Monday 23 April 2012

Transportation reporter Tess Kalinowski: 'I don’t see the TTC ever catching up'

Tess Kalinowski is the Toronto Star’s transportation reporter, covering one of the city’s busiest beats. She reports on TTC issues and management, as well as transportation issues for the GTA, Ontario and beyond. Her byline can be seen almost every day, and often more than once.

I spoke with her for five minutes about the TTC’s challenges.

What do you see as the TTC’s main challenges? A lot of people say funding’s the top issue, is it?

I think funding is a big issue.

Also, they failed to modernize. Their business practices and staffing are from the '70s or '80s. I think they’re addressing their problems, but there’s a way to go.

Can you give an example of some outdated business practices?

Well we had these people working in booths who were caught sleeping. Typically they had issues in other areas. People who were stressed or having a workplace problem were transferred to the most front-line job.

Some people I’ve interviewed for this project say the TTC needs to have a more aggressive outreach campaign. What are you thoughts?

For five years I have heard the TTC, city council and everyone complain that it’s underfunded. I’ve watched so many outreach campaigns. The funding situation has not gotten better year after year. They still don’t have the resources.

The TTC is run by bureaucrats. There’s only so much they can push because their bosses are politicians. How much they can do is really limited.

We have a big hole. For 20 to 30 years Toronto did not invest in transit — I don’t see it ever catching up.

Does that depress you, as someone who’s covered the TTC for so long?

As a reporter, problems are interesting. They add conflict and make you articles interesting.

I have my own thoughts. I thought Gary Webster didn't need to be fired. I think bringing in Andy Byford from Sydney and London could make things interesting. But I don’t advocate an agenda. If I was a columnist like Chris Hume or Royson James, I could crusading for something. But my job is to observe and report.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Saturday 21 April 2012

What to do about driver infractions?

A video posted Friday seems to show someone texting while operating a subway train. Here's the video:



A similar case happened earlier this year in Toronto, concurrent with a case in Ottawa.

What do you think should be done in cases like this? To what extent should drivers be penalized? Is it appropriate for these suspected infractions to be posted online? A fare collector made the front page of the Toronto Sun in 2010, months before he died of a stroke.

I'd like to hear your thoughts below.

Update: The driver in question has been called in by the TTC.

Wednesday 18 April 2012

Paul Bedford on the TTC: 'You get what you pay for'

As part of my project, I'm interviewing people with insights into issues around the TTC. One of the people I called up is a former city planners for Toronto. I wanted to get the perspective of someone who's witnessed city-building first-hand.

Paul Bedford
Courtesy of canadascapital.gc.ca
Paul Bedford was chief city planner for the City of Toronto for eight years. A self-described passionate advocate for GTA transit and city-building, Bedford became a city planning professor at both the University of Toronto and Ryerson University after his 2004 retirement. He actively advises many city-planning organizations.

What is main cause of TTC service interruptions?

Lack of consistent funding. You get what you pay for. Almost all the funding now comes from our city, and it shows. Since amalgamation in 1998 we've had funding cut from the province.

We need new revenue sources, whether it's from the public or private sphere. Taxpayers can’t make up for the lack of funding, and the TTC can't even keep up with the future of growth. We need light-rail and bus rapid-transit.

What other TTC issues do you see?

Maintenance is obviously a big one. It isn't clean. There’s broken escalators and poor service. There are times when my bus is half an hour late or more, and I’ve just walked. In September 2011 they reached their highest ridership. It’s grown a lot since amalgamation.

We’ve been going downhill for a long time; it has to be turned around. We’ve got great transit for a city of 1 million, but we’re 3 million people!

Why do you think funding hasn't been fixed then?

The average person doesn’t understand governance at all. Because they have their own life to live. They need to have a better understanding of transit issues; how it affects us as a city and what we can do to fix this awful situation.

What could the TTC be doing about this?

The TTC should embark on a  public awareness campaign. Same as GM did around the time of the bailout.

One of the ads in the TTC's
ongoing awareness blitz.
TTC photo



They've posted a lot of ads lately about their funding shortfall. What do you think of this campaign?

It's better than nothing. But they need to be in-your-face. It's a really hard fight for them.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Tuesday 27 March 2012

Yonge subway line closure explained

The platforms of Bloor-Yonge station are dangerously crowded.
National Post photo
This past weekend, the Yonge line closed between Bloor and Union. The TTC gave sufficient warning and operated frequent shuttle buses. It was inconvenient, but well-executed. Most people knew about it, and were only burdened with a few extra minutes on their commute. The weather was nice, to boot.

The line was closed as part of a tunnel upgrade, explained by The Grid. It's to deal with the tunnels' inevitable decay over time, and will help weather-proof sections of the line. It's the reason for last month's late-night closures of the route's north section.

There's no such thing as a perfect time to close the line, which faces an unsustainable amount of commuters, and is likely the TTC's busiest route.

"Rescue" trains are often dispatched, rolling right into Bloor-Yonge station empty to help soak up some of the platform crowding. It's amazing how quickly the platform clogs up, and it's one of the main reasons for the relief line project.

Vuvox: Not enough streetcars

In today's class, we made Vuvox presentations. A Vuvox is sort of like the ultimate slideshow. You cna throw in pictures, text, audio and even videos. It's really easy to use, and you can add crazy angles to your stuff.

I took my Flickr pictures and some audio I recorded for my previous videos. I tried to embed previous YouTube videos, but it wouldn't work.

Here's what I came up with. You have to click to open it, otherwise you embed it and it auto-plays (weird, right?):


I wasn't a fan of Vuvox. To be frank, it has a clunky layout, a lack of customization and no ability to save before finishing. The images you upload turn out pixelized. While there's value to a free, easy-to-use video editing program what's web-based, I'd rather spend the time learning much more complicated programs that give you quality results, like Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere.

Tuesday 20 March 2012

Some TTC infographics

This week we're studying online infographics, and how news sites can convey data through both interactive and static images.

The most recent operating statistics I could find is from 2010. Some of their layoffs last fall included communications jobs, which probably plays into this.

First I keyed in the number of trips made at the busiest subway stations. Since it's about volume, clutsters seemed like a natural choice. Here's what I came up with:



I then took some of my own data from last week's post mapping out a week of TTC delays. I sorted the causes out in a pie chart, and isolated the mechanical issues (the only section the TTC has responsibility over). It was interesting to see that only 20 per cent of the issues fell under TTC jurisdiction, while the rest were situational or a result of Toronto's generally crummy infrastructure:



For a third chart, I did a Wordle. These are fun: you plug in a block of text and it sorts words by size based on prominence. I took the text from the past 24 hours of TTCing, a Twitter account that aggregates commuter's thoughts on the TTC. Processing social media is more work than a report; you have to strip out the data about when/where the posts were made, and you have to check for libel. But I think it's much more interesting to see what the average person has to say. Here's what I came up with:

Wordle: Untitled

It was easier than I thought to make these, though these programs does much of the processing work. It's easy to see why data visualization is becoming so popular, as it's no longer statisticians who can observe trends and suggest improvements to our public systems.

Have your cake and transit too

Om-nom-nom. One unfortunate McDonald's patron
is covertly photographed for the whole world to see.
Toronto Standard photo
Earlier this month, the online magazine Toronto Standard interviewed the founder of the Toronto Etiquette Project.

The guerilla group acts as a manner police,  issuing printed chits to classically rude Torontonians for infractions like eating on the subway and being loud on the phone.

My favourite quote:
I can’t think of any bizarre foods that I’ve seen, but I’ve heard of nail clipping, I’ve heard of flossing…
Oh dear.

They're not the only group to issue a list of somewhat obvious tenants for a more polite transit experience.

The Standard post mentioned cities that issue fines or kick people off the system for eating. Some argue that it's part of being clean and avoiding unpleasant odours, while others feel it's a human right. While I'm too self-conscious to eat on the TTC, I think it should be allowed for non-sloppy, non-stinky food. Commuters spend an awful amount of dead time on a subway system that is still has no mobile reception.

Yesterday, the blog posted an update, complete with a video and footage of some unfortunate schmoes eating their lunch.

What are your thoughts on dining on the Rocket?

Saturday 17 March 2012

TTC guessing game: which leaves first?

As someone who lives in Pape Village, I constantly face a guessing game. Two buses head north, and both routes 81 and 25 follow the same route for 1.5 km. When you board at Pape station, which do you take? If both are waiting, it's an act of faith. When you ask the driver, you often get a shrug. With few exceptions, the bus that leaves first is the one I didn't pick.

As a TV producer pointed out last week, commuters face the same "guessing game" at Broadview station. With two loading docks for streetcars heading south, you can never be sure which leaves first.

TTC photo
The TTC's Next Vehicle Arrival System uses GPS data and presents commuters with the next coming vehicle, through text messages for streetcar stops and LCD screens at some stations (some are even solar-powered). The data's available to app developers, who have combined smartphones' GPS capabilities to let commuters make the most efficient choices.

The LCD screen at Broadview is really helpful for knowing when your bus is coming, but it would be helpful if it also said which streetcar leaves first. Same for the buses at Pape station.

That being said, the TTC has achieved much through the NVAS project, which started as a pilot project for streetcars leaving Spadina station. I hope it expands with time.

Tuesday 13 March 2012

Map: A week of TTC delays

My main goal of this project was a data visualization project, where I would take a year of TTC delays, code them and create online interactives that would show frequency of delays, common locations, causes, etc. The data's out there; if we assemble it we might learn more about the efficiency of our system.

You have to start somewhere. So I took a week of delays and put them on a map. There were 37 incidents in a seven-day period. I took all the notices issued and coded them onto a map. Sometimes there were 2-3 notices for one incident (multiple routes affected, service gradually returns). I grouped these as one incident.

I sorted them by cause (mechanical, collision, police, passenger alarm).

Here's the first map I did. Click on a few incidents for details:


View A week of TTC delays - pointers in a larger map


Here's a lengend of what each one is:
Turquoise: mechanical/signal issue
Red: collision
Yellow: road closure/construction
Green: passenger alarm/illness
Puple: police/fire investigation
Pink: power issues
icons: St. Patty's parade (green walker) and Union Station's ongoing issues (red warning sign)

Google doesn't yet have a feature to create your own legend. It would have been helpful to have a clickable one that isolates each cause. The Toronto Star's homicide map does this, but the source code shows it's done through clever frames and script usage. 

I made a copy of the map using Google's icons. But they're a big large, tacky and not the most relevant (a customs officer is police/fire, and taxis mean collision — get it?)



View A week of TTC delays - icons in a larger map

Maps are one of the most popular parts of multi-platform journalism, especially since so much of it is hyperlocal. It helps us understand the wider picture when talking about complex issues, like transit funding and planning.

It's unfortunate not a lot of information can be retrieved by the TTC. Though a large media partner could probably partner with them to have pre-coded updates (that the news org simply submits into an ongoing map). Maybe one day.

Thursday 8 March 2012

Globe and Mail feature on Toronto congestion

The Globe and Mail did a brilliant interactive on congestion in Toronto. Take a look at it.

The Globe not only mapped out traffic data, it also had readers submit their traffic grievances and placed it on a map. There may not be too many mapped responses, but it's a really good idea for having a discussion on one of the most relevant concerns of Torontonians.

To boot, they made it searchable by location. More importantly, they've linked to the raw data. This allows for further collaboration by those outside the news organization.

The Star has a number of similar maps too. The crime ones are particularly important, and the area one helps locate the numerous boroughs that make up the city.

Saturday 25 February 2012

Understaffed TTC can't fill my data request

The TTC isn't able to pass me the data I requested. They don't have enough staff.

As mentioned in a previous post, my main goal of this project was data visualization, specifically throwing together a year of TTC delays on an interactive, colour-coded map. My thinking was that I could take data that already exists and see which areas suffer the most delays, and which routes are the worst to take.

I contacted the TTC at the end of Janurary. My questions: "I know major service advisories are broadcasted online and emailed to a list, but is there a log kept?" and "I'd like to obtain a list or compilation of all advisories for 2011 and 2010. Do you know how I could go about this?"

I got a rather prompt reply from a public relations staffer saying she'd look into it.

About one month and three prompting emails later, I got a reply. It was right in the middle of the still-running transit debate cesspool at City Hall.


I'm very sorry, it's been a busy week here at the TTC. Unfortunately, we
do not have the resources to compile the list of ealerts. IT was unable
to do it on their end. The only other option is to cut and paste from
our Facebook or Twitter accounts. 

This is something our communications team would have helped with in the
past, but with recent budget cuts, our department has been cut from six
staff to four. I would not be granted the overtime necessary to work on
something like this.

Good luck!

Jessica Martin is a communications advisor with the TTC.
You might recognize her as the woman giving TTC updates
on CP24's morning commuter show.
Torstar News Service photo
It's disappointing, but I'm thankful for her reply, and I sympathize with their dilemma.

The email was from Jessica Martin, a communications advisor with the TTC. She's also the one who gives commuter updates on CP24's morning show (formerly Breakfast Television).

As my course instructor pointed out, this is part of the new would of PR, where communications people are expected to take on multiple roles.

Not only does Martin keep track of customer emails, media requests and other daily tasks in a short-staffed office, she has to broadcast updates every weekday morning.

I don't envy her job.

Tuesday 21 February 2012

Audio: How reliable is the TTC?

Two weeks ago I took to the streets with a radio recorder and asked 10 commuters for their thoughts on the TTC.

I picked the four whose comments best reflected what I'd heard Some were quite satisfied, while others complained of unpredictable service.





I mixed it with some photos in my Flickr account and produced this audio slideshow.

Our class this week is focusing on the use of audio online. I found some TTC-related podcasts that are worth a listen:

  • Spacing Radio: The magazine for Canadian infrastructure wonks has a bi-wekly discussion on issues including transit.
  • Canadian Urban Institute: This podcast has unfortunately remained untouched since 2010, but has some interesting talks on the possibilities and limitations of the TTC. Some of the talk of looming budgetary conflict is eerily prophetic.
  • Posted Toronto: The National Post's Toronto section has a weekly sit-down with its city-dwelling editorial board members. Transit is a frequent topic.
  • CBC's Metro Morning: The show is a round-up of Toronto news and issues, but the ongoing TTC debates feature largely in their podcasts.
I also found some individual episodes on TTC plans:

Storify: The fate of Gary Webster

Councillor Joe Mihevc shows support for Webster.
Photo tweeted by the Sun's Don Peat.
It looks like TTC head Gary Webster is going to be fired this afternoon.

City council's TTC commission is meeting to discuss Webster and will likely present a motion to dismiss him. Webster butted heads with Mayor Rob Ford over future plans for the TTC, a move that's caused much political drama these past few months.

I'm running a live Storify, compiling tweets and photos related to the ongoing meeting. Check it out: http://storify.com/TTCheadaches/the-fate-of-gary-webster

Tuesday 14 February 2012

TTC exec apologizes for Monday morning cesspool

Photo courtesy of the TTC.
Yesterday was a particularly bad morning for Toronto commuters. After an issue with smoke at track level, almost a dozen official delays were issued.

Some riders claimed they waited for over half an hour, both on platforms and on trains. During that afternoon's commute, a TTC staffer took the system's intercoms and issued an apology for the headaches that morning.


Andy Byford, a Londoner who came to the TTC in the fall via Sydney, recorded the public apology after numerous train delays between about 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. Monday. That’s when a disabled train at Davisville and smoke at track level near Sheppard cascaded with 11 passenger assistance alarms.

A Toronto commute (video)

I made a video. Check it out:



I took to the streets with a portable camera and tripod for last Friday's rush-hour commute.

I'm still working on getting my voiceovers in.

As luck would have it, there was a huge delay as I arrived at Yonge-Bloor interchange station. There was some form of a medical emergency and trains were delayed by 7 minutes or more.

I also found some streetcars clustering together at Spadina Ave. and College St.

I filmed a streetcar on the same Spadina line down at Bremner Blvd. The influx on condos has meant many more commuters. But have their been more trams? I'm in the process of figuring this out.

Stay tuned.

Tuesday 7 February 2012

Waiting for data. In the meanwhile, here's a gallery!

I launched a photo gallery on Flickr today. I've been carrying my camera around for a week. I wanted to get some stock images of people using the TTC, and some pictures of people waiting around. Some of the photos I'm using for an audio slideshow.

This one reminded me of clowns cramming into a Volkswagen.

I made an earnest attempt to not photograph faces. The TTC is technically private property and there are rules on what you are allowed to capture. Generally you have to seek permission to film or take photos professionally.

I tried to get a shot of a delay advisory, but despite spending a few hours on the system, I wasn't around while one happened. It could be bad luck, or it could be that delays aren't as frequent as we perceive.

I'm trying to figure this out. I'm in touch with the TTC's media division and am waiting to see what data they can send me. I'll keep you posted.

Tuesday 31 January 2012

A TTC morning visualized through data

I was late for class today. Something was up at Osgoode station, with reports of smoke at track level. Ever wondered what that means? I'm looking into it.

But I've got something more interesting to talk about.

Toronto programmer James Fisher was wondering what can be done with all the data the City of Toronto publishes. Through its open data initiative, anyone can get an astronomical amount about our public services.

Fisher took data from the buses and streetcars serving the city for six hours one Friday morning.

An capture of six hours of TTC buses and streetcars.
Courtesy of James Fisher himself,
found on Flickr as indexity.
He took the data and visualized it, producing a minute-long video that speeds through the first hour of the morning rush. More than 1,500 routes are seen circling

It's worth having a watch. It's interesting and even enchanting to have a look as the city awakes.

But the most important part, for me, is that routes are colour-coded by speed. You can see which ones are moving slower, and even which areas are underserved.

This is the kind of project I'm hoping to take on. I'm in touch with TTC communications, and I'm hoping to visualize some of the delays on a map by colour-coding them. This way we can tell which areas suffer the most delays and which routes are the worst to take.

Fisher's project attracted some media attention, though this isn't his first time visualizing TTC data.

Seven months ago, Fisher took a day of streetcar traffic and made it into a 90-second video. The dots are coloured by route, not speed, and there's something magical about it. Have a look:



TTC Streetcars from James Fisher on Vimeo.

Tuesday 24 January 2012

Torontonians' love-hate relationship with the TTC: it's complicated

Something to do while waiting for your bus.
(Courtesy of Flickr user Kid Vincent)
Assembling a list of related sites, I came to realize how deeply Torontonians love and hate the TTC.

They've taken these emotions to the Internet, in the hopes of improving the relationship.

Torontonians have made a handful of apps that use GPS to indicate the next bus or streetcar. Citizens created a route planner before the TTC launched one.

One blogger even attempted the very idea of this blog (and chose a better username) last summer. There’s a slew of similar projects listed on the right-hand panel of this blog.

In 2010, one councilor led a citizen-run audit of the entire subway and RT system station-by-station. I’m looking into what came of it.

For Torontonians, transit is more than just getting from point A to B. Streetcars are a symbol of the city, and griping over delays is a social institution. The Toronto Star launched a multimedia project last month exploring how the Queen St. line covers most of the city, and not just physically.

Our relationship with the TTC can even get quirky. One site publishes a subway efficiency guide, a pocket-sized printout that tells you which carriage and door gets you closest to the exits. The site also explains those orange and green platform dots, and how to game the streetcar system.

And while we wait for relief lines, integrated networks and express routes, subway fans have becoming imaginative. One compilation shows over a dozen fantasy maps that will delight, inspire and confuse you.

My favourite map is below, complete with a circling line and stops at Pearson airport and the zoo. But I’ll admit that Scarborough, like always, is shafted.

Click to enlarge, prepare to be amazed.

Tuesday 17 January 2012

Toronto has Canada's longest commute times


TTC delays: frustrating but common.
(Courtesy of Flickr user jaygoldman)

Last August, a Statistics Canada report once again placed Toronto as the country's worst region for commuting times. As the Toronto Star reported, public transit commutes took on average 20 more minutes than driving in 2010.


Part of the problem is delays. Accidents and mechanical issues cause scores of service interruptions each week. But these issue are made worse by budget constraints and inefficiencies.

It's an issue Torontonians care about.

The TTC announces delays to an email list and through its own Twitter account, though an unaffiliated account aggregates the tweets of frustrated commuters.

Local app developpers have created tools to make commutes more bearable, like Rocket Radar, an app that uses GPS tracking to give a real-time countdown of when buses and streetcars are arriving.

As I was writing this post, trains were turning back between Sherbourne and Castle Frank in the middle of rush hour. Stay tuned.