A very new trend has started in Toronto over the last few months. More people are buying Metropasses, mainly due to the ability of different people using them at different times. This in turn is causing a shortage. I suppose this is a good thing for the environment. If the trend in increased ridership continues, it will be a good thing for all.
For example, the TTC wants to be in a position within the next two years where every surface route offers a minimum of 6 day-a-week of service that runs as late as the subway.
In other words, they want to bring service levels to where they were in 1993.
It isn't completely the blame of mismanagement that the Commission has been digging out of a hole for the last 13 years. It is more a matter of a lack of public funding.
Selling out of Metropasses on July 31 I peg squarely on the TTC. If you do not have product you cannot sell it. If it is not sold, it is not used. Without the increase in ridership there is no increase in service. I attempted to purchase my pass on my way home. All three stations I checked were sold out. There was an option of joining a line of 30 people at Eglinton to buy one from a machine that looked too high tech for the commission. Of course, the TTC was playing an announcement they the pass was on sale at all collector booths.
I did receive a scoop that at 10 pm, Bayview station will have a new supply.
My dis-jointed entry is trying to tell you one thing: It all boils down to marketing.
My good friends if you have suffered through a litter advertising campaign, or a tax credit campaign, or the annoying taped announcements or even the hunt for product - you will agree the concept of marketing is not understood.
They can keep a bus on the road for 23 years and find an in-house solution to anything mechanical, but they can't market for shit.
Just look at their website vs STM in Montreal.
Case and point:
Visuals for the Tax Credit communication for both TTC and STM, from their websites:
Which provides the imagery of savings? Which one kind of scares ya?
One last word on public funding: The Metropass is $99.75. STM's CAM is $63 - and still in stock.
Categories: Transit, Rant
2 comments:
Have you taken the Metro? It's not air conditioned.
Sure, the TTC subway configuration isn't all it could be, but for shear rider comfort, it has Montreal's system beat - hands down.
G
Absolutely agree. Not even the buses have a/c.
Overall the TTC is an amazing accomplishment given its budget restrictions.
The artwork and architecture of the Metro system is more spectacular than here for sure. It's too bad they allow grafitti and tags to fester in stations for weeks. They don't even seem to bother cleaning tags off of buses.
Post a Comment