Sorry, but you are "an obstruction" whether you're staring at a screen in the middle of the teamway OR at the entrance of the teamway. Both are equally bad.
It's
STILL the lesser of evil.
I don't loiter at the entrance of the teamway. I only need to know which platform, as I almost always arrive less than 10 minutes of my GO train, so my platform number is always displayed.
Besides, people will gravitate to timetable screens that are away from people bumping into them. There will be some [bleep]'s that persist, but most commuters will gravitate to a compromise waiting position regardless of where the screens are, as long as they can see the track announcements.
Another solution is to display screens above each platform entrance, which also displays which train they are (e.g. "Lakeshore West"). Like the screens in Platforms 25-27, albiet perhaps landscape orientation rather than portrait orientation. This will provide quicker routes for commuters to get out of the way.
Even us experienced commuters still want to know the Track #. Some of us pre-emptively go on the platform before announcement, knowing the usual platform. But I arrive all over the peak period and so I need to glance the track #, even if I stand beside a bike racks, comfortably completely out of your way.
I use my phone/iPad too (by googling "immediate departures from Union" and clicking the first result -- I'm Feeling Lucky) -- it's faster than trying to visit the gotransit website directly -- when I'm walking on Bay and have reception (rather than subway). Phone reception in the downtown subway should help once it finally arrives in the next while.
Most commuters during peak period arrive less than 10 minutes prior to the train, and the platform number is already displayed in most of these cases.
They should get rid of ticket vending in the teamway entirely- those who don't have their act together in advance and are looking to buy tickets should have to go into the station proper... there just isn't enough space here. The teamways should be for express boarding/exiting only.
Those ticket machines were installed there only because the Bay concourse is closed.
I would support their removal afterwards reopening of the Bay Concourse, though!
As for people staring at the screens and obstructing, I'm not sure of a good solution, aside from posting the platform numbers much further in advance and putting a massive screen (jumbo-tron style) outside for people to casually glance at as they walk in.
THAT is an
excellent idea.
But not 100% without cons. A jumbotron timetable above the teamway entrance would be great, but there may be too many people loitering in front of the entrance, making things even worse because the jumbotron would encourage an even
bigger group of people to loiter waiting to read the track number.
Maybe not, but I'd worry about this unanticipated side effect, especially in the TTC bottleneck and the stairs (accidents running down stairs, when reading jumbotron timetable instead of holding stair rail). So there may also be a liability issue with the jumbotron method.
However, the pros of the jumbotron outweighs the cons, as it would force a lot of people to stop running as they realized their train was delayed, they missed their train, and they could even loiter in the more spacious area near the "UNION STATION" sign, just around the corner, out of the flow of commuters. You could smell the roses of the flower stand, relax for a few minutes to your next train, before walking towards the teamway.