tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post7514841904405098418..comments2024-03-11T12:46:28.806-04:00Comments on You. Me. Ride This Crazy Train - Adventures and Observations on The GO: Who's Not Been Serving Us Lately? Part 4C.J. Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03325979176373626807noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-66276837843681623232014-08-29T20:03:11.993-04:002014-08-29T20:03:11.993-04:00Enter Streetville at anytime of the day and you wi...Enter Streetville at anytime of the day and you will always find .... No one!<br />Always on break. <br />A lot of frustration from other Union Members towards these invisible mechanics. GO operates 24 hours a day, so do there Drivers, unfortunately the mechanics work at a snails pace and all take breaks and lunch at the same time as one another.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-88649361386464394742014-06-13T18:51:45.792-04:002014-06-13T18:51:45.792-04:00Well GRT uses INIT and it seems to work pretty wel...Well GRT uses INIT and it seems to work pretty well (better than YRT, anyway). INIT won the tender for this system, so they've got to live with it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17792305829426206758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-55947336385853830132014-06-13T15:20:12.911-04:002014-06-13T15:20:12.911-04:00YRT/VIVA use the init system and it has been nothi...YRT/VIVA use the init system and it has been nothing but trouble. Sure they have a cool function on their website that allows you to see where every in service bus is currently located in their service area. <br /><br />But their screens go down often at stops and sometimes a phantom bus goes by (i.e. the clock counts down to "due" and nothing arrives) then the clock recalibrates for the next bus. Meanwhile riders are left dumbfounded as to where the bus went that was supposed to be there. I've checked with others waiting at the same stop as me to see if I missed a 60 foot articulated VIVA Blue go by. <br /><br />Announcements on the buses are in English only (which is fine) but also often go down. <br /><br />Each driver on YRT has to login and logout. This adds time if, midroute, the drivers need to switch. <br /><br />OC Transpo in Ottawa has another system that seems to work well and is now integrated into their phone system and real time information fed into scrolling tv screens at major stations. The drivers also do not login or out when switching buses from what I've seen at Hurdman Station (one of the major hub stations in Ottawa). The system does do English & French pretty well as is needed in nation's capital. <br /><br />Not sure if Init is a Metrolinx push or not. Would be interested to know what the TTC has for their system. <br /><br />Init though is as about as good as a Presto Card in implementation so far as I can tell. Michael Suddardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17922794404701194134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-88822397730329925752014-06-13T12:09:53.100-04:002014-06-13T12:09:53.100-04:00I didn’t intend for the photos to start a union-ba...I didn’t intend for the photos to start a union-bashing session. They are but a few pieces of a much larger puzzle. I’d heard uncorroborated stories that the Streetsville facility has too many idle hands even though there are plenty of vehicles that require maintenance. The photos (note plural) on Twitter lend credence to that criticism.<br /><br />Regarding the real-time bus information system, in some cases where the internal PA system no longer works, drivers have discovered the internal/external speaker switch had been rewired backward. Are wiring diagrams that difficult to read? I saw this post on Twitter last week: http://bit.ly/1joKGEl I've been on other new DD's with this same problem. Why is the Streetsville garage putting brand new buses on the road with these obvious defects? If the nonessential systems are not being maintained properly, what confidence do we have in the safety systems?<br /><br />If this were a car dealer's garage, would we be happy returning our personal vehicle for (repeat) issues like these? Heck, no. We'd be in the general manager's office calling for the service supervisor's head. Where's the QA? Has management lost control? Will it come to an inquisition like the one at GM? http://bit.ly/1qbAkz0Chris P. Baconnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-63957964705503140302014-06-13T09:58:13.499-04:002014-06-13T09:58:13.499-04:00As a participant in the first INIT demo/feedback r...As a participant in the first INIT demo/feedback run, I'm not sure you'd want it turned on yet. It announces the stops after it's already passed them. It announces everything twice (French <b>and</b> English, <i>even if it's a proper street name</i>). The "automatic calibration" to the ambient noise on the bus? Doesn't work.<br /><br />I realize GO's hands are tied on the English/French thing (which is beyond silly if you ask me; do STM busses announce in English?), but unless there have been major changes over the past few months, INIT is going to need a lot of work.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17792305829426206758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-40829375615449028712014-06-12T21:20:22.836-04:002014-06-12T21:20:22.836-04:00There was no blaming the unions. In fact, I admit...There was no blaming the unions. In fact, I admitted it was a moment in time that people could have been elsewhere.<br /><br />What I said was that it is photos like these that fuels the negative. You never see photos of a busy shop, only people standing around doing nothing.<br /><br />Context is everything. In this context, there is nothing getting done. This doesn't help the image that Unions currently have. <br /><br />Had this been a private garage, I would have said the same things: mostly along the lines of "how much are they being paid to stand around doing nothing".<br /><br />Union talk is like politics. You will never change perceptions of people commenting. Squigglesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-36046857133433332212014-06-12T19:51:00.173-04:002014-06-12T19:51:00.173-04:00I don't think it's fair to attack the unio...I don't think it's fair to attack the union for the shop photos. If no one is around working on those buses, it's probably because management has directed them to be working on something else. Or perhaps there are only a handful of employees working in that facility on any given day.<br />This is a still photograph capturing a brief moment in time. Who are we to say what was going on just before/after the photo or for the rest of the day, week or year for that matter?<br />As for the fellow with his hands in his pockets, same thing applies. Maybe he’s waiting on instructions, or for a supervisor to come back and continue a discussion they were having. Maybe he’s waiting while his coworkers finish up something they need to complete before he can get to his work on that bus.<br />Geez, if you caught me in a photo at my desk in the middle of a blink, I’d appear to be sleeping on the job. Has nothing to do with me being unionized or not. It’s all about the context that a photo doesn’t capture.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-32064187692407027622014-06-12T16:32:09.304-04:002014-06-12T16:32:09.304-04:00Re: The Shop photos
This is what fuels the negati...Re: The Shop photos<br /><br />This is what fuels the negative feelings/thoughts/what-have-yous about the union. <br /><br />I do realise that everyone could have been on lunch at the time the photos were taken, but this only affirms my beliefs in unions. I think the time for unions have passed. At their inceptions, they did a lot of good for the people. However, since the introduction of labour laws, they are not needed and instead are seen as grasping, greedy entities.Squigglesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-79257626999903489702014-06-12T14:12:43.807-04:002014-06-12T14:12:43.807-04:00On the 90 almost all of the buses -- MCI and DD --...On the 90 almost all of the buses -- MCI and DD -- all have that overhead stop sign installed. On the 90, I have seen the actual device display route information and shows the upcoming stop. <br />When I asked if this meant that announced stops were coming (back in March), I was told, "they were in test mode". I then said my seeing-impaired neighbour will be thrilled to learn this.<br /><br />He's now really disappointed, especially after I read him this report.C.J. Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03325979176373626807noreply@blogger.com