2011 Year in Review: A tough 12 months for the TTC

Overcrowding, a stagnant transit plan, service cuts and a pending fare hike. The TTC’s already tarnished image took a hit in 2011, and it has finally admitted there’s a problem. The commission blamed many of its woes on budget cuts, but acknowledged it could improve.

“Customer service will be a big focus in 2012,” said TTC spokesman Brad Ross.

“Fiscal challenges will also be a focus in 2012, but those are the kinds of issues that customers, while they appreciate, don’t necessarily need to care about really. They want to make sure that when they leave their home to go wherever they’re going, they can do so without incident.

“Operational organizations like the TTC are from time to time going to have problems in the system. How you manage those problems … and how you communicate them effectively is really the key.”

Despite the troubles, there are signs things may be turning around at the TTC. The transit authority hired a customer service officer, held the first in a series of town halls, and announced changes meant to appease riders.

Here’s a look back at the TTC’s tumultuous year.

QUEEN’S PARK DECLARES TTC AN ESSENTIAL SERVICE

The provincial government stripped TTC workers of their right to strike in March, when it passed an essential service bill — the Toronto Transit Commission Labour Disputes Resolution Act — with a vote of 69-9. Under the new law, which will be reviewed in five years, a third party must provide binding arbitration when collective bargaining does not work.

Union boss Bob Kinnear called Premier Dalton McGuinty a “lapdog for a union-hating, right-wing mayor.”

MORE DELINQUENT TTC WORKERS, MORE AMATEUR VIDEO

A year after a photo of a sleeping fare collector went viral, riders snapped photos of three different bus drivers texting behind the wheel. The TTC wouldn’t confirm reports the employees were fired.

And months later, a passenger showed CityNews video she took of a TTC supervisor lunging at her and apparently breaking her camera. She had been recording a dispute between a streetcar driver and another rider at the time.

SHINY NEW SUBWAYS, STREETCARS

Although seven months behind schedule, the sleek, new “rocket” train went into service on the Yonge-University-Spadina line in July. The trains hold more people and allow passengers to walk between cars. Wider doorways, security cameras and anti-bacterial poles are among the other features.

The trains will eventually run on an automatic signal system which will allow more vehicles on the line.

In November, the TTC unveiled the design for its new light-rail vehicles. The streetcars will have more seats, larger windows and air conditioning and allow boarding from four doors. They will also accommodate bikes.

The fleet, which Bombardier designed and will build, should start appearing on the streets in 2013.

CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON SPADINA SUBWAY EXTENSION

All three levels of government turned up in June for the start of construction on a $2.6-billion subway tunnel linking Toronto with the remote York University campus and Vaughan. The 8.6-kilometre track will extend north from Downsview station on the Yonge-University-Spadina line and end at the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre — a planned development at Highway 7 and Jane Street.

Service is expected to start in late 2015.

SERVICE CUTS …

Despite expecting a record 503 million riders next year, the TTC announced  in November that it would revert to pre-2004 service levels with cuts to dozens of routes in an effort to meet Mayor Rob Ford’s budget demands.

“Customers will experience longer wait times and more crowded vehicles in some cases,” the TTC said in a statement.

Included in the cuts: the Dufferin, Eglinton, Steeles and Finch buses and Bathurst and Queen streetcars.

However, in December, TTC chair Karen Stintz said that because the TTC overestimated diesel costs, the cuts will start in February, one month later than expected.

… AND A FARE HIKE

In December, the TTC approved a controversial 10-cent-fare hike every year over the next three years starting Jan. 1. The increase only applies to tokens and passes, not cash fares, and is expected to generate around $30 million a year.

Tokens will increase from $2.50 to $2.60, the monthly Metropass from $121 to $126 and senior/student tickets from $1.65 to $1.75. Cash fares will still be $3.

“WE’RE TALKING ABOUT A CULTURE CHANGE”

Hours after announcing its service cuts on Nov. 24, the TTC held the first of four town halls. Newly-minted customer service officer Chris Upfold chaired the tense meeting, and about 200 people were given a minute each to vent.

“I think it’s important for senior people at the TTC to sit down and to listen and to hear what people have to say so that we can go away and form plans … and we are doing that,” spokesman Ross said, looking back at the town hall initiative.

“We know that cleanliness is an issue, reliability of service — that is buses and streetcars arriving at the scheduled times. Issues like that … we’re working hard to address.”

The initiative stemmed from a report the TTC’s customer service advisory panel released last year.

AND YOU THOUGHT PUBLIC NAIL-CLIPPING WAS BAD …

In mid-December, police charged a couple with engaging in a lewd act after they had sex in front of fellow passengers on a subway train and on the Spadina platform.

The TTC’s Brad Ross said the pair was extremely drunk and treated in hospital.

“My advice to others who wish to engage in public displays of affection of this nature is to get a room,” he said.