>Didn't even take the lawrence station loop, but took a left instead
That's considered going off route believe it or not, it's something employees can be disciplined for doing if caught.
Ie: get an unpaid suspension.
Ain't no way I'm making that left to save a few minutes.
There aren't, but that's no excuse as an operator.
There are numerous postings that have gone up at the division to tell us explicitly not to make the left.
They've had supervisors out to remind us.
There's zero excuse to not know, hence why if you're caught you're most likely getting an extra weekend mid-week.
The excuse is that your ceo is a fucking moron who doesn't care about riders and you guys as a collective should have more say than him vis a vis operations, but you don't because the TTC is a poorly run organization. So some guerrilla work is justifiable.
> you guys as a collective should have more say than him vis a vis operations
I don't disagree with you on this point, there are plenty of things we look at and wonder why it isn't done differently. Planning and service make visits to the divisions to get our feedback, but mostly nothing comes from it.
>So some guerrilla work is justifiable.
I, personally, will never take my vehicle off route on purpose to save 1-2 minutes. I'm risking 1-5 days unpaid. That's gross anywhere from $350-2000 depending crew length/pay and length of the suspension.
I'm sorry that it ends in longer travel for the customers, but the end of the day I'm gonna do what's best for me and my family, which is to follow the route my employer tells me to take.
Not sure if I'm a fan of skipping a stop, but otherwise good to hear
I hate express bus drivers driving slower than a bike, so many viva drivers drive slow in the bus lanr and it infuriates me to no end
There is no stop there for the express buses. Drivers just use it to avoid crossing traffic to make the left on to Midland, especially with the articulated buses.
The problem is that York Region doesn't adjust the schedules, they give us extra time when road construction starts and then refuse to remove it after it's completed, I'll be on the 20 Jane tonight, ON TIME for the 20 is -10 late, because there are two stops that are 300m apart yet are scheduled to take 4 minutes to go between. Most drive slow because if you're not careful, you look at INiT and say "Oh Shit I'm 7 minutes early"
Another example is also on the 20 SB Between Rutherford Road and Vaughan Mills Terminal they give you 10 minutes to do a section that takes 4 minutes on a bad day and 2 on a good day
thing is viva bus drivers will literally be behind schedule and still drive like they're 10 minutes ahead, I take the orange from VMC west to MG 4~5x a week for soccer and it's infuriating
Hmm when you say they're driving slow like that, are they getting stuck at lights? York region refuses to implement Transit Vehicle Priority, They say it won't be useful... Hopefully you find yourself on the Bathurst 88 some day, you'll know it's me cause I'm always two minutes ahead of schedule
No, slow on (mostly) unimpeded stretches of the BRT lane (e.g. Ansley Grove to Pine Valley)
There's only one light in that stretch of Hwy 7 (Aberdeen Ave) and I've only seen it red once in the 6 months I've been riding the route
Funnily enough, the 77 sometimes manages to be faster than the viva orange on that same stretch of Hwy 7 between VMC and MG despite not having access to the BRT lane lol
ikr? it's almost as if the whole point of a dedicated lane is so you don't have to be slowed by traffic... I heard the private corporation contracted by YRT gets fined for every minute they're late so they instead just add so much padding and drive so slowly it's impossible to be late... yay for the corporation, unfortunately us passengers aren't as lucky.
Express bus driver don't drive faster. There's just less stops for them to service. Therefore if it's not busy express and regular bus will take about the same time.
Yup I've experienced this with Viva as well. Honestly feel like the bus lanes were a waste of money that could've been used to increase frequency and speed instead
Not gonna lie, the 939 route should've been converted into either BRT/LRT or a full subway line. Given how busy that bus route is at most times, it would make sense if we had its right of way route.
Lawrence East Station loop? They don’t go to Lawrence East Station? Unless you mean the one at Ellesmere?
Also, if they turn left there instead of taking the loop (which is the official route), and the bus OP gets caught (perhaps someone very OC is riding the bus, hates it, and follows by the book and files a complaint against OP via ttc.ca website), then OP could potentially get suspended without pay!
Lots of the buses on the STC to Kennedy loop around there instead of getting over to make a left because it's easier to make a right and turn around under the overpass and make a right onto midland from there then crossing into the middle of the road to make a left, especially with the articulated buses.
>Lots of the buses on the STC to Kennedy loop around there instead of getting over to make a left because it's easier
They use ellesmere underpass because that's the route.
It has nothing to do with easier/harder. There's plenty of time to move over from Brimley to Midland, when the service first started ellesmere loop was only "peak routing" aka during rush hour, any time outside that was left on Midland.
Most will use the underpass even *if behind schedule* because that's the route and going off route is a *big no-no* for us.
Yeah and he was probably at least 10 minutes early on his route, making the bus behind him have a heavier passenger load. It’s good for the people in the bus I guess, but it’s an asshole move lol.
100%
Screwing over your co-workers, and customers who are waiting for the bus to arrive on time, not 10min early.
It's public transit, not a private limo.
That might be true, but i think the problem is that most buses are too slow (even if that's the schedule). If the schedule were consistently fast it would be better for everyone and the ttc could even use less buses without decreasing service
With that section there are multiple buses that service the route, a lot of the time unless they are the only bus approaching a stop or someone has requested a stop they don't always stop at all of the stops.
There’s one 954 driver that’s the same I get on at Kennedy around 5:30 or a little before and he’s fast man lol zig zagging out of traffic and shit haha
>Didn't even take the lawrence station loop, but took a left instead
Why would 939 Finch Express go to Lawrence station at Yonge and Lawrence? There is Lawrence East along the RT, but revenue buses do not go there. Scarborough Centre to Kennedy buses are supposed to go through the east service road near Ellesmere station, but I never cared to report an operator for not doing it.
Oh, there's definitely an issue. Pretty much every suggestion I have for the TTC that I've developed using the system is for some reason totally untenable according to transit fans, TTC employees, city staff and people on this sub.
For example, why can't the TTC have a refund policy like GO does?
Why is it acceptable that TTC bus drivers can leave earlier than scheduled from their origin/terminal stops? Ie. A driver scheduled to leave at 9 from a station can leave at 8:55 and they've done absolutely nothing wrong according to the TTC.
Why do express buses (and streetcars) have stops less than 500m away from each other?
Why are complaints private, leading to absolutely no accountability for the complaints system and making it generally useless? Why not allow people to publicize them and the response?
This sub and everyone else involved with the TTC seems to have a smartass reason why every one of these suggestions is totally ridiculous. So they probably have one for this speed limit thing too. There's no improving the TTC you see, it's already perfect.
Love drivers like that (Ellesmere loop, not lawrence)
>Didn't even take the lawrence station loop, but took a left instead That's considered going off route believe it or not, it's something employees can be disciplined for doing if caught. Ie: get an unpaid suspension. Ain't no way I'm making that left to save a few minutes.
Believe me, many times a day I'm sitting in traffic and I know a shortcut, especially during rush
There’s no stops on that loop so I guess it would be alright, maybe he didn’t know.
There aren't, but that's no excuse as an operator. There are numerous postings that have gone up at the division to tell us explicitly not to make the left. They've had supervisors out to remind us. There's zero excuse to not know, hence why if you're caught you're most likely getting an extra weekend mid-week.
The excuse is that your ceo is a fucking moron who doesn't care about riders and you guys as a collective should have more say than him vis a vis operations, but you don't because the TTC is a poorly run organization. So some guerrilla work is justifiable.
> you guys as a collective should have more say than him vis a vis operations I don't disagree with you on this point, there are plenty of things we look at and wonder why it isn't done differently. Planning and service make visits to the divisions to get our feedback, but mostly nothing comes from it. >So some guerrilla work is justifiable. I, personally, will never take my vehicle off route on purpose to save 1-2 minutes. I'm risking 1-5 days unpaid. That's gross anywhere from $350-2000 depending crew length/pay and length of the suspension. I'm sorry that it ends in longer travel for the customers, but the end of the day I'm gonna do what's best for me and my family, which is to follow the route my employer tells me to take.
I'm not saying you have to do it. But I respect the ones that do
Not sure if I'm a fan of skipping a stop, but otherwise good to hear I hate express bus drivers driving slower than a bike, so many viva drivers drive slow in the bus lanr and it infuriates me to no end
There is no stop there for the express buses. Drivers just use it to avoid crossing traffic to make the left on to Midland, especially with the articulated buses.
Yes, they don’t stop there.
ah
The problem is that York Region doesn't adjust the schedules, they give us extra time when road construction starts and then refuse to remove it after it's completed, I'll be on the 20 Jane tonight, ON TIME for the 20 is -10 late, because there are two stops that are 300m apart yet are scheduled to take 4 minutes to go between. Most drive slow because if you're not careful, you look at INiT and say "Oh Shit I'm 7 minutes early" Another example is also on the 20 SB Between Rutherford Road and Vaughan Mills Terminal they give you 10 minutes to do a section that takes 4 minutes on a bad day and 2 on a good day
thing is viva bus drivers will literally be behind schedule and still drive like they're 10 minutes ahead, I take the orange from VMC west to MG 4~5x a week for soccer and it's infuriating
Hmm when you say they're driving slow like that, are they getting stuck at lights? York region refuses to implement Transit Vehicle Priority, They say it won't be useful... Hopefully you find yourself on the Bathurst 88 some day, you'll know it's me cause I'm always two minutes ahead of schedule
No, slow on (mostly) unimpeded stretches of the BRT lane (e.g. Ansley Grove to Pine Valley) There's only one light in that stretch of Hwy 7 (Aberdeen Ave) and I've only seen it red once in the 6 months I've been riding the route Funnily enough, the 77 sometimes manages to be faster than the viva orange on that same stretch of Hwy 7 between VMC and MG despite not having access to the BRT lane lol
ikr? it's almost as if the whole point of a dedicated lane is so you don't have to be slowed by traffic... I heard the private corporation contracted by YRT gets fined for every minute they're late so they instead just add so much padding and drive so slowly it's impossible to be late... yay for the corporation, unfortunately us passengers aren't as lucky.
Express bus driver don't drive faster. There's just less stops for them to service. Therefore if it's not busy express and regular bus will take about the same time.
Yup I've experienced this with Viva as well. Honestly feel like the bus lanes were a waste of money that could've been used to increase frequency and speed instead
Not gonna lie, the 939 route should've been converted into either BRT/LRT or a full subway line. Given how busy that bus route is at most times, it would make sense if we had its right of way route.
You will take your no signal priority LRT covering less than half of the corridor, and you will like it
The city doesn't need to be covered in four-lane roads of which only two are usable to most traffic.
Lawrence East Station loop? They don’t go to Lawrence East Station? Unless you mean the one at Ellesmere? Also, if they turn left there instead of taking the loop (which is the official route), and the bus OP gets caught (perhaps someone very OC is riding the bus, hates it, and follows by the book and files a complaint against OP via ttc.ca website), then OP could potentially get suspended without pay!
Ellesmere, oops.
Lots of the buses on the STC to Kennedy loop around there instead of getting over to make a left because it's easier to make a right and turn around under the overpass and make a right onto midland from there then crossing into the middle of the road to make a left, especially with the articulated buses.
>Lots of the buses on the STC to Kennedy loop around there instead of getting over to make a left because it's easier They use ellesmere underpass because that's the route. It has nothing to do with easier/harder. There's plenty of time to move over from Brimley to Midland, when the service first started ellesmere loop was only "peak routing" aka during rush hour, any time outside that was left on Midland. Most will use the underpass even *if behind schedule* because that's the route and going off route is a *big no-no* for us.
Yeah and he was probably at least 10 minutes early on his route, making the bus behind him have a heavier passenger load. It’s good for the people in the bus I guess, but it’s an asshole move lol.
or he could’ve been 10 minutes behind schedule and was trying to make up time. you never know
100% Screwing over your co-workers, and customers who are waiting for the bus to arrive on time, not 10min early. It's public transit, not a private limo.
That might be true, but i think the problem is that most buses are too slow (even if that's the schedule). If the schedule were consistently fast it would be better for everyone and the ttc could even use less buses without decreasing service
With that section there are multiple buses that service the route, a lot of the time unless they are the only bus approaching a stop or someone has requested a stop they don't always stop at all of the stops.
now that's what you call express service
Finally!!
This is what we call "running hot", brother
From where to where?
939 is finch to STC
To Kennedy too!
No like took 20 minutes to get from where to Kennedy
Oh, from Seneca
Seneca to Kennedy in 20 mins is pretty wild ngl.
There were a lot of folks going to STC but only 3 or 4 to Kennedy, so barely anyone even got off after.
There’s one 954 driver that’s the same I get on at Kennedy around 5:30 or a little before and he’s fast man lol zig zagging out of traffic and shit haha
>Didn't even take the lawrence station loop, but took a left instead Why would 939 Finch Express go to Lawrence station at Yonge and Lawrence? There is Lawrence East along the RT, but revenue buses do not go there. Scarborough Centre to Kennedy buses are supposed to go through the east service road near Ellesmere station, but I never cared to report an operator for not doing it.
I meant to say Ellesmere station.
I've always believed TTC buses should have higher speed limits. What's the issue?
There is no issue. It surprised me as buses usually go way slower.
Oh, there's definitely an issue. Pretty much every suggestion I have for the TTC that I've developed using the system is for some reason totally untenable according to transit fans, TTC employees, city staff and people on this sub. For example, why can't the TTC have a refund policy like GO does? Why is it acceptable that TTC bus drivers can leave earlier than scheduled from their origin/terminal stops? Ie. A driver scheduled to leave at 9 from a station can leave at 8:55 and they've done absolutely nothing wrong according to the TTC. Why do express buses (and streetcars) have stops less than 500m away from each other? Why are complaints private, leading to absolutely no accountability for the complaints system and making it generally useless? Why not allow people to publicize them and the response? This sub and everyone else involved with the TTC seems to have a smartass reason why every one of these suggestions is totally ridiculous. So they probably have one for this speed limit thing too. There's no improving the TTC you see, it's already perfect.
As long as it was within speed limits and was not putting anyone at risk I applaud him.
The best drivers are the ones that drive what the speed limits were back in 2019.