It’s been a while since I was a regular subway rider, so my memories may be wrong. Could someone tell me if there’s been a downhill slide in the Toronto Transit Commission’s service? I’ll admit that my commute is incredibly quick — it’s a quick walk to High Park station, 10 stops to Bay station, then a quick walk to the office — but even in that short trip, I’ve faced trains too full to board, trains running at half-speed and trains sitting idle at the station, sometimes for five minutes at a time.
I know that when it comes to its website and to promoting itself through merchandise, the TTC often tempts me to declare “Toronto Transit Commission, Thy Name is Half-Assery!”. The TTC’s apparent attempt to mimic San Francisco’s MUNI’s core incompetency at public transport worries me.
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I cannot stand taking the TTC - which is why I drive to work every day. Although it was fairly common to experience the things you're talking about, mostly I just couldn't stand the people on there yelling into their cell phones, or screeching the music on their iPods, or chewing their gum with their mouths open and making some cracking noises. Being on the TTC makes me want to become a hermit.
As with all TTC-related inquiries, the best place to go is Steve Munro. One of his latest entries pretty much answers your question: http://stevemunro.ca/?p=713#more-713
I've been riding the TTC a fair bit lately (though not usually during rush hour) and while I can't comment on the actual service levels, it's seemed lately that the customer service has been quite a lot better than I remember it. With one exception, everyone I've run into has been super friendly -- streetcar drivers telling jokes, buses stopping in the middle of the street to pick me up when I haven't made it to the stop yet, general good humour. It's been almost freaky.
My experience along a similar route is that it all depends on when you leave.
If you're an early bird catching the 0700-0730 eastbound trains going downtown, they are not (generally) super-full. You might even catch a seat.
If you leave somewhere between 0730 and 0845 then everything is packed to the rafters and it sucks.
If you leave somewhere between 0845 and 0930, the the passenger density falls off and your odds of getting a seat are pretty good.
I haven't yet run across eastbound trains too full to board, though, that's a new one. That usually happens once or twice a week southbound from St. George.
Jafer... do ipoops really bother you that much? Don't you remember the 80s, and the era of the ghetto blaster? Check out Star Trek IV for a reminder of that menace.
Joey, it's too bad you don't have alternate routes to consider. When I used to ride back home from the Village, the smart commuter who wanted to go to the Yonge line got off at the University line, and looped around. That ensured you had a seat -- no waiting. And on those occasions when King Street was messed up, I'd just take Dufferin or Bathurst north to Bloor. So I had plenty of escape routes. Unfortunately you're pretty much stuck with that Bloor line.
But, yes, in general rush hour is hit-and-miss these days. I've had some painfully long waits. eventually you'll discover the path of least resistance, and that involve adjusting your work hours.
@Jafer: People on the subway rarely bother me -- unless I'm feeling really ill, I don't mind crowds, noise or some combination thereof.
You might want to read item number one from the essay 7 Reasons the 21st Century is Making Us Miserable: "Not enough annoying strangers in our lives".
@David Topping: Thanks for the pointer to Steve Munro's blog!
@Chris Taylor: I don't mind not catching a seat. All I want is room enough to board and to travel without ten minutes' worth of delay on a ten-station train ride.
@Chris Taylor and Darryl: I'm keeping these two advantages in mind:
TTC staff are definitely friendlier and more decent as a whole than they were say 5-10 years ago, but the physical infrastructure is generally falling apart and scheduling is a disaster. Subways are just plain louder than they were 15 years ago, and they creak and swing more.
The subway from High Park is OK very early or from 9-9:30. This school year for the first time, the trains tend to be packed after 9:30.
Too many people, too many condos on the subway line, too little municipal infrastructure to support them all. But it's OK, because we'll have even more condos and even more people along the same disintegrating lines! This is Urban Planning's response to the disaster of the suburbs, I guess.