March 9, 2008 - The answer to that question is a big YES. I don't mean to bash the TTC all the time, but even casual riders would know that our transit system is not exactly the "Better Way". This week, the Toronto Star is tackling the deterioration of the TTC in several areas: service, dirt, garbage, escalators/elevators, and repairs.
The Star recently asked readers to provide comments and examples of problems to do with cleanliness, maintenance, and overall appearance of TTC subway stations. You can read them here. I am say that I can personally relate to the majority of these comments, and to add to their list, I want to provide a few more examples:
- Queen's Park Station, east entrances: The entire east side of the mezzanine level of the station floods during rainstorms and snowstorms. You literally have to walk through large puddles of water just to get to the ticket booth. It's slippery and dangerous and I am sure that people have slipped on the floor.
- Eglinton Station, escalator: the fact that it takes 8 months to fix an escalator is pathetic. The escalator that leads from the station to the intersection of Yonge & Eglinton have been out of service since August - and it won't be fixed until April.
- Finch Station, area near the bathrooms: why does the area smell like urine as soon as you get up from the platform level? is air purifier that expensive?
- Osgoode Station, stairs, mezzanine: those slippery stairs after a snowstorm is dangerous and again, the mezzanine level floods and the ceiling leaks almost all the time.
Sure, the problem is not entirely the TTC's fault - passengers must also play their role (but that's another blog). We also know the TTC is cash-strapped, but things like smelly bathrooms and the 8-months time frame to fix an escalator should not be entirely linked to the lack of funding. Is there not some sort of service standards or performance measure currently in place? Are we all asking too much for wanting clean, odour-free and accessible buses, subways, and transit stations? I think not.
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1 comment:
"- Finch Station, area near the bathrooms: why does the area smell like urine as soon as you get up from the platform level? is air purifier that expensive?"
is soooooo true!!! yucky i duno who would go to that bathroom!
but sigh, they keep raising the fare price and they're still short on budget... why felix why?
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