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TTC launches 'e-alerts' for riders (pg. 2)
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| Orko |
| quote: | Originally posted by Skipper
I signed up for this and haven't received a thing.
There is no way the TTC has operated for the last 4 hours since I signed up without a single disruption. It's statistically impossible. |
I'm sure they will only send out alerts if the hold up is greater than a specified time frame. Plus, it is only for the subways, so it is totally possible right now.
Considering I have been sitting on a train for 20 minutes without an update, I doubt they will send alerts for small infractions.
This is just another avenue for the TTC to not use to inform their riders. |
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| DigiNut |
| Do the alerts tell you whose body had to be removed from the track? |
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| dEsidEL |
"It's taken the TTC a long time to catch up to the modern world, but they arrived there on Wednesday."
LOL
| quote: |
TTC Introduces Emailed Updates On Subway And RT Delays
Wednesday January 14, 2009
CityNews.ca Staff
It's taken the TTC a long time to catch up to the modern world, but they arrived there on Wednesday. The transit system officially introduced a system that will allow you to be updated about service delays via email, simply by subscribing to their service.
Red Rocket officials announced the plan months ago, but it's taken all this time to get it implemented. If the delay is over 15 minutes, a notice will be sent out to let you know about the problem and hopefully keep you from going to a subway or RT station until it's cleared, or allow you to take a different route to bypass the outage.
TTC Chair Adam Giambrone confirms the decision on when to send - and when not to - will be made by experienced staffers. So a temporary back-up of a few minutes won't be noted. But a longer problem will.
Officials expect the system will eventually be able to accommodate all bus and streetcar routes, and it will one day be programmable so you'll only get information about your specific route.
The TTC already posts service disruptions on its website, and while that's useful if you're at work or at home, it doesn't do you a lot of good when you need it the most - when you're in transit.
Ironically, the one place it won't be able to reach you is when you're actually underground because the signals can't get to you there. But announcements on any stoppages are made at the stations and on the trains themselves.
The service is free and requires a one-time sign up. Click here to start receiving them.
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source:
http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_31005.aspx
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| SkyHigh |
| TTC doesnt have trains . Do they? |
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| Skipper |
| I'm still in shock they have a computer |
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| Orko |
My job...the alerts do nothing!
| quote: | GO trades blames as freezing commuters fume
Trouble-plagued GO Transit tried to blame Canadian National Railway Co. yesterday after thousands of commuters faced a morning of cancelled trains and delays of up to almost an hour. But the commuter service later recanted and said the problem was its own.
Yesterday's blame game was sure to aggravate fed-up GO train passengers, who have complained loudly about the province's commuter train service, widely seen to have deteriorated in recent years.
Requests for an interview with Gary McNeil, the managing director of GO Transit, to clarify why GO Transit told media outlets all day that CN was to blame for the delays were turned down.
The two railway organizations have a history of bickering, as CN owns much of the track on which GO runs its trains and also operates much of GO's signal system.
Yesterday, many of GO's commuters were left fuming - and freezing - on outdoor platforms before being packed into late trains. Go said seven trains were cancelled and 53 were delayed.
All morning in its e-mail alert service for commuters, GO Transit blamed the chaos, which began on its Lakeshore East line but spread to the Lakeshore West line as well, on "CN signal problems east of Pickering."
Yesterday afternoon, GO spokeswoman Vanessa Thomas initially said CN had discovered a signal problem on GO's tracks overnight, but failed to notify GO in time.
But in an interview, CN spokesman Frank Binder said CN's rail control centre found a faulty switch on a stretch of the Lakeshore East line and told GO Transit at 2:30 a.m. - 2½ hours before its first morning train ran into delays. GO Transit, he said, is responsible for maintaining this stretch of track itself.
"As far as what happened with GO, you might want to call them back," Mr. Binder said in an interview.
Late yesterday, GO officials acknowledged that GO had got its facts wrong, agreeing that CN had notified GO of the problem at 2:30 a.m. However, GO said it was investigating why it could not get one of its maintenance crews to the signal in time, meaning repairs had to be done during rush hour. This slowed trains and causing a ripple effect of delays on the Lakeshore West line as well. (Trains on the Milton, Georgetown and Stouffville lines also experienced winter-related delays.)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/serv....20090115.wgo15 |
Transit is a in mess in the GTA. With the user base, population and level of interest you would think we would have an efficient system by now. After a 120 years of train service in this country, why can't they figure out how to make switches that work in the winter? Do Russia, Germany, Sweden have this problem? I'm thinking not. |
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| Orko |
I guess this is why just does not get done:
| quote: | Battle brews over 'shovel ready' projects
With an eye to the imminent federal budget, Toronto business and civic leaders are set today to name $4.8-billion in "shovel-ready" projects that would stimulate the flagging local economy. But a politically tinged disagreement is unfolding behind the scenes on how the money should flow.
The Toronto Board of Trade, which prepared the list along with the Toronto City Summit Alliance, argues that federal money should flow through the province's regional transportation authority, Metrolinx. The board is a big proponent of giving more clout to the fledgling agency, established in 2007.
But Toronto Mayor David Miller (who sits on the Metrolinx board) said any federal dollars should flow to the city as the "elected government." Mr. Miller and other area politicians resist any move they see as duplicating the work of local transit agencies.
Toronto City Summit Alliance chairman David Pecaut said it doesn't matter which agency receives the money, so long as the dollars flow fast.
Metrolinx chairman Rob MacIsaac said "flowing the money through the province or Metrolinx will ensure that the priorities under our plan are observed and allow us to apply a uniformity of treatment across the region."
He added, "we have no intention of being project managers," but said the agency wants to make sure that any of its projects serve the goal of better service and fare integration across municipal boundaries.
The political tension between the board and the city is the one chink in an otherwise united front among local leaders in advance of federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's Jan. 27 budget, which is expected to release federal funds for infrastructure as a weapon to fight the economic downturn.
Four transit projects valued at $4.8-billion - three in Toronto and one in York Region - sit atop the list being released today of more than 100 municipal infrastructure investments that the board and the summit alliance say could be accelerated this year with an infusion of federal dollars.
The two groups also back Mr. Miller's request for $75-million from Ottawa toward a major renewal of Union Station.
The mayor has no dispute with the Toronto transit projects named by the two groups, but makes clear that the city's "No. 1 ask," laid out in a letter sent last week to Mr. Flaherty, is $368-million in federal funds over the next five years toward the replacement of 204 streetcars.
The Toronto Transit Commission also hopes for $2-billion in federal help to pay for new vehicles and facilities tied to the Transit City plan to extend light-rail routes.
The behind-the-scenes rift over Metrolinx is part of a simmering dispute over powers for the regional body.
Board of Trade president Carol Wilding said that flowing federal funds through Metrolinx would speed the agency's transition from planning to reality. "We said we needed a regional body with a regional solution," she said. "Funding through municipalities and not through regions is just reinforcing an old way of thinking and working."
But Mr. Miller, who is to join other mayors in Ottawa today to press for federal infrastructure aid, said "the city should be the first place they [federal officials] go. We are the elected government, we are not a provincial agency."
He said Toronto already has a direct relationship with the federal government, ever since Ottawa agreed in 2005 to share its gas tax revenues with cities.
Over the past three years, the city has received $162.8-million in federal gas tax funds that have helped pay for 577 buses and 260 subway cars.
The city, the board of trade and the summit alliance are of one voice in urging Ottawa to allocate new transit funds through the gas tax, with a formula that combines population and ridership numbers in a way that would benefit Toronto.
***** Infrastructure fab four
Four transit projects get top billing from the Toronto Board of Trade and the Toronto City Summit Alliance as "shovel-ready" investments worthy of federal budget:
Sheppard Avenue East light rail line, the first project in Toronto's Transit City plan. Cost: $1-billion, with $333-million from Ottawa.
Finch West light rail line, also part of Transit City. Cost: $1-billion, with $333-million from Ottawa.
Scarborough RT line replacement and extension, also part of Transit City. Cost: $1.4-billion, with $463-million from Ottawa.
New dedicated bus lanes on Highway 7 and Yonge Street for York Region's VIVA bus service.
But there is disagreement elsewhere over the meaning of "shovel-ready." Metrolinx chairman Rob MacIsaac says his agency counts only the Sheppard line and York's VIVA improvements as ready-to-go for 2009, with the other two in a "holding pen" awaiting a green light.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/serv...115.wspending15 |
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| StereoPrincess |
lol. why start this for the subway. you don't even have signal underground.
they should have started with the streetcars.
the awesome board at spadina station is the best!
or they should have that for the trains. |
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| Orko |
| quote: | Originally posted by StereoPrincess
lol. why start this for the subway. you don't even have signal underground.
they should have started with the streetcars.
the awesome board at spadina station is the best!
or they should have that for the trains. |
They did it so they can announce something without actually doing anything. 'Look we are upgrading services, and making transit easier for you'. When most people have already come to realise its a useless service for the subway, for many reasons. |
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| MikeyN |
so who got their alerts that power is out from jane to St. George?
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| dEsidEL |
| quote: | Originally posted by MikeyN
so who got their alerts that power is out from jane to St. George?
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the first alert came in sometime last nite:
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A section of the Bloor-Danforth Subway service is currently shut down from St. George Station to Islington Station. Shuttle buses are in service.
Last updated Jan 16, 2009 12:06 AM
Sent: 1/16/09 12:06 AM
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