ttc autocratic driver

SMART TTC DRIVER, BETTER VENDOR’S HELPER

By William Doyle-Marshall

Leaving Scarborough Center aboard an RT Kennedy-bound January 9 I collect a transfer from the dispenser at 8:12 a.m. Get to the Kennedy station and board a westbound train. At Bay Street I disembark and waited a while on the south bound Bay Bus. It never occurred that I should time my wait as I accept the delay as part of the TTC Riding course. I showed the operator my transfer and board the bus. I got off at King Street in the heart of Toronto’s financial district where I wait for the eastbound King streetcar.

Upon boarding the route 504 car (no.4154) I displayed my transfer as any fare paying customer is expected to do. The driver looks at it, studies it for a while then announces to me ‘it does not take that long from Scarborough Center to get to King Street. ”I live there so I know. This transfer is not good here. You can report me. I don’t care but this transfer is not good here”. No arguments except to inform the very sensible driver that I was not responsible for the Bay Street bus delay; neither did I drive the westbound Bloor train. I decide to get off the streetcar at King and Yonge.

I am still very confused by the attitude. Did he expect me to argue with him and demand that he took me where I wanted to go so he could put the car out of service? That’s not my style. How is it possible for an individual driving a streetcar along the streets of Toronto to be able to determine what happened on the subway beneath the ground – a world away?

Being smart does not provide one insight to display autocracy. Perhaps his intention was to ruffle my feathers this Wednesday morning. For what purpose, I wonder. I could have matched his arrogance and refuse to leave the streetcar. Then he would have put it out of service and call for re-enforcement or supervisory staff. What would be the objective? The answer is not even blowing in the wind.

Clearly individuals like this haughty, power drunk driver takes good care of giving the other TTC personnel the kind of reputation they could do without. Customer service is vital in every business, especially transportation. The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and its union have to conduct some routine and regular sessions with this driver to ensure that he understands his role. Mr. #4154of January 9, 2013 you are the ambassador for the commission. If you don’t understand that I suggest you quit driving for the TTC and get a job as a coconut vendor’s assistant or perhaps you would do better at cleaning boats for hard working fishermen.

Encountering this sort of unsatisfactory behavior must irk Andy Byford, the commission’s Chief Executive Officer who has said publicly that he is putting the customer “front and centre” in all its operation.