On January 22, the night was freezing. The street lights at Sheppard and Shorting were out, for some strange reason and the wait for the bus was nothing short of torture. One after another, buses sped by but they were all out of service. Forty five minutes later a single 85 pulled up and we all piled on. Minutes later, at Morningside and Sheppard, the wait once again was a painful one. Six 116 buses sped by heading in the opposite direction toward Finch and for the hour wait, one 116 came for Kennedy Station.
It seems at every turn, the news is reporting a need for fare hikes. Most riders would be happy if the fare was being hiked and the quality of service was being raised. But the sad truth of the matter is, Torontonians are being gouged by the Toronto Transit Commission. They are paying way more for way less and crappier service.
It seems the majority of the times, the bus drivers are always in a crabby mood. But that is not even the problem for most people couldn't care less what mood their drivers are in. The problem comes in when you are on time
The route from Finch to Kennedy does not need express 116 and 86 buses at six o'clock in the mornings. These buses sail past smaller stops with more people with very little to no passengers on them.
The bus drivers have a nasty habit of speeding past stops then going down the street and park. I mean, what's the point to all that? Then if your trip takes you forty-five minutes to get somewhere and you give yourself an hour and fifteen minutes to get there, you will most definitely be late because thanks to the TTC, you'll be sitting at a few stops for minutes on end with no explanations as to why you're just sitting there. Buses will pass you and you will think "I should have waited for that one" but when your bus finally moves again and you get up the street, you will see another bus parked there...just waiting.
What I'm simply saying is this:
It seemed every time I leave Toronto and return the fare went up. I almost swallowed my tongue the day I returned and asked a driver how much it was to get on the bus. When he said "three dollars!" I stood there, blinking blankly at him for so long he had to ask if I was alright. That is insane! We pay more and more to travel the public transit, when they are ready they go on strike and treat riders like second class citizens. The last time they went on strike, they left teenagers stranded, in the middle of the night downtown with no way of getting home. Parents were panicking. It was a hot mess. But as per usual, they wanted what they wanted and they wanted it now!
I am tired of it all. To make matters worse, our new mayor sees it as a joke. He really isn't trying to fix the problem--all his suggestions just seem to exasperate the issues. He spends more time ensuring he's gone rogue than actually helping us deal with the insufferable jerks that seem to be controlling the way we get around our own city. Something has to give and until someone gets around to fixing this irritating mess, this city will continue to be held hostage by the TTC and there isn't a hell of a lot we can do about it.
How sad is that?
