Another public transit post?? Of course! My commute is where I do my best thinking. Here’s what I was thinking as I went up the stairs at Spadina Station in Toronto. ‘Man I wish that escalator worked’.
It’s not the first time I lamented about the escalator not working at this particular station. I’d say this thought crosses my mind at least 40% of the time, because that’s how often the escalator doesn’t work. I’m not suggesting that there’s any lack of willingness on the part of the Toronto Transit Commission to have this fixed. They have repair men there a lot of the time. Therein lies the problem……but I’ll get that in a minute.
I heard recently that the TTC is going to increase the fares next year, and that they want to outsource ‘bus cleaning’ to save money. This is all going to result in a pissing contest of some sort, and a possible labour dispute. While I agree that they can probably get people to clean these busses for less than the $25/hr that I heard they’re paying them, I know for a fact that there are better ways to save money.
HIRE NEW ESCALATOR REPAIR GUYS!!!!
Listen, I’m not just here to rant. I’m here to help! As a frequent passenger of the TTC, I just want what’s best for everyone. I’m sure they have hired consultants who haven’t been able to uncover this money-saving opportunity. Let me break it down (not the escalator, the situation).
Repair guys cost a lot of money. These guys are fixing the same escalator at least 3 to 4 times a month. I doubt it’s ‘just maintainance’, because they have to be smart enough not to do that during rush hour (well maybe). They are fixing it, but rigging it to break down again in a week, so they can come back and fix it again. I know that may seem unfair. We’ve all known mechanics who we’ve probably wrongly accused of this, but this isn’t unfair at all. I’m no mechanic, but I know one thing for sure. ESCALATORS ONLY DO ONE THING!!! How complicated could the machinery possibly be?? These guys are taking advantage of the TTC! As they should, because the TTC is too dumb to put a stop to it. I’ll bet these guys don’t have any other clients. They don’t need them, they’re raking it in. The cleaners and the passengers will be paying the price.
This advice is free, TTC!!! Sorry, escalator repairmen!!! Somebody had to blow the cover off this conspiracy.
Thoughts and Rants in Jogging Pants…….Saving Toronto commuters, 5 cents at a time!!!
thoughtsandrantsinjoggingpants 
December 12th, 2012 at 1:42 am
I have found that the amount of escalators down at a given time has dropped quite a bit over the last year or so. I would be very curious to see what the actual stats are on this, and not just the rantings of one man. I see some stations as having “problem” escalators. I’m sure their just like cars and they have their lemons. I have a friend who’s a escalator/elevator mechanic for a contractor. One thing I know for a fact is the union mechanics with TTC make less than the contractor mechanics. I’ve heard of elevator mechanics making as much as 45$ a hour. And if contractors work night shifts they make double or tipple time. It’s a interesting problem them escalators… You think we have a problem here in Toronto, you should see Washington DC where the escalators are triple the size of Toronto’s. If one of them puppies is off, you will have quite a work out by the time you reach the top.
December 12th, 2012 at 2:59 am
My main beef is one escalator at one subway station. I am kinda joking about the conspiracy behind it, but lemon or not, there is no logical reason for that thing to be down at least once a week. Sometimes there’s guys in there working on it, sometimes not. It’s not the biggest staircase in the world. I think I’m just irritated by the consistency of it being down.