The TTC Should Be An Essential Service!

Every three years in the city of Toronto the hostile Toronto Transit Commission employees hold the Greater Toronto Area hostage with threats of a strike. Why doesn’t the TTC have any competition? We need options! In Singapore the transit service has competition that’s important. I so tired of the TTC employees they are holding the public hostage its not fair!

Once again the TTC employees are complaining about salary even though they are being offered a 2% raise. I also must point out the TTC employees get paid over $50,000 a year including health & dental benefits and they also receive vacation pay. There are so many people in the greater Toronto area that don’t make this kind of money. Sorry, I have zero sympathy for TTC employees. I do have sympathy for the public because taxpayers money helps to pay for the TTC. The provincial and federal governments constantly are providing millions of dollars in funding for the TTC yet the washrooms stink, the attitudes of the TTC employees are deleterious, the service isn’t that great either.

Has anyone visited the men’s washrooms at Finch, Bloor, Kipling subway stations lately ? The mens washrooms are so gross you can pass out with the disgusting rancid odor. When is the TTC going to use some money and scrub the men’s washrooms down and clean them? I try very hard not to use the TTC men’s washrooms because I don’t want to vomit its just so sickening how dirty the washrooms are.

If a deal is not made by Monday morning next week there will be a strike. The quandary is the TTC is the lifeline of the greater Toronto area. Over 1.5 riders per day use the TTC. Many people don’t own a car we use the TTC because it is convenient and safe. Why should the public suffer because some TTC employees are avaricious?

Meanwhile, the mayor of Toronto David Miller is at a conference in China isn’t that convenient? Miller claims he still believes a deal can be made. Perhaps it is time for the Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to actually demonstrate some leadership roles and make the TTC an essential service? Enough is enough I am sick of the TTC providing crappy service and expecting the public to suffer. We don’t deserve this! The TTC is too important for the greater Toronto area strikes should never be allowed. The solution is either allow competition or make the TTC an essential service. The leadership in Toronto is seriously lacking this is just pathetic.

The TTC is the heart of Toronto people use the to go to work, doctor appointments, business meetings, shopping, students need to the TTC to travel to college, university, or high school. Businesses will lose millions of dollars if there is a strike. The ramifications of a TTC strike are chaotic and catastrophic.
I will not hold my breath but something needs to change ASAP in the greater Toronto area.

The TTC has too much power and the power needs to return to the public we deserve better options. Why should the public be subjected to smelly dirty washrooms, litter on the subways and buses, bad attitudes from querulous drivers, and slow inefficient service? Ooops forgot to mention the people of Toronto pay $2.75 cash fare and you just know we are going to soon pay $3.00 to take the TTC very soon! I think its time for me to seriously consider getting my drivers license and get a car.

The TTC Is Not The Better Way

Any man that uses the public washrooms at Kipling, Finch, and Bloor subway stations will agree the repugnant smell is so strong you feel like you are suffocating. Taxpayers money is funding the TTC and for years so many men’s washrooms stinks and are dirty! The horrible smell in the men’s washrooms at TTC stations are so disgusting and gross. I feel like I need to vomit whenever I enter the men’s washrooms. When is the TTC going to clean up the lavatories? The TTC takes the public for granted. The TTC knows it is basically an essential service and the union exerts their power every couple of years when the TTC wants more money. This is just a broken record that needs to be stopped. The province of Ontario and the city of Toronto need to take action now. Why is the public being held hostage by a hostile TTC union?

The subway cars are littered with junk food, old crinkled newspapers, plastic bags, and are getting dirtier every single day. Also, it seems every single week the TTC subways always has a breakdown and passengers have to take shuttle buses. The buses and street cars are never on time they are always overcrowded. The lovely Toronto Transit Commission charges $2.75 cents for a single fare . You don’t need to be psychic to know the TTC fares are going to increase to $3.00 dollars one way fare very shortly. The monthly passes have sky rocketed in the last few years. The public is paying more and more for a precarious and inefficient service.

The TTC is not just transportation for the city the service is the heart of the Greater Toronto area’s transit services. An unanimous 99.2% of the Toronto Transit Commission employees have rejected a deal with the city of Toronto of a 2% annual pay increase for four years. What are the TTC employees complaining about now they make $55,000 a year? The latest controversy is the employees of the Toronto Transit Commission want more money again.

I must point out the TTC workers salary is $55,000 a year. When is Premier Dalton McGunity going to make the TTC an essential service? The TTC is very important in terms of business and also making the city of Toronto run smoothly. In May 2006 the one day wildcat strike by the TTC was total chaos. The TTC has too much power and the government needs to reclaim this power it is obvious . The TTC needs some competition ASAP. I doubt this will happen but why doesn’t the city of Toronto allow other companies to offer transit service to the public? Why should we be dependent on the TTC? Why should the public be subjected to rude and obnoxious drivers, a dirty subway, slow buses that are never on time? What is the public really paying for? I think the only solution is competition if the TTC actually had some effective competition perhaps the service would be up the standard of other world class cities?