Cross-posted from Eye Daily.
The TTC is planning to conduct a survey asking riders about the cleanliness and state of repair of its stations and vehicles. Councillor Joe Mihevc has also proposed that it conduct a cleanliness audit of its stations to measure just how clean (or dirty) they actually are. You can read about both proposals in today’s Toronto Star.
According to progress reports, the TTC is less grungy than it used to be. More night staff and powerful cleaning equipment have resulted in 40 subway stations meeting the city’s high cleaning standards this year between January and March, compared with a measly six stations during the same months the year before. Has anyone else noticed a difference? Do you find that certain stations that are dirtier than others?
Perhaps if TTC’s vehicles and stations were cleaner, TTC riders would respect them more. A couple months ago while on the subway, I sat a few seats down from two teenage girls sharing a bag of ketchup chips. I watched, fuming, as one of the girls took chips from the bag and licked off the flavouring before tossing them, uneaten, on the floor. I was so angry that I couldn’t bring myself to say anything for fear it would come out all jumbled and wrong, but perhaps I should have sacrificed my pride for the good of public transit. I remember wishing I had a camera on my cell phone so that I could immortalize the teens on Youtube in the same way that Shawn Micallef caught “cheaters†budding in line for the Toronto Island ferry last summer and posted their photos on the Spacing Wire.
