230 connections
TTC Special Constable services
Security on the system was limited to random patrols by Metro Toronto Police officers, but the Commission added security officers to provide in-house policing.
Today, the TTC Special Constables Services provides security throughout the system. The transit officers have similar powers as police officers and are sworn in by the Toronto Police Services.
TTC officers are either uniformed or plainclothes units. Most officers will patrol the system on foot, while others will ride in unmarked vehicles.
Facilities
The TTC vehicles are serviced and stored at various location throughout the city:
- D.W. Harvey Shops 1987 - Hillcrest Complex
- W.E.P. Duncan Shops 1985 - Hillcrest Complex
- Transit Control Centre 1968 - Hillcrest Complex
- Hillcrest Garage 1924 - buses and streetcars
- Malvern Complex 1983 - buses
- Arrow Road Garage 1988 - buses
- Queensway Garage 1976 - buses
- Wilson Complex 1976 - buses and subway cars
- Eglinton-Comstock Garage 2002 - buses
- Bircmount Garage 1956 - buses
- Russell Carhouse 1913 - streetcars (ex-TRC property)
- Roncesvalles Carhouse 1895 - streetcars (ex-TRC property)
- Lakeshore Garage 1980 - buses
- Davisville Carhouse and Yard 1954 - subway cars
- Greenwood Carhouse and Yard mid-1960s - subway cars
- McCowan Yard 1983 - RT
- TTC Exhibition Loop 1916-present - streetcars
There are also a number of decommissioned facilities that are either awaiting disposal or have been re-developed:
- Yorkville Division ?-1922 - streetcars
- Woodbine Garage ?-1956 - buses (ex-Hollinger Buslines)
- Sherbourne Garage 1894-1980 - buses
- Keele-Vincent Yard 1966-1976 - subway cars
- Danforth Carhouse and Garage 1915-2002 - buses and streetcars (ex-TCR property)
- Eglinton Carhouse and Garage 1922-2002 - buses, trolley buses and streetcars
- Lansdowne Carhouse and Garage 1911-1996 - streetcars , trolley buses and buses (ex-TRC property)
- Wychwood-St Clair Carhouse 1913-1998 - streetcars (ex-TCR property)
- Davenport Garage 1925-1993 - buses
- Parkdale Garage 1947-1966 - buses
- Wade Yard 1936-1996 - trolley buses
- Dundas Carhouse 1897-1930 - street cars (ex-TRC)
- Howard Park Garage ?-1930 - street cars
- TTC Vaughan Terminal - buses and streetcars
- North Toronto Terminal 1930-1948
Here is a list of 'lost facilities' of the TTC:
- Runnymede Carhouse 1926-1960s - proposed carhouse / never developed
- Dufferin Garage 1946-1947 - proposed garage scrapped
Advertisement
Advertising is commonplace and prominent in all TTC vehicles and locations, in fact some subway stops are periodically entirely repainted on the inside to the wishes of a paying corporate advertiser. Most recently this has occurred for the movie The Day After Tomorrow. However the amount of money the TTC receives for allowing advertising on its property is very small. For the year ending 2003, the TTC received 2.3% of its revenue from advertising, or almost 17 million dollars. Critics charge that as the TTC states a ridership of over 1.4 million passengers on average each weekday, all advertising could be removed from all TTC property for one year in exchange for a one-day addition of just over ten cents to each rider's fare.
TTC information
Prior the use of the TTC website, TTC patrons were able to obtain route information from various sources:
- Paper schedules and system maps from drivers and collector booths
- Fax number to obtain schedules and maps
- Time Line: Most stops had a phone number to obtain the schedule for the select route. This system was removed due to Year 2000 constraints. Route information is now accessed by InfoPost and TTC Info number 416-393-INFO (this replaced the old numbers 481-4252 and 481-4544 in the 1980s). Some stops now display a time schedule for the particular route.
- What's On and Rocket Rider/TTC Customer News pamplets located on most vehicles
Transit Information Centres:
- TTC Head Office - Davisville Station
- TTC Info Centre Bloor-Yonge Station - closed
- Metro Toronto Convention Centre - closed
Communications
The TTC also employs a tracking and communications system called CIS (Communications and Information System). A transmitter is added to the roof of the vehicle and a receiver on the right hand side of the driver. A pilot of CIS was introduced in the late 1970s and fully deployed in 1991.
Safety systems
Safety features unique to the TTC include:
- Late Night Service - replaced by Blue Night Network
- Request Stop Program on surface routes (9pm-5am)
- Designated Waiting Areas (DWA) on subway and RT platforms
- Yellow Passenger Assistance Alarms strips on subway and RT cars since the early 1980s
Miscellaneous
A series of recycling programs have been introduced:
- Blue bins to collect newspapers from riders
- Pilot recycling bags at Bloor-Yonge station
TTC has also been marketing their image via Legacy Sportswear by selling goods centred on the TTC logo, Red Rocket Theme. The Commission had tried this concept in the 1980s, but failed due to lack of interest. Changes and features made by the TTC (and previous operators):
- Paper transfers 1892
- Last horsecar withdrawn 1894
- Double truck streetcar 1895
- Roadmaster (formerly Timekeeper) changed to Inspector 1902
- School of Instruction 1912, replacing Board of Examiners of Motormen
- Russell Paint Shop at King Division 1913
- Open car with running boards banned 1915
- King Division destroyed 1916, replaced by Russell 1921
- Hillcrest General Repair Shops (Harvey Shop) opens 1924
- Russell Carhouse replaced with newer one 1924
- Motor Coach Department 1925 - formed with purchase of Gray Line
- Gray Coach formed 1926. takes full operations 1927
- Safety Islands 1928
- Sunnyside Bus Terminal opens 1936 (Gray Coach)
- TTC Pension Fund Extabished 1940
- Two-way radios 1943
- Transportation Department created through amalgamation of the
Traffic, Motor Traffic, Ferry, and Interurban Motor Coach Departments 1953 - Queen Subway plan abandoned 1958
- Group Life Insurance Plan 1968
- EAP (Employee Assistance Program) 1974
- Operations Training Centre 1974; replaces School of Instruction
- Wheeltrans formed 1975
- "air force" blue-grey uniform 1953
- Express buses 1976
- Priority seating for mobility impaired and elderly passengers 1976
- Blue Grey uniforms (changed to brown 1931) changed to Blue Grey uniforms
TTC auctions
TTC auctions off items left on vehicles each year. In 2005, the TTC launched an online auction via e-Bay Canada and Rite Auction Services.
Staff
Most of the Toronto Transit Commission's staff are members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113. Total membership (2005) is approximately 8,000 members.
Unionized transit workers in Toronto began with:
- Amalgamated Association of Street Railway Employees of America in 1892
- Division 30 of the Amalgamated Association of Street and Railway Employees of America in 1893
- Division 113 Chartered - Amalgamated Association of Street Railway Employees of America in 1899
- Amalgamated Association of Street and Railway Employees of America in 1903
- Amalgamated Transit Union in 1964
- Local 113 of the Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees of America 1952
References
- TTC Special Constables - Official link
- Legacy Sportswear
- ATU 113 History
- Harvey and Duncan Shops
- Subway and RT Route Map - TTC - September 1998
- TTC Ride Guide April 1982
- TTC Ride Guide June 1982
- TTC Ride Guide May 1984
- TTC Ride Guide January 1987
- TTC Ride Guide January 1988
- TTC Ride Guide January 1990
- Toronto Transit Ride Guide June 1998
