[TOareaFan]

^seen it regularly at the subway under my office building....I recall seeing it Bathurst when my daughter used to live near there and I visited her....those are the "off the top of my head" recollections.

 

[nfitz]

^seen it regularly at the subway under my office building....I recall seeing it Bathurst when my daughter used to live near there and I visited her....those are the "off the top of my head" recollections.

I've never seen anything close to it at Bathurst.

How far down the platform did the line go?

Not sure where your office is. Generally downtown though, there seems to be tons of people walking up, and I don't see a line of people on the right, and few walking on the left.

 

[TOareaFan]

I've never seen anything close to it at Bathurst.

How far down the platform did the line go?

I didn't measure it on any of the ocassions that I saw it.....but "not far" would be a good estimate....point is, there were gaps on the left not being filled by people waiting on the right (because, presumably, they planned on "standing" not "climbing" and that is what they were supposed to do)....those unfilled gaps are the explanation on why two abreast standing increases the capacity of escalators as opposed to one column of standees and one column of climbers.

Not sure where your office is. Generally downtown though, there seems to be tons of people walking up, and I don't see a line of people on the right, and few walking on the left.

King and University.....and, yes, there are people walking up....but there are (as above) gaps not being filled by people waiting to get on the standee side of the escalator.

 

[Megaton327]

I've also seen escalator lineups at Union and other stations before, for sure, though of course only right after a subway train has unloaded. They occur when people who want to stand, not walk, and who are civilized and understand to stand right/walk left, do the correct thing and wait for space on the right. However I rarely see a lineup form for the right while the left is empty--usually there are a number of people walking past the line and walking up the left. And, of course, at many escalators much of the time people just go ahead and stand on both sides.

 

[TOareaFan]

I've also seen escalator lineups at Union and other stations before, for sure, though of course only right after a subway train has unloaded. They occur when people who want to stand, not walk, and who are civilized and understand to stand right/walk left, do the correct thing and wait for space on the right. However I rarely see a lineup form for the right while the left is empty--usually there are a number of people walking past the line and walking up the left. And, of course, at many escalators much of the time people just go ahead and stand on both sides.

If I gave the impression that the left side was empty (I don't know how) let me apologize and clarify...as I said, yes there are people walking but there are gaps in that and they don't get filled by standees (ususally) and that reduces the capacity of the escalator.

I am glad, however, that I am not the only person that has observed this....nfitz had me scared there

 

[W. K. Lis]

The actual TTC drivers are for random drug testing. However, the TTC labour leaders seem to be against it.

See link to The Star.

TTC moves forward on random drug testing
CEO Byford tells workers the arbitration that followed a 2011 decision to order random testing was “taking far too long to conclude.”

After years of being stuck in arbitration, the Toronto Transit Commission is moving ahead on random alcohol and drug testing of its employees.

In a letter to employees sent Monday morning, TTC CEO Andy Byford said the TTC board approved the funding for random drug testing at its March 23 board hearing.

The TTC, which continues to see “instances of impairment while at work,” according to Byford, will also be asking the Ontario government to make random drug testing mandatory for public transit agencies.

Random drug testing has been part of the “fitness for duty” policy since 2011, but funding wasn’t approved at some point, and the issue went into a lengthy arbitration process between the TTC and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, the TTC’s largest union.

The move was sparked by an August 2011 bus crash that killed a TTC rider and injured 11 others. The bus driver was charged with negligence and possession of cannabis, but was not found to be impaired.

In the letter, Byford said the TTC is now working to finalize the program over the coming months, despite the ongoing arbitration.

“Given the seriousness of this issue — it is, after all, a workplace and public safety matter — the arbitration process is taking far too long to conclude,” Byford said in his letter.

Since 2010, when the fitness for duty regime was first implemented, the TTC has seen “continued instances of impairment while at work,” Byford said in his letter.

“That is simply unacceptable.”

The random tests would determine only whether an employee was impaired at the time of the test, and not whether employees consume drugs or alcohol in general, Byford stressed.

“What you do on your own time is none of our business, so long as it doesn’t affect your ability to do your job,” he said in the letter.

The move was swiftly criticized by ATU Local 113 president Bob Kinnear, who said he had only been informed of the TTC’s decision on Monday afternoon, during a labour board hearing.

“That’s not reflective of a cooperative relationship, when they give you a verbal warning before they know it’s going to get out,” Kinnear said.

Kinnear said he was disappointed that the TTC is side-stepping the arbitration process.

“It would seem to me the TTC is taking the position that they’re going to ignore our collective agreement. They’re going to arbitrarily impose whatever working conditions and provisions that they feel like,” he said.

The union will ask the arbitrator for an injunction on random drug testing, but if that doesn’t go through, the union is willing to take the issue to court, Kinnear said.

“There is a lot of discontent amongst our members, and they are extremely frustrated. I can only imagine to what level that frustration is going to escalate to once the members find out this,” he said.

TTC spokesperson Brad Ross said random drug testing has been approved since 2011, and the reason it hadn’t been implemented yet was more the lack of funding than the ongoing arbitration.

Ross said he’s willing to see the issue go to court if that’s what the union wants, as it will probably take less time to resolve there than in arbitration.

“We feel as an organization that we need to get on with it,” Ross said.

“If the union decides the courts is where they want to go with it … then perhaps that is the better place for it to be tested.”

 

[Steve X]

There is one thing: if someone gets injured cause of a high/drunk driver, the TTC gets sued and possibly along with the driver. Usually it ends up as TTC paying for the damage cause they (as an organization) would ALWAYS have more money than an individual. Plus TTC is in charge of their employee's behaviour at work. For the sakes of public safety and the legal damage caused to the TTC (and us riders/taxpayers), this isn't a bad thing.

It's been a decade, but if you remember this accident: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-transit-worker-dies-in-subway-tunnel-accident-1.636836
This guy was later found high on weed. The TTC got fined $250k cause if this.

The union will always fight.

 

[Napoleon]

The actual TTC drivers are for random drug testing. However, the TTC labour leaders seem to be against it.

Yeah, this is the kind of thing that is just unions being absurd. TTC drivers are driving large hunks of metal (streetcars and buses) filled with large numbers of passengers without seatbelts. There really has to be a zero tolerance policy with testing and enforcement for alcohol and drugs. It's a no-brainer. If you like to smoke pot, work as a station agent...no one can get hurt handing out tokens.

 

[nfitz]

I certainly wouldn't like to have my blood taken on a frequent basis. The risk of this procedure is low, but it isn't zero.

Throw in that it's generally considered a violation of human rights in Ontario by the government agency in charge of human rights, and it's not clear-cut. http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/policy-drug-and-alcohol-testing

More importantly, they don't consider it effective. So why bother?

 

[TheTigerMaster]

Yikes, it's a blood test. Is this a finger prick or using actual needles? If the latter, then this policy is ridiculous. This agency doesn't need to be stabbing their employees with needles. Find another way to test.

 

[Voltz]

The only thing I've heard about this testing in the news is that they will be using a saliva test.

 

[DSC]

The only thing I've heard about this testing in the news is that they will be using a saliva test.

The TTC policy document on www says:

Certification / Pre Employment Testing  employees applying for a designated position from a non-designated position (internal) are subject to a drug test in the form of a urine sample collection (urinalysis) and a breath alcohol test. External candidates are tested for drugs only by way of urinalysis.

Post Incident Testing  this includes a breathalyser test for alcohol and oral fluid drug test; .

Reasonable Cause Testing  this includes a breathalyser test for alcohol and oral fluid drug test;

 

[PinkLucy]

The TTC policy document on www says:

Certification / Pre Employment Testing  employees applying for a designated position from a non-designated position (internal) are subject to a drug test in the form of a urine sample collection (urinalysis) and a breath alcohol test. External candidates are tested for drugs only by way of urinalysis.

Post Incident Testing  this includes a breathalyser test for alcohol and oral fluid drug test; .

Reasonable Cause Testing  this includes a breathalyser test for alcohol and oral fluid drug test;

I heard Bob Kinnear being interviewed. He mentioned optical scanners that are non invasive and very effective but said TTC won't consider them.

 

[Megaton327]

The rebuild of the streetcar track at the intersection of Adelaide and Charlotte, off Spadina, seems to be complete--scheduled to open on Friday April 22nd, I believe, but I went by today and it seems done. They have indeed gotten rid of the useless switch to immediately dead end Adelaide track and replaced it with a simple curve with no switch--as reported, overhead east of the turn point is also wrapped up, visible in my 3rd picture.

 

[JamesKoole]

Another couple of months with bus replacements on the 502/503. Brad Ross says June will see the return of streetcars. But only until September when the buses return. These routes might as well be called bus routes with the occasional periods where they run streetcars. They blame the delays with the new Flexities, but this bus replacement has been going on for years now. They don't seem to want to run streetcars on these routes for some reason.