. I don’t know if anyone was injured but that was unacceptable on any level.
I’ve tried to complain, and of course the website “is undergoing maintenance”. This driver needs to pulled from customer service immediately and find ways to deal with the stresses of his job without threatening passengers.
WTF?!
February 20th, 2010 at 3:03 am
WTF indeed, Amanda. I hope someone is as tenacious as I am and ensures that this douche gets reprimanded. On the other hand, I wish more drivers would implore people to move backward on the bus; but he should have done so in a much better manner. Double douche…
February 21st, 2010 at 8:08 pm
Hopefully, I won’t overkill this story by adding a few more comments…
Amanda, the story you related is horrible, and I have seen rude drivers like this one, although not to that extent. However, as RR said, it would be nice if people were moving back to make room for others and I think their behaviour is just as wrong here.
I went on the TTC website and I had no problem opening the page to submit a complaint. However, what is different (it seems, as I sent complaints before) is that you have to fill in the form and fax it to their office. They guarantee a response within 20 days. I do like that, because it may deter those who are just frustrated on the spur of the moment, but allow those who want to pursue the issue to do so. Would you be so inclined?
Yesterday, I read an article in the Star that relates to this (or so they think) and I thought I would share my thoughts on it
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/768663–lessons-on-dealing-with-guest-from-hell#article
First of all, I usually like it when the Star goes out and investigates “under cover”. They often have a good purpose for it, and it often leads to interesting outcomes. However, in this case, I don’t see the relevance of it and in the end, they haven’t proven anything.
Just from the title, before I actually read the article, I thought the idea/intention was pretty good. But in the end, I was left feeling sorry for the staff who had to endure this woman, and still questionned what was the connection with the TTC in all that?
If anything, it actually reinforces the fact that the TTC needs an overhaul in customer service protocole, and Steve O’Brien might indeed be the right man to show them the way. I liked his response to the whole thing. He is right in saying that: … “it’s not about being perfect. It’s about doing your best and dealing with a situation well…” His staff did that, TTC often doesn’t, and that is the problem … and that is why they are under fire right now.
In any case, it was unnecessary for this woman to put the staff at the hotel under such pressure. It does not prove anything. I would go as far as question why she (or the Star) think that they are “entitled” to test them. They haven’t done anything wrong. For the Star to go and investigate people who are suspected of wrongdoing… fine. but to go and test people who haven’t done anything wrong… is out of line. The staff is probably wotking long hours, doing a job that is difficult, making not so great money, etc… Yet they came out of this (IMO) as the winners. Shame on the Star!!! My respect for them has gone way down!!
February 23rd, 2010 at 2:50 am
I agree, Lily. I mean, the point was to see whether the new fixer for the TTC has done a good job at his own workplace. However, this reporter went overboard and, in the end, few people seem to think her rationale made any sense. Now, if they acted as a mildly difficult TTC rider and saw how the TTC employees reacted, that would be relevant.
I still respect the Star because, overall, they do a great job in exposing this kind of thing. But I agree that they blew it this time. I hope the editors in charge of this debacle and the reporter herself get a bit of a reprimand for their misguided actions.