TTC chair admits the service has failed the public lately

TTC chairman Adam Giambrone and Gary Webster, the chief general manager, went into full damage control mode at City Hall on Wednesday to rescue a transit system that Mr. Webster calls "in crisis" and Mr. Giambrone says has been beset by a "perfect storm" of embarrassments.

The two men outlined the steps they will take to improve customer service on the nation’s busiest, and perhaps most criticized, transit system.

"We’ve been hearing a lot about the frustration transit riders face and it comes from a couple of missteps over the last couple of months," Mr. Giambrone (Davenport) said.

These missteps start with the announcement of a fare hike in early November that led to a shortage of tokens, then move on to the Nov. 18 service disruption on the Yonge line when a private contractor cut into the subway tunnel between St. Clair and Summerhill stations, and the last straw, last week’s photos of snoozing ticket collectors.

Mr. Webster agreed the TTC must use this opportunity to improve the system.

"We’ve obviously found ourselves in a bit of a crisis when you consider the criticisms we’re getting," Mr. Webster said. "If you ask our employees what they think, they’re embarrassed. The majority of our employees are very proud of their job and they want to serve their customers."

To deal with the delays and service disruptions, Mr. Giambrone announced better communication tools. These include:

-Numbers posted at streetcar stops, which customers can text to get an update on their cellphone, from the global positioning system on the streetcar, as to when the next car will arrive.

-New information screens at the entrance of all subway stations so customers are aware of any service disruptions before they get on the transit system.

-Ticket collectors will get new microphones so customers can hear them better.

-Fifty new vending machines that sell Metropasses to customers paying with debit or credit cards.

-An Internet trip planner, available in a beta-version next week. A news release adds, "the TTC will make its data available to organizations like Google at no charge so they can develop applications that may be useful to TTC customers."

"There is lots of work ahead," said Mr. Giambrone, rumoured to be planning a mayoral bid. "This plan must be focused on the ability of our customers to move around the system efficiently and conveniently. I expect TTC staff will act quickly to restore the public’s trust."