I feel that I had to write about the staff who work for the Toronto Transit Commission. The unsung heroes of sorts. The civic employees who make sacrifices to ensure that this city of three-million souls functions. These women and men are essential cogs in the economic wheel that is the City of Toronto.
Unfortunately, all too often, TTC staff bear the brunt of public anger when things go wrong. They are unfairly targeted for harassment and verbal abuse whenever the subway shuts down due to security incidents, fires, etc.
TTC staff are blamed for situations that they had no part in. They are not the inconsiderate people who feel that it is okay to toss trash onto the tracks… which in some cases leads to fire. They are not the ones who get out of control, make riders feel unsafe, and cause security incidents which shut down services from 5-60 minutes.
It is highly unreasonable to expect the TTC to provide enough shuttle buses to appease the masses, within seconds of a subway shutdown. What people don’t seem to realize is that the Commission has to coordinate with operators all across the system and tell them to abandon the routes that they are currently plying, so that they may head over to pick up passengers stranded by a subway delay which surely was not caused by staff at the TTC.
I used to be one of those angry riders who cursed silently and sometimes audibly about “the damned TTC” or “how incompetent!” I suppose I have matured and now think before speaking. This thinking lead me to realize that nobody at the TTC deliberately causes delays, nor do they like them. They dread these incidents as much as, if not more than, the riders.
TTC employees save a lot of lives. One morning in November, an operator spotted a man outside a bus shelter having a medical issue. He was barefoot and in distress. The operator promptly radioed the control centre and requested emergency services. Others have spotted distressed people in the station and talked them out of harm. Of course, these good deeds don’t drive views and clicks, so they are not mentioned in the media.
To be honest, the vast majority of TTC delays are caused by passengers or trespassers.
