Can’t Get the Trip Planner to Work

It is quarter past six Wednesday morning.

I have to be at Downsview Subway Station passenger-pickup at 10:30.

I know it takes about an hour to get there, and I don’t want to keep my friend waiting, so I check the online 49B bus route and reckon to catch the 9:22 bus from here.

I see that TTC has a “Trip Planner” link, and for five years or more I’ve been using Mississauga Transit’s Trip Planner , so I decide to give it a whirl.

In the “from” box I type my street address “4340 Bloor Street West”, for that is where I live.

In the “To” box I type “downsview subway station”, for that is where I want to go; I don’t want to go to a street address near the subway station, just to the subway station.

I change the details to read “Arrive at 10:25 AM”.

Visit www.ChrisGreaves.com for this image! CantGet001.png

I click the red “NEXT” button and am greeted with:

Visit www.ChrisGreaves.com for this image! CantGet002.png

Apparently there is no such place as “Downsview Subway Station”!

I find this odd.

I note that the TTC has changed my address to “Etobicoke”, although all five cities were amalgamated (“ The new City of Toronto was created on January 1, 1998 ”) 13 years ago. Strictly speaking my address is “4340 Bloor Street West Toronto”.

This suggests to me that the TTC is making use of a very old database.

I’ve been telling computers what to do for over 40 years, and I am surprised that, even if the TTC had to clone a database, it didn’t see fit to fix the errant city names. It’s not a complex task.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Switch and Bait

Today I went canoeing. I met my friend Fred at Finch Station, and when we were done he dropped me off at Finch Station. Subway to Bloor & Yonge; subway to Kipling. Up the stairs to the bus terminus, recall that the 49 Bloor bus no longer parks HERE; it parks THERE about 3 buses further along. No bus present, so I sit on a bench and wait. Head in book. Bus rolls up; I climb aboard. Head in book. Bus starts off, up Auckland Drive. I become aware of pressure in my bum as we turn sharply to the right. Why are we turning to the right? Well, the 49 Bloor West now shares a bus bay with the 30 Lambton donchaknow. And yes, I probably should have known that and checked the bus. But in my 30th year of climbing aboard the 49 Bloor West, when it’s been the only bus in the bay, comes naturally to me now. So the driver lets me off on Dundas Street to catch the next bus back to the subway station. Which 30 Lambton Westbound bus does arrive. I present my transfer ticket stamped “F
Read more

15 Minutes from Wilson to Downsview

Having given up on the Trip Planner for now ( Can’t Get the Trip Planner to Work ) I reckon on taking an hour, door-to-door, and elect to leap on the bus that leaves here at 9:22 a.m. That’s actually when it leaves Markland at Bloor , but since it makes three or four stops before it gets to me, I reckon on walking out my door at 9:22. The bus is late 7 times out of 10 anyway. I catch the bus, the subway train to St George subway station, and hop aboard the next northbound train to Downsview subway station. As we roll into Wilson I catch a glance at the overhead clock display. 10:16 a.m. I am early, which is how I like to be. I don’t like to keep friends and colleagues waiting. As I climb out of Downsview station I catch a glimpse of the time from the transfer machine. 10:31 a.m. Allowing one minute for me to climb two sets of escalators, it has taken us a quarter of an hour to travel between two subway stations! Where did the time go? Well, immediately we arrived at
Read more

Information Line Open Only from 8:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.

Image
Following on from Can’t Get the Trip Planner to Work I think I’ll ask for help. No! Customer Information is not open at 6:15 a.m. on a weekday morning. I find that odd. Now straight up, Toronto is not a world-class city, and the TTC doesn’t claim to be a world-class public transportation system, but still and all, it makes sense to me that people trying to get to work (car won’t start, spouse took child to hospital, spouse late home from job etc.) might want to enquire about getting to work before regular work hours. Or might want to enquire about getting home after stopping off for a few beers after work. But no. Since it is only 6:15 a.m. I can’t ask for help from the TTC. Disclaimer: See “not world-class” above. I’m not asking that the line be staffed 24 hours a day, but given that the buses leave my neck of the (Markland) Wood between 5:40 a.m. and 1:31 a.m. it might seem reasonable that someone planning to catch an early or a late bus might want to ask about it
Read more