What is the point of posting a schedule, in any form, when operators do not seem
to follow them.

Over the past month, most drivers on the Keele 41 route have either been up to 7
minutes early or 7 minutes late, after 9pm everyday during the weekday and also
during anytime during the weekends.

I can understand traffic and weather delays, but when the weather and roads are
clear, what excuse can be used then.

I guess as a passenger of public transit for the past 35 years, should I lower
my expectations of the TTC following any posted information?

Darren
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

--- In transit-toronto@yahoogroups.com, metisbus@... wrote:
>Darren all I can say is this Don't wander out here to Mississauga.
It's a lot worse here.
> What is the point of posting a schedule, in any form, when operators
do not seem to follow them.
>
> Over the past month, most drivers on the Keele 41 route have either
been up to 7 minutes early or 7 minutes late, after 9pm everyday
during the weekday and also during anytime during the weekends.
>
> I can understand traffic and weather delays, but when the weather
and roads are clear, what excuse can be used then.
>
> I guess as a passenger of public transit for the past 35 years,
should I lower my expectations of the TTC following any posted
information?
>
> Darren
> Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
>

I was actually in Mississauga last week, using the 1, 19 and 201, and I found
them to be within a minute or two of the recorded information.

I also received my TRANSIT PLANNER certification, not URBAN PLANNER at
Mississauga Transit in 1993, where I helped to introduce the weekly pass.

I was impressed, not only with the information available by telephone, 24 hours
a day, but by the overall look by the buses.

Darren
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

I was talking to a bus driver the other night. He was telling me that his
new hybrid bus broke down the night before while he was doing the Bathurst
blue night route. The bus stalled in the middle of the road. He called into
CIS and they told him to do a few things to get it going again and when that
didn't work he was told the bus must have run out of fuel. You see the new
buses don't have a fuel gauge. Now the buses are supposed to be fueled every
day and they have a 24 hour tank range but sometimes the occasional bus will
slip through the cracks and not get fueled and since they are not equipped
with a fuel gauge they have no way of telling if this was done. This is
unreal. How much would it cost to put a file gauge in a bus. Just tow a bus
once and the gauge would be paid for.





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I got yelled at for placing buses I had CIS faults on in the service line after
I repaired them.
My argument was the bus didn't looked serviced. The foreperson overuled me, told
me to park it as a good bus and move on. It ran out of fuel that night.
Always listen to your foreperson's instructions.
That is all...
Full GPS implementation complete for streetcar CIS.
Capitol crews now making progress lighting up GPS tracking and cameras on the
rubber fleet.

Hey

All New Orion 7 (74xx-80xx)  are  Running out of Fuel in  Summer and
Late Night Bule Line Route . Also  they are Build small Fuel Tank  it
Can hold only less 24hours

Arran

















-- In transit-toronto@yahoogroups.com, "randy-scott" <scotty9@...>
wrote:
>
>
>
>
>  I was talking to a bus driver the other night. He was telling me
that his
> new hybrid bus broke down the night before while he was doing the
Bathurst
> blue night route. The bus stalled in the middle of the road. He
called into
> CIS and they told him to do a few things to get it going again and
when that
> didn't work he was told the bus must have run out of fuel. You see
the new
> buses don't have a fuel gauge. Now the buses are supposed to be
fueled every
> day and they have a 24 hour tank range but sometimes the occasional
bus will
> slip through the cracks and not get fueled and since they are not
equipped
> with a fuel gauge they have no way of telling if this was done.
This is
> unreal. How much would it cost to put a file gauge in a bus. Just
tow a bus
> once and the gauge would be paid for.
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

I've had a bus stall on me twice (once with a 7600-series, once with a
1300-series) within a year. Both cases were on Night Bus (once on St.
Clair, once doing Finch on Christmas Night).

From what I'm aware of, the only diesel buses TTC owns with a fuel
guage are the 7200 RTS's. I've been told that either the Orion V CNG's
or the VI CNG's had fuel guages as well.

--- In transit-toronto@yahoogroups.com, metisbus@... wrote:
>
> I was actually in Mississauga last week, using the 1, 19 and 201,
and I found them to be within a minute or two of the recorded
information.

There exists none worse than the Bathurst bus (I have complained about
this for years.) I must point out that for the past year or so it has
been plagued by various construction projects (Bathurst being one of
few streets where parking is generally prohibited even outside of rush
hours, so there's a lot of traffic) which are now over, long gone.
Still, bus service is erratic at best. No matter what time of day,
weekend and even early Sunday morning, buses travel in pairs, even
groups of 3 or 4 if you're lucky, leaving gaps of at least 15 minutes.
Short turns are actually pretty uncommon, leaving one to wonder what
the hell is going on. Not as bad as the 7A used to be though- For a
service that was scheduled every 30 minutes it was OK in the morning,
but in the afternoon you'd be lucky to catch one if you waited over an
hour.

I've recently received a letter in the mail for a telephone interview, can
anyone tell me
what I can expect to be asked? Plus what different steps are involved in the
hiring
process?

This isn't your first job interview is it?
Typical questions...how long is your shelling?
Do you know where all the coffee shops are?
Can you fart?

Sorry list...
I just had to say it.

What job are you being interviewed for?

------Original Message------
From: Jason Herdsman
Sender: transit-toronto@yahoogroups.com
To: transit-toronto@yahoogroups.com
ReplyTo: transit-toronto@yahoogroups.com
Subject: <Transit-Toronto> hiring process
Sent: Feb 2, 2009 8:06 AM

I've recently received a letter in the mail for a telephone interview, can
anyone tell me
what I can expect to be asked? Plus what different steps are involved in the
hiring
process?


------------------------------------

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Transit Toronto Website:  http://transit.toronto.on.ca
To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank e-mail to:
   mailto:transit-toronto-unsubscribe@...! Groups Links

Possible questions you might be asked include:

Tell me about yourself

Why do you want to work for us?

What do you know about the TTC?

I am not sure about the hiring process




________________________________
From: Jason Herdsman <jherdsman4@...>
To: transit-toronto@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, February 2, 2009 8:06:26 AM
Subject: <Transit-Toronto> hiring process


I've recently received a letter in the mail for a telephone interview, can
anyone tell me
what I can expect to be asked? Plus what different steps are involved in the
hiring
process?



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I've driven all of them.
I have seen a fuel gauge.

- correction to last -

I've driven all of them.
I have never seen a fuel gauge.

H

Subway shut down from Keele TO Kipling because of a fire on the subway at quebec
ave and bloor. Judging by the streets listed on the Toronto fire service
website, I  believe theres a fire at high park station thats causing the shut
down.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In transit-toronto@yahoogroups.com, metisbus@... wrote:
> I guess as a passenger of public transit for the past 35 years,
should I lower my expectations of the TTC following any posted
information?

As a TTC rider for 35 years, you should know that the TTC is the TTC -
my experiences depend on the route;


110A, B Islington South - tends to be reliable.
123 Shroncliffe - generally reliable.
501 Queen car - runs whenever it wants to, the schedule is there as a
joke.
Subway - very frequent and tends to be reliable, as long as it does
not snow.

Wotan

There was a small 'PLAN B' (Fire at Track Level) There was less than 20
minutes lost time while it was put out.

This is why the new Garbage cans will pay for themselves (if people use
them) newspapers and stuff cause problems like this at least once a
week.

Dear Advocates:

To fans commenting on busses running out of fuel.
As a 25+ year GTA transit user, I am well aware of this dashboard deficiency.It
exists in most local transit fleets.
Transit officials have told me that there is no need for a fuel guage since ALL
servicable vehicles are cleaned and fuelled EVERY night.
This is corporate policy.

I have a few queations to ask.
Hey,how much extra would such a guage cost?
Would that addition negatively affect funding?
What is cost of sending staff & vehicle out to correct situation?
Would this aid service reliability & good public relations?

yours, Jeffrey Stone


       __________________________________________________________________
Connect with friends from any web browser - no download required. Try the new
Yahoo! Canada Messenger for the Web BETA at
http://ca.messenger.yahoo.com/webmessengerpromo.php

Supervisors keep TTC on track
--  Route managers help vehicles run more efficiently by monitoring
delays, bunching and staffing needs

http://www.thestar.com/article/580796

Feb. 02, 2009


Tess Kalinowski
TRANSPORTATION REPORTER


By 10 a.m., Doug Smith is halfway through his early shift as a TTC
route supervisor.

His feet and fingers should be numb in the sub-Arctic air that freezes
the ink in a reporter's pen.

But both he and Bryan Cross, two of the three route supervisors
managing the 501 Queen streetcar route, just smile at the cold.
They've learned to layer up under their trademark TTC jackets.

Cross isn't even wearing gloves at their post outside the TTC's
Russell division at Queen St. and Connaught Ave. It's cold, but it
could be snowing.

"If the weather's good, Queen's good," says Smith.

Snow delays traffic and clogs the sand dispensers under the streetcars
that help them maintain traction. That means stopping to clear the
pipes, says Cross.

Frequent mechanical problems mean supervisors have to scramble to find
another car. These days, the 30-year-old Rockets are failing so fast
the TTC expects to be running buses on some routes by the end of the
year to keep service levels up.

"There are days when you're constantly scrambling to find a piece of
equipment," says Smith.

When he began as a supervisor on Queen 15 years ago, there were 44
cars on the route. Now there are 31, though he doesn't say whether
running the longer (but fewer) articulated streetcars has replaced
some of the regular light rail vehicles.

Smith and Cross manage the east- and westbound streetcars,
respectively, monitoring delays, writing reports, switching operators
due to go off-shift or on-break with service assistance crews who can
keep the cars moving until another operator is deployed, occasionally
short-turning or holding cars to avoid bunching farther up the line.

There's another supervisor at the west end of the Queen route, which
is one of the longest in North America, stretching from Long Branch
east to Neville Park.

Since September, Smith and Cross have been on the front lines of the
Step Forward program, the name for the TTC's assault on the things
that most infuriate Queen car riders: delays, bunching and short-turns.

The official report on its effectiveness isn't expected until later
this month. But Smith, a route supervisor for 20 years, believes Step
Forward has already cut delays and short turns by at least half.

TTC general manager of operations Rick Cornacchia agrees,
weather-related delays notwithstanding. And December and January were
wintery.

"Compared to the fall of 2007, I think (then) we averaged about 575
short turns per week. I think we're running around 250," he said.

Riders also can expect to see more route supervisors this year.
Pending council approval in March, the TTC expects to hire an extra
20, and that many more again in each of the next two years.

Supervisors could keep service moving more efficiently on some of the
city's busier bus and streetcar routes, which got significant boosts
in service last year.

"What we will do is start managing our streetcar and bus routes more
effectively over a three-year plan," said TTC chair Adam Giambrone.

There are many reasons for sluggish service, but cuts to on-street
supervision dating to the 1990s are part of it, he said. "You can add
more service, but you need to better manage the service you have on
the streets today."

Route supervisors also add a level of customer service, Cornacchia
said. "We can teach them route management techniques – that kind of
stuff. ... It's really the customer service, good employee interaction
that is the key to somebody on the street corner."

Smith and Cross have smiles and warm greetings for operators stepping
on and off the streetcars, and the passersby picking their way across
the icy sidewalk.

With short-turns and delays, "as long as you explain to people what
the problem is they're very receptive," says Smith. "The odd time,
somebody will tear a strip off you.

"When you turn a car at Kingston Rd. and you kick those 15 people off,
you have to keep in mind there's another 300 or 400 people waiting up
the line," he said. "You'll never get a perfect system when it comes
to streetcars unless we get our own right of way, and I don't think
that's going to happen on routes like Queen."

Smith and Cross work blind in the sense that they can't see what's
happening up the line. That part of the job remains in the TTC's
Communications and Information System, a control room that tracks
every vehicle and radios relevant information to the street supervisors.

But the TTC expects the same GPS-based technology that's now providing
riders with next-vehicle-arrival information at some stations and bus
stops will soon be available to route supervisors on hand-held units.

"I would like to think this year we could do a pilot. Providing the
pilot is successful, hopefully next year we can start rolling it out,"
said Cornacchia.

"There's gaps (in service) that are 10 minutes at Yonge St.; they're
15 minutes here. With GPS we could see it sooner," said Smith. But he
said new streetcars would be his priority.



© Copyright Toronto Star 1996-2009

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We're still playing catch-up on public transit
http://www.thestar.com/article/580802

Feb. 2, 2009

Christopher Hume


As a Londoner and an architect, Will Alsop has a lot to say about
public transit.

He's one of those rare birds who both uses transit and designs it.
These days, his attention is focused on Toronto, where he's doing two
stations on the Spadina subway extension, Steeles and Finch.

In town for a series of briefings with the TTC, Alsop says he likes
what he's hearing. The commission's engineers have, he says, "provided
very useful feedback."

According to the peripatetic Alsop, "They all want these stations to
be exceptional. Every station will be different; they're not taking a
corporate approach where everything has the same look."

His goal, he explains, will be to introduce as much light and air as
possible into structures that are essentially enormous concrete boxes
buried 15 metres underground. He also uses the word "joy" when talking
about his stations; it is, he insists, a quality he hopes will be
experienced by future passengers.

God knows, that in itself would be a remarkable achievement, and
appropriate given that in the decades ahead Torontonians will rely on
transit a lot more.

It's interesting that Alsop is one of four U.K. architectural firms –
the others are Foster and Partners, Aedas and Grimshaw-Architects –
that won contracts to design subway stops for the TTC.

You can't help but wonder whether the preponderance of Brits has
something to do with the fact that the English now pay about $2.30 for
a litre of gas. On top of that is London's Congestion Charge, which
stands at about $14 a day.

In other words, driving a car in London has become very pricey. By
comparison, Toronto is dirt cheap. Which doesn't mean we appreciate
that fact; indeed, we have come to regard inexpensive fuel as a
birthright. This may be one of the reasons why transit in Toronto has
fallen 20 to 25 years behind Europe and Asia.

"With gas prices here so low it feels like free motoring," Alsop
admits. "I used to drive a Range Rover, but I got rid of it in 2004
and bought a Smart Car when I realized it was costing me $250 to fill
it up.

"I'm never sure in Toronto what the policy about traffic reduction
is," he adds. "I hear conflicting things. Toronto has an international
reputation for being the home of many green industries and much green
thinking, which is all contradicted by the city's rather ambiguous
attitudes to traffic and CO2 reduction."

Most of us would prefer it if everyone else took the TTC so we could
have the roads to ourselves.

Our inadequate public transit system also provides a convenient
justification for politicians to argue against taking down the
Gardiner Expressway and other such moves. Even Toronto Mayor David
Miller has been known to use this excuse.

But we have reached the point where even Premier Dalton McGuinty is
speaking about the "fundamental challenges" faced by the province's
increasingly creaky economy. Our sagging competitiveness results from
the same outdated thinking that fails to recognize the importance of
transit.

Still, Toronto and the GTA are waiting for money they need to catch
up. And the fact is that funding won't be forthcoming any time soon.
So we have reached the point where economic priorities and
environmental imperatives are one and the same.

With almost no room left to manoeuvre, Toronto can only hope that the
Spadina extension doesn't end up being its last best chance.

At this moment, a subway seems a lot to expect, let alone joy.


© Copyright Toronto Star 1996-2009

http://www.tracgtha.ca/blog

Dave

Some questions Id ask beyond the typical interview questions:

    - How often do you read the Transit Toronto website?
    - How would you rate Steve Munro? (optional survey question?)
    - How would you respond if someone refers to our Commish as "Admiral
    Adam"?
    - How do you feel about streetcars/hybrid buses/trolley buses/natural gas
    buses/articulated buses/Orion buses
    - Do you support the Downtown Relief Line and Yonge Subway expansion
    (hint: this is a trick question)

But seriously...you can probably expect questions about your work schedule
and flexibility, how you would respond to any of the various situations a
TTC employee might face (this depends on the job which you didnt specify),
where you intend to be in 5 years, etc.

Cheers, Moaz


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 8:06 AM, Jason Herdsman <jherdsman4@...> wrote:
> I've recently received a letter in the mail for a telephone interview, can
> anyone tell me
> what I can expect to be asked? Plus what different steps are involved in the
> hiring
> process?

Hi Jason;

I don't know what the TTC will ask specifically. Assuming that you are
looking at an operator position, well everyone says that they look for
customer service experience so be ready with stories about how you
dealt with the public, keeping everyone calm and happy.

A book that you might want to look at is "Sell yourself in any
interview : use proven sales techniques to land your dream job", by
Oscar Adler. The key point is that when the interviewer asks you a
question like "tell us about yourself", they're not actually saying
"tell us about yourself", they're asking "what will you do for us?".
The book (like many business books I've read) is a little wordy; the
concept is simple once you get it so in that case skip to the summary
at the end of the chapter.

So the answer to "tell us about yourself" is not to start by: "Well,
when I was born, I was very small. I got bigger, though. In fourth
grade I did a project on frogs. In high school shop I welded up a
filing cabinet. <and so on>." (Someone actually started this way when
asked to introduce himself at a meeting.)

You want to say something like "Well, I have always liked to work with
people." Then give an example where you handled a grumpy customer or
group of customers, making them all less grumpy and satisfied with
your service in the end. Then finish with, "I'd like to use my
abilities to work with the public to make the TTC a better experience
for all my riders, keeping them happy with TTC service, coming back,
and telling their friends 'you don't really need a car, the TTC is
good!'"

If you are applying for a technical position, modify the above as necessary.

If I may ask, when did you put in your application? You see, I put one
in for operator as well. Wondering how long it takes TTC HR to process
applications. And I've been working with the outplacement agency,
hence have absorbed various lessons about resumes and interviewing.

Ed (EI) Treijs

--- In transit-toronto@yahoogroups.com, qp2trz@... wrote:
>
> I got yelled at for placing buses I had CIS faults on in the service
line after I repaired them.
> My argument was the bus didn't looked serviced. The foreperson
overuled me, told me to park it as a good bus and move on. It ran out
of fuel that night.

Aren't buses with defects of any kind (unless the bus is inoperable)
supposed to be fueled and serviced BEFORE they get to the repair bay?
At least that's how I remember the procedures at the garages.

Was the foreperson aware that these buses had not actually gone through
the service line?

Robert Lubinski

--- In transit-toronto@yahoogroups.com, "eallen110" <eallen@...> wrote:
>
<snip>
>
> This is why the new Garbage cans will pay for themselves (if people use
> them) newspapers and stuff cause problems like this at least once a
> week.
>

I saw a stack of these this morning in the collector's level at
College station ready to be installed.  I wondered if they were
FINALLY planning on returning garbage collection to platform level (I
won't use "track level" as that's where it is currently and
unofficially).  Is this the case?

Removing garbage collection from the platforms was one of the
stupidest things the TTC has ever done, and there have been some
doozies.  The fact that garbage couldn't be carried up the steps from
platform level after the demise of the garbage cars showed how lazy
maintenance staff was - at least from a customer view.

Christian

--- In transit-toronto@yahoogroups.com, "Christian Base"
<christian.base@...> wrote:
>
> I saw a stack of these this morning in the collector's level at
> College station ready to be installed.  I wondered if they were
> FINALLY planning on returning garbage collection to platform level (I
> won't use "track level" as that's where it is currently and
> unofficially).  Is this the case?

That is the case.  I thought some of the new cans were already in place.

Can anyone verify whether Symington and Davenport is a valid transfer point?

According to two different operators on the 168 Symington and 127 Davenport it
is not, but according to TTC customer service it is.

Who is correct?

Darren
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

--- In transit-toronto@yahoogroups.com, metisbus@... wrote:
>
> Can anyone verify whether Symington and Davenport is a valid transfer
point?
>
> According to two different operators on the 168 Symington and 127
Davenport it is not, but according to TTC customer service it is.
>
> Who is correct?

Customer service.  It's shown as a transfer point, on both the 127 and
168 maps:

http://www3.ttc.ca/Routes/127/Map.jsp
http://www3.ttc.ca/Routes/168/Map.jsp

Print out the map, and if the operator is hassling you, show it to
them.  And if they still don't let you on, be sure to take down his
number, and contact TTC with the details.

--- In transit-toronto@yahoogroups.com, Ed Treijs
<ed.toronto@...> wrote:
>
> On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 8:06 AM, Jason
Herdsman <jherdsman4@...> wrote:
> > I've recently received a letter in the mail for a
telephone interview, can
> > anyone tell me
> > what I can expect to be asked? Plus what
different steps are involved in the
> > hiring
> > process?
>
> Hi Jason;
>
> I don't know what the TTC will ask specifically.
Assuming that you are
> looking at an operator position, well everyone
says that they look for
> customer service experience so be ready with
stories about how you
> dealt with the public, keeping everyone calm and
happy.
>
> A book that you might want to look at is "Sell
yourself in any
> interview : use proven sales techniques to land
your dream job", by
> Oscar Adler. The key point is that when the
interviewer asks you a
> question like "tell us about yourself", they're not
actually saying
> "tell us about yourself", they're asking "what will
you do for us?".
> The book (like many business books I've read) is a
little wordy; the
> concept is simple once you get it so in that case
skip to the summary
> at the end of the chapter.
>
> So the answer to "tell us about yourself" is not to
start by: "Well,
> when I was born, I was very small. I got bigger,
though. In fourth
> grade I did a project on frogs. In high school shop
I welded up a
> filing cabinet. <and so on>." (Someone actually
started this way when
> asked to introduce himself at a meeting.)
>
> You want to say something like "Well, I have
always liked to work with
> people." Then give an example where you
handled a grumpy customer or
> group of customers, making them all less grumpy
and satisfied with
> your service in the end. Then finish with, "I'd like
to use my
> abilities to work with the public to make the TTC a
better experience
> for all my riders, keeping them happy with TTC
service, coming back,
> and telling their friends 'you don't really need a
car, the TTC is
> good!'"
>
> If you are applying for a technical position, modify
the above as necessary.
>
> If I may ask, when did you put in your application?
You see, I put one
> in for operator as well. Wondering how long it
takes TTC HR to process
> applications. And I've been working with the
outplacement agency,
> hence have absorbed various lessons about
resumes and interviewing.
>
> Ed (EI) Treijs
>

I applied in early November, I received a letter
stating that they are concidering my application in
mid December . Then on January 23rd I recieved
my letter for a telephone interview. I've been told by
various different operators that it will take one year
to finally get hired. When did you apply?

> Customer service.  It's shown as a transfer point, on both the 127 and
> 168 maps:

At that, is there *any* point in the TTC system where two routes
intersect that is not a valid transfer between those routes?   My
understanding has always been that you can change at any such logical
point.

David

David Harrison wrote:
>> Customer service.  It's shown as a transfer point, on both the 127 and
>> 168 maps:
>
> At that, is there *any* point in the TTC system where two routes
> intersect that is not a valid transfer between those routes?   My
> understanding has always been that you can change at any such logical
> point.

The transfers say, "Must be used at first available transfer point."
Symington and Davenport routes run parallel between Symington and St.
Clair, so the transfer point should be Symington and Davenport if you
where going north on Symington or west on Davenport, otherwise it would
be St. Clair.