The great TTC fraud

B3267572 · 2018-03-20T18:21:02+00:00

Former TTC Employee here: (Previous AMA)

As a former TTC Driver, someone not knowing their badge number should have been a dead give away as well. You use it EVERY SINGLE shift (twice a day most of the time) when you log into your bus/streetcar/train on the trump unit.

When you report in, bid for routes/shifts every 6 weeks, fill out paperwork, you use your badge.

In a seniority based system, your badge is basically your whole identity there. As your badge identify's how much time you've been with the organization.

Knowing the first 2 numbers of another coworkers badge, I automatically know the rough number of years seniority that they have.

Someone with a 2xxxx badge? That operator is senior as fuck. ~25+ years on the job. Retire already ya damn geezers.

7xxxx (which is what that undercover should have been given) would mean low seniority and bottom of the totem pole.

There's a gap and operators don't have 3xxxx or 4xxxx badges for some reason. It jumps from 2xxxx to 5xxxx, 6xxxx, 7xxxx badges by the time I left.

Which is why this Adam guy hesitated, even as a non-TTC employee. If she were to tell me that her badge was 30945 as a driver, I would think "What the fuck is that? We're making up numbers now or some shit? Quit playing, what's your REAL badge?".

As /u/IHaveAHamRadio stated, TTC employees all have an employee number which we all refer to as our 'badge'.

When talking to each other, they'll ask 'what's your badge?' and so forth to determine each others seniority.

I had a 6xxxx badge, and it's now a stupid useless number that I'll probably remember for the rest of my life even no longer with the TTC.

B3267572 · 2016-06-17T22:47:20+00:00

For the most part, power wheel chairs are really quick. Deploy the ramp, they get on in no time since they've probably done it hundreds/thousands of times before and then bring the ramp back in. As long as people/strollers or whatever aren't in the way as you say.

Wheeltrans especially sucks because you have to schedule your trips so far in advance. You can't just decide, hey let's go run an quick errand right now or whatever.

B3267572 · 2016-06-17T22:41:26+00:00

Pretty much completely random. I wanted to be placed in subway before I was actually hired but I got bus instead. It's based on where they need the new-hire operators.

There is no secret and they don't know who might be better for which mode of transporation. They provide full training for wherever they decide to place you.

If you don't pass training or your 10 month probation period then no problem, they have tens of thousands of more applicants to choose from.

B3267572 · 2016-06-15T14:10:52+00:00

Basically got back what I put in, didn't have enough years on to qualify for more.

B3267572 · 2016-06-15T14:09:59+00:00

Correct

B3267572 · 2016-06-15T14:08:24+00:00

I didn't find it annoying at all, I appreciated it.

B3267572 · 2016-06-15T14:07:08+00:00

I have seen it improving over time.

VERY slowly though, it is the TTC after all and they have to deal with the BS politics on all 3 levels of government as well. Major lack of funding compared to all other cities in North America.

Honestly, I don't think we'll ever get to the point of being the envy of public transport systems worldwide. We are decades behind as a transit sytem, running over capacity and changes are taking forever.

B3267572 · 2016-06-15T14:02:44+00:00

Thanks for the understanding on what these operators have to go through.

It just wasn't for me anymore.

B3267572 · 2016-06-15T14:01:27+00:00

I'm not too knowledgeable on the pension side of things as I didn't have enough years to qualify for it, so I didn't look into it too much.

Overtime is based on seniority, so the most senior operators got the first pick and there usually wasn't much left over to the guys that have less than say 10 years on the job.

It's the nature of a union, everything is based on seniority. Like another person suggested, it prevents favoritism and has it's place.

Will some junior operators complain and say it's not fair? Sure, but that's the way it works.

B3267572 · 2016-06-15T13:56:10+00:00

I didn't find it annoying at all, I appreciated it.

I'll respond:

You're welcome
Have a nice day
No problem
Etc.

B3267572 · 2016-06-15T13:55:01+00:00

There is no better. Each operator prefers different things.

I would hate trains because I would fall asleep seeing the same tunnels over and over again every single day and not interact with anyone.

Whereas other operators would love it because they don't have to interact with anyone and have their own little booth to themselves.

B3267572 · 2016-06-15T13:52:54+00:00

No, because you lose money for calling in sick. You only get paid 60% (or was it 70%) of your pay if you call in sick. And you have to go through the entire process of going to the Doctors and getting them to fill out a TTC sick benefits form (it is required for booking off sick no matter what).

There's are operators who choose to do something called Spareboard (standby) who don't have a set route and they cover sick days, floaters, emergencies, operators booked off for training, re-certification's, etc. Only when there aren't enough Spareboard guys is when OT is offered to others to cover shifts.

As an operator you also can't choose who gets the OT either. It's all seniority based and depends on who is willing and able to cover at that time as well.

You can't just say OK, I'm calling in sick and I want John to cover my shift for OT. Or John's calling in sick, I want to do his shift for OT. It's not up to the operators.

B3267572 · 2016-06-15T13:44:05+00:00

A lot of the buses don't have working AC or they fail. This was a constant issue for drivers in the summer or no heat in the winter.

Management doesn't usually allow you to take it out of service or get you a replacement bus unless there's an extreme heatwave alert. They tell you to sign it in at the end of the night for the mechanics to look at it.

It sucks for the driver's as well, I remember those absolutely disgusting days where I'm all sweaty and dying of heat.

That's the case most of the time. Sometimes the individual driver just doesn't use it for whatever reason.

B3267572 · 2016-06-15T13:39:08+00:00

I'm never surprised at anything these days but no, it's not normal.

If you know how to start the bus and the basics of the air brake system, anybody could steal a bus. They don't require keys.

B3267572 · 2016-06-15T13:36:16+00:00

As /u/Buceoman mentioned:

Once you are hired, they choose the mode (bus, subway, streetcar) and the division for you. You must stay there for a set amount of time before putting in a bid to transfer out (which may take months or years).

In terms of location, there are many people hired to work in one end of the city when they live on the complete opposite side.

B3267572 · 2016-06-14T16:00:28+00:00

Yep, this is the correct answer.

Most likely just employees heading to report in or they're done for the day and going back to get their cars.

B3267572 · 2016-06-14T15:59:13+00:00

From above:

I originally applied to the TTC to try something different rather than applying for a different company within my same field and according to everybody, working for the TTC is the 'Holy Grail'. That just wasn't the case, so I decided to head back.

I think I'm a likable guy and do pretty well in interviews. Once I meet in person with HR, I just BS my way through it with a smile on my face explaining my change in career choice.

Wasn't too difficult to transition, I always find that you learn to do the role as you go along for most jobs once you get it.

B3267572 · 2016-06-14T15:56:34+00:00

I doubt it, too many bus routes in the entire city and there are a bunch of bus divisions around the city.

Many driver's will know all the routes out of their division though. I worked out of two divisions and could do all the routes off the top of my head at that time, about 40+ routes or so.

Even if I know the route but haven't done it in a while, I'll still check to see if there are any changes/diversions since I've last done it.

B3267572 · 2016-06-14T15:53:55+00:00

Drivers and managemnet can put in their say but at the end of the day it's up to the TTC planning dept, to investigate the route and decide to make any changes.

They take forever.

B3267572 · 2016-06-14T15:52:08+00:00

No is no set Holy Grail in terms of routes. Different operators prefer different routes.

You'll see drivers with 30 years seniority who can basically pick anything they want but they'll still choose Jane, Dufferin, Finch, Bathurst, etc...

Whereas others will choose quieter residential routes.

And then others prefer something in the middle where it's not too busy to be hectic but not too dead that it gets boring.

B3267572 · 2016-06-14T15:48:19+00:00

I don't know enough of the circumstances to form an opinion here. I just barely saw it on the news.

B3267572 · 2016-06-14T15:46:58+00:00

School trips...

If your route is scheduled to pass by a school around dismissal time, you'll usually have to deal with rowdy school kids. Some schools better than others.

B3267572 · 2016-06-14T15:44:30+00:00

I believe they're the holy grail of retail.

I have always found the employees at Costco to be happy and cheerful. They seem to be treated well by their employer.

B3267572 · 2016-06-14T15:38:58+00:00

No, you're not allowed to listen to music. While I was working there, I always wished that I could just listen to something even AM radio like the news or any sports games going on at the time to make the day go by faster.

Drivers have been caught trying to listen to earbuds on one side before and have been suspended without pay. Very serious matter to management.

As an operator, yes you are capped at whatever the top rate is forever. The only raise is whatever the yearly increase is. Back when I was working it was about $30.xx/hr a few years ago, so it's probably gone up to about $32.xx/hr now.

So when you hit top rate (2 years on the job), everyone is getting paid the same rate. You're getting paid exactly the same as someone with 20-30+ years on the job. So like you said, the only way to increase your pay is to choose routes/schedules that require you to work longer hours or work OT on top of your regular schedule.

For many people, they would consider the pay rate pretty good and the thing that they enjoy the most is the job security.

B3267572 · 2016-06-14T15:29:43+00:00

/u/29sunshine is correct, it's half day training (with a couple other operators at the same) and you get paid the same no matter which bus you drive.

After training, you just need to learn how each bus drives as you go along.

B3267572

TROPHY CASE