Taking Transit: Cash, Tickets or Pass?

Within the past year I've had inquiries from friends about what is the most economical fare method they choose for taking York Region Transit (YRT) or other transit systems.  These questions usually come around when friends of myself are taking a couple weeks vacation or are starting new transit trip frequencies. 

RideYork blog has previously blogged about the different fare options for riding YRT and which ones to choose as well as tips for maximizing your transit dollar for each trip despite ever increasing fares at York Region Transit. There probably are other similar postings from local area transit experts like RideYork as well.  

Generally, to maximize the transit fare dollars you pay, I would suggest investigating the following options before doing the calculations to choose your choice:

• CASH: Paying cash is great if you are only going to use the transit system once or twice during a monthly period and probably never again or for quite sometime.  A good case in point is travelling from the airport to the hotel and back again on the TTC on a business trip.

• TICKETS/MULTIRIDE: Tickets or Multiride passes are great if you are using transit either for a short period of time (e.g. a week, etc.) or semi frequently.  These usually provide either a free ride equivalent compared to regular cash fares or at least a bonus for your money.  In terms of "bonus for your money" New York City's MTA system provides a 7% bonus when you put $10 or more on your multiride card.  Thus, if you put $10.00 on your multiride card, the card is credited $10.70.

• WEEKLY PASSES: Some systems like New York City's MTA New York City Transit provide weekly or 7 Day transit that allow users to ride the system unlimited for a week or 7 days time.  Be carefult though as some systems, like the TTC, only allow you to purchase weekly passes that start on a Monday and end the following Sunday.  However, New York City will allow you to obtain a 7 Day pass that lets you ride 7 calendar days.  Thus if you wish to start on a Wednesday and leave next Tuesday, you can without being strongarmed into the more expensive Tickets/Multiride or Two Weekly pass option.

• MONTHLY PASSES/30 DAY PASSES:  All systems that I have used have some form of Monthly Pass or 30 Day pass equivalents.  Toronto's TTC, York Region's YRT, Greater Toronto Area's GO Transit and Ottawa's OC Transpo have Monthly passes that provide unlimited rides on their respective systems during a calendar month (i.e. January 1st to January 31st inclusive).  New York City is different as it provides a 30 day pass for unlimited travel.  Thus, if you purchase your card on January 15th, the pass is valid for 30 days thereafter until the end of February 13th.  New York City's provides a little more flexibility compared to the other systems mentioned above as it doesn't limit you to one predetermined month (i.e. only January) but allows you to choose which 30 consecutive days. 

• ADDITIONAL OPTIONS: Before choosing your best method of payment you should also investigate additional bonuses provided by transit agencies.  For example, don't purchase a Monthly YRT pass and a GO Transit pass if you ride the GO Train to downtown from York Region but also need to get to the GO Train Station.  YRT routes provide shuttle service to GO Stations for a mere $0.75 if you have a GO Train ticket or pass in hand.  As well, New York City provides discounts to John F. Kennedy Air Train passengers if they also hold a MTA New York City Unlimited 7 Day or 30 Day pass.  As well, YRT and OC Transpo let you use 1 fare for a certain period of time instead of paying per trip (i.e. direction) like the TTC. Thus, it is best to check with the respective transit agency to see how fares are calculated and used.

How do you decide which fare payment method to use?   It is quite easy, take a look at where you will be going on a frequent basis (i.e. home to work) and work it out from there.  Most people use transit during rush hours to get to work.  In York Region this may require use of GO Transit or the TTC on top of YRT. So first start with your regular trips and augment your trips from there for other activities (i.e. shopping).

To calculate which option you should choose use the following example, based on York Region Transit's fares for 1 Zone fares to figure out which method you should choose:

Let's say it is December and John is travelling from Vaughan to Markham on YRT to get to work.  Dutifully John normally purchases a monthly pass on a regular basis as he takes transit every day to work.  But in December John is taking some well deserved time off for 2 weeks (14 days) including Christmas Day & Boxing Day.  So John has 14 days to cover of which 10 of those are regular weekdays he works.   John has figured he will use 20 rides to work plus 2 trips on the weekend for shopping.  John takes out his calculator and sheet of paper and starts working. 

YRT Monthly Pass Option

1 Zone Unlimited Ride Monthly Pass Total: $120.00 minus the 15%  Federal Income Tax Credit = $102.00 per month.

10 Ride Ticket Option

1 Book of 10 Ride Tickets (or equivalent Presto Card load) = $30.00.  2 books of tickets ($60.00) plus 2 cash fares ($7.50) = $67.50 for 22 trips.

Cash Fare Option

$3.75 x 22 trips = $82.50

Thus, John smartly purchases the 2 Books of 10 Ride Tickets and pays cash for 2 trips thereby saving him $34.50 if he had bought his regular monthly pass or $15.00 if he paid cash fares all the way.  Of course additional savings could be had if John bought a 3rd book of tickets and banked those tickets for whenever he needed them next.

When choosing your transit fare options, take a look around to see what service is offered at what price.  If there are multiple systems you could use (i.e. Richmond Hill to Union Station Toronto there is YRT/TTC and GO Transit options) there may be savings based on which route you choose to take. Thus, there are major savings to be had if you do your homework.

Religion at what cost?

The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) has recently been examining it's budget for savings and to ensure non provincially funded costs meet revenues.  This has included examining the costs to community groups renting school gynamasiums for sports like basketball, scouts and the like.  in reviewing the expenditures for community groups the board explained it succintly like this:

The Board charges fees for permits and currently incurs an $11-million loss on permit revenues compared to costs,”... The ministry has provided funding through the Priority Schools Initiative to offset the costs of permits for non-profit groups, but it is a fixed amount each year. If permits are not cost recovery, the Board must redirect the funding intended to support care, cleaning and maintenance of schools during regular day school hours to subsidize permit fees.

Seems simple enough.  While the board's review of ensuring is what money goes out, also comes in to break even which commendable, the TDSB's review leaves some questions. 

In the 2011-2012 school year the TDSB responded to parental inquiries about student safety on Friday afternoons.  At Valley Park Middle School , Muslim students were leaving the building to attend Friday afternoon prayer sessions at a local Mosque.  The school board attempted to resolve the issue by inviting a local Imam into the school to hold the prayer sessions in the school cafeteria.  Even former education minister Kathleen Wynne supported the accomodation.   This seemed to resolve the issue of student safety issues brought forward as the students would no longer be leaving the school.

Fast forward to the Toronto District School Board's budget review for community groups recently completed. The school increased fees for basketball groups and at least two christian churches that use school board facilities for their worship services. As the Toronto Sun's Joe Warmington noted,  one church group had their permit fees increased by 800%.  Joe also did some further investigation to find out if the Muslim group at Valley Park Middle School would have to start paying similar fees for using the school cafeteria.  The Toronto District School Board's Communications Department (i.e. "the messenger") responded the question about possible board levied fees for the Muslim use of the school for Friday afternoon prayers with:

My understanding is that is a religious accommodation as opposed to a permit-for-use and is not affected by this. - Ryan Bird, Toronto District School Board quoted in Toronto Sun.

The TDSB can not have it both ways.  On one hand the Muslim students can bring in an Imam to hold Friday afternoon prayer under "religious accomodation" rules the school board has while on the other Christian churches using board facilities on Sundays or any other part of the week are charged fees under it's "Community Use of Schools" policies.  How does the board in any way think slotting one religious group under "religious accomodation" and another under "Community Use of Schools" is correct?  One policy apparently, according to the board's communication's representative Ryan Bird, allows one group to use the board space for free while another policy charges for use by another religious group.  The inconsistancy here at the board needs to be addresssed.

The board needs to merge and ammend the community use policy and the religious accomodation policy into one to ensure all religious groups are treated fairly.  Fees should be levied to both religious organizations to recoup the costs for maintaining the space used.  Thus, if the same school cafeteria is used by a Muslim group on Friday afternoon for two hours and the same space is used by a Christian church for two hours on a Sunday, the same fee should apply to both.  That being said, if a community basketball association uses the same space, the same fee should apply as well.  This is only fair to treat all community groups equally while also ensuring the books are balanced.  Not only is it fair to the community groups, it is also fair to the taxpayers as well.

Air Canada: Guaranteed to have Issues

On Friday evening, after two weeks in Ottawa, my wife and I were ready to return home to Toronto.   There were showers in both the Ottawa and Toronto areas.   We arrived at Ottawa's McDonald-Cartier Airport about 2:30 P.M. and reviewed the departure board to find our flight, Air Canada 481 was delayed until 6:00 P.M.  We also saw the other Air Canada flights to Toronto were delayed as well.   We dutifully checked in early to ensure we were clear of security. 

The Ottawa airport on both sides seemed to be pretty quiet with quite a number of empty domestic gates and a steady flow of passengers coming through security. 

I reviewed the Departures screen again and noticed that the Air Canada flights to Toronto were still delayed.  But I took a closer look, Porter's flights to Toronto's Billy Bishop City Centre was on time and so was WestJet's flights into Toronto's Lester B. Pearson Terminal 3.  So why was Air Canada having such problems flying into the new Lester B. Pearson Terminal 1?  The departures person who had checked our bags said the delays were due to thunderstorms in the Toronto area.  That doesn't seem to wash as wouldn't Porter and WestJet have the same issues?  Yet their flights were on time. 

At 5:15 P.M. the plot thickened even more.  Our 5 P.M. flight was delayed further from 6 P.M. to 6:15 P.M.  The worst part was the regularly scheduled 6:00 P.M. Air Canada  flight 463 was right on time and those passengers were able to board at Gate 16 right next to us stewing at Gate 17. 

Eventually we board our plane and get seated.  The only eventful thing on take off is the sighting of German Chanceller Angela Merkel's Luftwaffe plane sitting on the tarmac awaiting use during Angela's visit to Ottawa.  Quite the site to see a foreign air service at Canada's capital. 

In the air though, things got interesting but not to the fault of Air Canada.  Drink service was started and got about five rows before it was cancelled due to turbulance.  Then we the flight went way west past Toronto to Milton before turning around to land.  Interesting plane flight in to be forced to turn at the end but perhaps the wind direction forced the planes to arrive at Toronto's Lester. B. Pearson International Airport from a westerly direction.

Once on the ground the adventure did not stop there.  Our flight was forced to hold on the tarmac as there were no open gates for us to use.  The Captain came on and explained the situation.  Fifteen minutes later were on our way to the gate.  But before we were able to pull up to the gate a landing crew had to be found.  This took at least another five minutes for Air Canada to scramble together.  It seemed Air Canada's crew at Pearson was just not ready for an Air Canada flight despite receiving delayed flights all day from at least Ottawa and maybe more originating airports.

Next was the usual long walk to pick up our baggage at domestic baggage pick-up.  We arrived at the four carousels to spy bags from Calgary, Winnipeg and other origins.  But nothing from Ottawa despite there being at least two flights that would have arrived within hour of each other (i.e. our flight that left at 6:15 P.M. and the other at 6:00 P.M.).  We waited about fifteen minutes before carousel number two, which had no origins listed, lit up that it was about to activate and the origin of "St. John's" and an flight number lit up.  I was about to walk away to recheck the other three carousels when bagage started to drop.  The third bag in, apparently somehow coming from St. John's, was my bag!  Somehow Air Canada gave my bag the scenic route to Newfoundland from Ottawa and got it back to Toronto in the same amount of time it took me to get from Ottawa to Toronto delayed.    Either that is the true story or Air Canada has no idea of where their planes are or originate at all times.

I just hope the pilots know where there going after lift off. Because Air Canada doesn't seem to be able to come up with anything except lame excuses of why their planes are delayed (i.e. storms in Toronto while their competion, Porter & Westjet are able to stay on time), lack of coordination (i.e. having the 6 P.M. flight leave on time while the 5 P.M. flight is still not arrived yet and no landing crew in Toronto) and finally, not one apology from anyone at Air Canada for the delays and missed connecting flights for those transferring to other destinations in Toronto.  The only answer to this entire situation is to book with Westjet.

PRESTO! An Explanation Please

The Presto fare payment system being rolled out by Metrolinx throughout the Toronto area and Ottawa is supposed to make fare payment for transit riders easier.  Transit users would be able to use one card to ride all the transit systems in the Toronto area which would remove the necessity of carrying tickets, tokens, passes and other transit brick a brack.  The dream of modern reliable fare payment options appeared to have dawned on the Toronto area after years in the darkness of tokens and easily counterfitable tickets.   Torontoians would finally join the ranks of Hong Kong and New York City transit riders with modern flexible transit fare payment technology.  The dream and optimism was there in the beginning, but then Metrolinx and it's contractors have fallen apart. 

In the beginning everything seemed to be working as it should be on a major roll out.  GO Transit, a division of Metrolinx, started testing the card technology on the Lakeshore West Train line.  As with any well designed project, there was to be kinks when items leave the lab.  Even Google Beta Tests new technologies before rolling them out to all users (e.g. Gmail, Maps, etc.).  Grand designs for roll out of the technology in 2011 and 2012 went from there. 

Then the technological issues and lack of planning started to arise.  First the Toronto's TTC refused to adopt the Presto card as it called the technology outdated because the card was the only way to pay the fare instead of allowing for credit cards, Presto Cards and, eventually, cell phones to be used.   The TTC initially said it would undertake it's own tender process for a more advanced fare payment system provided by the private sector.  But after exploring a few options, it was determined Presto would be the best choice as the province was willing to provide some funding for implementation.  However, the TTC currently only has select stations that connect with regional transit on the Presto system.  Thus, presently the largest transit system in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is not using Presto to it's fullest potential and is unlikely to until the next year.

Technological problems and secrecy are prevalent in roll out of Presto.  Only the good news is trumpeted by Metrolinx and the transit agencies in the Toronto area.  Delays and technological glitches go unexplained.  A prime example was the roll out of the Presto Card with York Region's YRT System.  The promised date of March 28th 2011 came and went with no communication from YRT.  I commented at the time it left riders and taxpayers confused:  . 

Recently York Region Transit (YRT) has delayed the launch of the Presto Card on it's system from Monday March 28th to some unknown date. Yorkregion.com reports that the Region of York's Transportation Department, which YRT is under, refuses to comment on why the delay. This is despite a report to the Region's Transportation comittee's March 2nd meeting from the transportation department making no mention of a delay and that March 28th was the target date. As well there was no mention of the Presto delay in the Region of York's council minutes for March 24, 2011. One would think that an update to government officials on why delayed roll out would be required as there is signicant amount of the regional and provincial money being invested. But politicians, YRT Customers and taxpayers are left without answers even after a news reporter asked questions.

YRT, as per usual practice, rolled out the marketing campaign for Presto in March 2011 with bus wraps, newsletter advertisments and much much more.  But no explanation came forth on why Presto was delayed or what the issues were for the delay.  It was all hush hush because, quite frankly, Presto might become an embarassment for both YRT and Metrolinx if the real reasons came out. 

Fast forward to July 2011 and at least some of  real reasons finally came out.  Presto was not ready for prime time at YRT.  The lack of advertising for the July 2011 was pretty noticeable.  Optics didn't look good for YRT's Marketing department as it appeared they blew their Presto advertising budgets on the March 2011 roll out with nothing to show for it.  No newspaper advertisments were put out and YRT's transit newsletter, My Transit, had been printed in May.    But that was not to say YRT didn't blow the budget with the roll out of Presto though.  I commented more on that roll out back in July 2011.  Bottom line, advertising was overblown and a weak overpiced roll out occurred. 

Then the technology and inital set up of the Presto cards started to become evident.  Yorkregion.com reported several issues with the incorrect set up of cards which resulted in children and students being charged adult fares.  The only place to resolve these issues?  YRT's Transit Office open a very conveinent 8:30 to 4:30 Monday to Friday.   

Add to that issues with the cards themselves malfunctioning with YRT's Finest Fare Enforcement Officers with the below being a prime example:

Two weeks ago on CBC Radio's Metro Morning with Matt Galloway, a freelance reporter reported that he tapped his Presto Card at Finch Station and boarded a northbound VIVA Blue bus. YRT's Transit Enforcement was on the VIVA bus checking fares. They tapped the reporter's card to show he hadn't paid. He disembarked the bus with the transit enforcement team and tapped the Presto Machine he used and it showe he paid. In the meantime, the VIVA Blue bus pulled out without the reporter on the bus for which he duly paid his fare and he was made to look like a fare evading scofflaw when in fact the reporter had fully paid his fare and was entitled to board the bus. There was no word of an apology from York Region Transit or Presto.

If that was not enough, when confronted about the issues with Presto, YRT and the Region of York clammed right up.  Bruce McCuaig, the President of Metrolinx, was on CBC Radio's Metro Morning and was interviewed at the time by Matt Galloway.  McCuaig refused to apologize for these indicences but did point out there would be technological glitches from time to time.

YRT even tried to paint the roll out of Presto as successful.  YRT General Manager Rick Leary claimed the rollout was successful as only eight complaints had been registered.  I took Leary's claims to task in a posting in August 2011.

YRT continues to struggle with acceptance by it's passengers with Presto as the only place to load obtain or load a card in person is the very convenient YRT Office open only during regular working hours.  Add to this YRT passengers can only use Presto for 10 ride ticket function which basically gives one ride free for every 10 taken.  Unfortunately, weekly and monthly passes are not available at this time and the only place to obtain a card authoried by York Region is the YRT office which is open during not very convenient hours, but there are is promises to roll out to retail locations in the future.

The City of Ottawa has also run into issues in rolling out Presto.  Ottawa was expected to piggy back the roll out of the card after the Toronto area had successfully completed it.  The main issue in Ottawa though is someone at Metrolinx believed the Presto System was ready for a more advanced version two.  This was despite Version 1 of the Presto System not being fully implemented or used in the Greater Toronto Area.  As an example, in York Region, Presto Cards can only be purchased from YRT Head Office in Richmond Hill and not commercial retailers.  As well the cards only work for single ride fares in replacement of the ten rides worth of tickets and is not available for monthly pass holders who continue to use paper passes. 

The new system in Ottawa optically looks better than the YRT version with larger screens and tap on and off points at each bus entrance and exit.  However, it currently doesn't work to several technical issues including:

a) Presto system rebooting when cards are tapped. 

b) Presto taking minutes to boot up when the bus is started.

c) Cards being debited once, twice or not at all.

The City of Ottawa had spent numerous amount on promotion of the new Presto System for an expected roll out of July 1st.  Even a month before Metrolinx said the system was ready for launch in Ottawa.  In fact Metrolinx continues to advertise that Presto will be launched in Summer of 2012 on their Presto website.  Thus, City of Ottawa council is quite upset with Metrolinx and is investigating repayment of some of the costs associated with Presto. 

Bruce McQuaig, still the President of Metrolinx, replied to the question of the City of Ottawa receiving any compensation for Metrolinx's delays in implementation:

 “offset reasonable and documented and unavoidable costs in the areas we have agreed.”-  Ottawa Citizen article.

Translation: the City of Ottawa is out of luck in attempting to get any money back on the unproven Presto Technology without reams of paperwork itemizing line by line costing which will suck more staff time than any cheque from Metrolinx would compensate for.

The only difference in terms of Presto between York Region Transit (YRT) and OC Transpo (City of Ottawa's Transit System) is the relationship with Metrolinx.  YRT needs Metrolinx as it is the agency who decides on funding for future transit projects within the Greater Toronto Area.  Whereas, the City of Ottawa plans and seeks funding for it's own transit operations and expansion. Thus, Ottawa is not as beholden to Metrolinx as York Region Transit is for the future.

For the future, OC Transpo and Metrolinx are working on a February 2013 roll out.  City of Ottawa has approved a new fair structure for the interim period that mirrors the discounts for ridersherip for Presto.  Metrolinx and it's contractor are working on tweaking the Presto system and continuing testing.  This all seems very promising that the city is communicating so far with it's ridership on how Presto's issues are being resolved. 

Metrolinx is acting though is nothing wrong in Ottawa. The Presto website does not mention the delay and still points to a summer 2012 roll out.  It was only interested in doing damage control by sending it's President and Vice-President to take the heat from the Cit of Ottawa's Transportation Committee.  There were no answers at the time on how the city would be refunded money spent promoting Presto or the delayed roll out.  Metrolinx has also failed to apologize to both YRT and OC Transpo customers for the delayed roll out and technical glitches that befell both systems.   

Ottawa needs to continue to communicate with it's ridership, councillors, and taxpayers on the progress and hinderances of Presto.  The City needs to learn from the YRT and other Toronto area municipal transit systems in failing to communicate with it's stakeholders about the roll out of Presto.  Failure to do so could leave bad optics to riders and lower the trust of ridership in the transit agency itself. 

Metrolinx needs to realize it is in a communications quagmire.  It has failed to roll out the technology to all the systems on time without any technological issues.  Both YRT and OC Transpo are prime examples of poor planning on implementing new technology.  The systems were promised to transit users and taxpayers and then delayed due to technological or other undisclosed issues. On top of that, Metrolinx then tried to release the second version of Presto while the first version was not fully rolled out anywhere as advertised to replace both monthly passes and 10 ride ticket equivalents.  While all of this is going on, Metrolinx has painted the picture that nothing is wrong and Presto is a great system that we are confident in.  To bad many transit users in both York Region and Ottawa beg to differ.

Swilling in Yogurty's Yogurt

After some lunch at Moxie's, my wife and I headed South on Yonge Street to Yogurty's (4922 Yonge Street, Toronto) with our Dealfind coupons in hand to try out this serve yourself frozen yogurt dessert place.

As we entered, we waited for the attendent to finish up with a previous customer.  Once the customer left, the attendent came over to welcome us to Yogurty's and inquire if we had.  We replied we had not but also wanted to know if our Dealfind coupon would be valid before we began putting together our tastey treat.  The attendend said our coupon was valid and then led us on a tour of the location and how things operated. 

The store concept is pretty simple and exactly like Menchies.  The customer is complete control of the
After the attendent left us we started in to make our sundaes.   I tried some strawberry and creamsicle frozen yogurt mixed with some strawberries and peanut chunks.  My wife enjoyed som green tea flavoured frozen yogourt.   The only complaint, besides the price, was the frozen yogourt was a little soft for our liking.

After paying($10.00 and change for two desserts) we walked northward on Yonge Street doing some people watching and window shopping.  Overall it an decent visit, but I would have to head back again to give it another try to see if it is worth it or if the frozen yogourt is too soft for our liking.

This place has Moxie to Grill

Had lunch at Moxie's Grill & Bar (4950 Yonge Street, Toronto)  for an adventure for some good food.  We entered to no one at the front desk.  But at least they left a note saying to head toward the main restaurant area where they would be more than happy to see seat you. 

We were greeted by a hostess who ushered us to our seats, waited for us to sit down, handed us the menu and then speeled on about how Moxie's had chef Alex Chen.  She also pointed out that Alex cooked in Beverly Hills, yadda, yadda, yadda, etc. etc.  She then told us our server would be "Monica" and then dissappeared. 

We perused our menues and made a decision on what to eat and drink while waiting for Monica to appear.

Monica stopped by to review again the menu with us including the Saturday specials on drinks and, of course, how great Alex Chen was. 

Really, Alex is that good?  Between the hostess and Monica, it seemed Alex Chen was rattling the pots and pans in this very three quarter empty establishment. However, don't dare ask to speak to Alex as he really is only probably paid royalties for his recipes crafted for Moxies and the use of his likeness in all the over top marketing. I bet you Alex has yet to set even 1 foot inside a Moxies in Canada.   But I digress....

Monica, our server, is an interesting person.  She is quite bubbly in an over the top "I'm trying to hard to please you..." type that seems a little to fake for my liking.  But she was quick to ensure our order was taken right and brought to our table.  But while taking our order I lost count the times she said the word "sure" when acknowledging what we wanted before asking us if we wanted bacon, cheese, etc. that she could upsell us on with our meal.  She was also a fairly noisy person as we could clearly hear her conversation with the manager while she gathered drinks at the bar even though we were a fair distance away.  So much for a nice quiet afternoon lunch with my wife before enjoying some nice weather in the north end of Toronto.

Our Order: Classic Beef Burger with fries and water and The Mediterranean Burger with fries and Coke

Monica dissappeared (Edit: "travelled to the bar", can't really dissepear if I can hear you the entire way to and from the bar) and returned with our drinks in quick order.  She also took this time to inquire if we wanted anything else like appetizers, etc.  We politely declined but it seemed she was just doing her job in attempting to upsell us on additional menu items. 

Ten minutes later Monica returned with our food.  On first observation it seemed Moxie's had skimped on quantities.  Our burgers looked delicious but the fries came in  metal bowl like structure to ensure they didn't splay across our plate.  The bowled fries made the plate look mostly empty. Add to this the ketchup comes in a small condiment bowl instead of in a bottle to put on the table.  I wonder if this method of ketchup serving is to make the place look upscale or an easy way to cut condiment costs.  

But the quality of the food makes up for the skimpyness on the fries and the lack in appearance in quantity of food.

The Mediterranean Burger was delicious with tastey pesto dripping out of it.  The burger meat itself was juicey yet taste.  A well prepared burger.  The fries rivalled the burger in taste being freshly cut and appeared to be carefully prepared.  However, the fries were way to salty which caused me to go drink loads of coke.  But perhaps the saltiness is on purpose as it usually ensures customers drink more beer and thus increase the restaurant's profits. The ketchup though proved a little skimpy, I was having to carefully wipe the last dregs out of the small stainless steel cup when finishing up the last few fries.  A little more ketchup could be provided or perhaps, horrors of horrors, a Heinz bottle could be offered to allow the customer to apportion their own ketchup.

The Classic Burger was exactly the same as the Mediterranean Burger however, sans the pesto and some other toppings.  No worries, the same salty fries are offered in the exact same portions as it's European styled counterpart. 

Overall, Moxies is a nice place for a Saturday afternoon lunch.  Normally it is a quiet place to eat overlooking the waterfall to the Extreme Fitness Centre entrance and decent people watching of the passing pedestrians on Yonge Street.

Pho Xe Lua: I'm Trained to Visit

On Family Day Monday my wife visited the Art Gallery of Ontario for a day of art and culture.  For lunch we thought we would poke around to see if the newly renovate Art Gallery had any good place to eat with decent pricing. 

We knew the FRANK Restaurant would be out of the question as it looked very pricey so we thought we would try the AGO Cafe in the basement of the museum for some sandwiches and maybe a drink.  Then we saw the price of $8.00 per sandwich and, oh yeah and extra $1.00 if you wanted a drink with it.  $9.00 plus taxes for a saranwrapped sandwich and can of Coke? Really? 

We left the AGO for Spadina Avenue looking for some good Asian cooking.  We ran across the Pho Xe Lua (254 Spadina Avenue, Toronto) which we  had before and enjoy visiting a frequent basis. 

We entered and walked up the stairs where we were greeted and seated immediately. The serving staff brought us tea and picked up our menu order.

The Order: #108 - Pho with rare beef noodles and meatballs, #102 Pho with rare beef and tripe and gobs of tea to wash it all down.

The Pho was exactly like the Pho we normally enjoy at the Pho Xe Lua Vaughan location.  The Pho was excellent beef broth with rare beef and noodles.  My wife's pho, the #102, was just as she had at the Vaughan location. 

The only hiccup was when we asked for the bill.  Like the Vaughan location, we really did not have a designated server, as customers you just wave down any passing waiter or waitress for assistance. 

We inquired with a server who was at the cash machine behind our table for our bill.  He looked mystified as to what we want and inquired where table 61's (our table) bill was punched in. He went to another machine at the kitchen area.  He looked at the screen there and was interupted by another customer who was dropping off payment. Next thing we knew this server was walking to the other end of the restaurant to serve another table. 

We flagged down a waitress who was at the machine.  She printed our bill in less than 15 seconds and handed it to us with a smile on her face like we were her best customers.  

Despite the small hiccup in service I would still recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for Pho and moden vietnamese atmosphere.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year 2012 to all! 

It has been quite the year for myself and the world around us. 

Here is a retro look of City of Toronto's celebrations in 2007:




Hope you have a happy, yet exciting, new year!

An Inexpensive Day in Toronto

On the Labour Day Monday in Toronto my wife and I headed down to Toronto's waterfront for a little sightseeing of the military variety.  We took the subway down from Finch Station using a TTC Day Pass ($10.00 for two adults and two children on weekends). 

First we stopped off at Coronation Park which is near the Canadian National Exhibition to watch the air show which we thought started at 12:30 and ended at 4:00 P.M. as it was advertised on their website at the time.   We waited from 12:30 until 1:00 and only saw a brief glimpse of the Airplane/Helicopter from the U.S. Army.  At 1:00 P.M. we threw in the towel and started walking eastward as we had another stop we wanted to see.  We started working our way around the condos on the waterfront when a couple of military planes took off.  We admired them as they dissappeared in the distance.

The CNE should get together with the air show and have tighter start and end times for the planes taking off.  Having air show fans sitting for hours on end while the planes come and go every fifteen minutes doesn't seem that impressive to me.  As well this spread out air show keeps patrons who are on the CNE grounds from taking part in rides and travelling very far from the waterfront to spend money because they are worried about missing something.   Anyway, we missed most of the airshow except what we could see from our travels by foot to the foot of Yonge Street. 

Our second stop was the visiting HMCS Montreal and the HMCS Summerside. 

The HMCS Montreal

The HMCS Summerside (left) and the HMCS Shawinigan (right)

The best part about visiting the HMCS Montreal and Summerside?  It was all FREE!  So watch out next year to see which of the naval vessels of the Canadian Navy will be in port.  For more pictures of the HMCS Montreal and the HMCS Summerside check the Toronto albumn of my pictures.

For the entire afternoon for two adults cost us $10.00 Day pass for the TTC plus a lunch at Tim Hortons resulted in an afternoon of fun and frolic.

A Spirited Time at Spirits Bar & Grill

Yesterday my brother, his wife, my sister, my wife and myself headed down to the Bloor & Yonge area for some Indian food.  However, our favourite Indian restaurant is closed on Sundays.  So we headed down Hayden Street to the corner of Church Street and Hayden street to Spirits Bar & Grill (642 Church Street, Toronto). 

Our party of five entered and was seated immediately.  Of course it was pretty immediate as there were only two other tables occupied and a few at the bar on Sunday evening. 

We oggled the menus for a little while after ordering drinks.  The waitress checked in a non-rush style periodically to see if we had decided on what we wanted to order.  Eventually we did and placed our order.

The Order: 3 Spirits Burgers (Half a pound of grilled certified Angus Beef, served on a classic burger bun topped with lettuce, tomato, red onion, and a Strubb's pickle) with sides of fries,  1 pound of chicken wings, 1 Veggie burger with a side of fries, 3 glasses of water with lemon, 1 Pepsi and 1 7 Up.

The meal took about twenty minutes to arrive from the kitchen.  Everything arrived at perfect temperature.  The Spirit burgers arrived with the lettuce, tomato red onion and pickle on it.  The ketchup and mustard came in bottles to be added by the eater.  Once this was done it was time to dig into the burger.  The burger was deliciously juicy yet well grilled.  The only problem was the ketchup and mustard dripping from the burger which made things a little messy.  This really was my own fault as these are the toppings the eater adds themselves from the bottles brought to the table by the waitress.

The fries were quite good as well.  They were potato skin fries fried to perfection.  There could have been a little more in quantity but they tasted good nonetheless. 

My brother and his wife split a Spirit Burger and a pound of wings together and seemed to enjoy them.  

My sister, as the comment below notes, enjoyed the Veggie burger immensley.

Then the bill came.  My brother had 3 7 Ups and I had 2 Pepsis.  Each one of them was individually charged for instead of free refills. So this got a little pricey as each glass of fountain pop was around two dollars a piece.  With the exception of this little tid bit of contention we had a good time. 

Overall Spirits Bar & Grill is a good place to eat.  Just watch how much you drink as it can get pricey especially in terms of what you get in terms of soda pop.  Otherwise dig in and enjoy the bar food.

Dumplings!

Yesterday for dinner my wife and I joined my brother and his wife for dumplings in Chinatown at Mother's Dumplings (421 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario). 

I was excited about going on a Sunday afternoon as it provided a day out in downtown Toronto and to have something that I really hadn't experienced much of before. DUMPLINGS!

One of the best things about Toronto on a weekend is that a family day pass for the TTC can be used by two adults for only $10.00!  This is equivalent for a two way trip for two adults using tokens.  So we decided to pick up the Day Pass and spend some of the afternoon wandering downtown Toronto.  We left our place and arrived at Yonge & Bloor for about 3:00 P.M. and wandered down Yonge Street to College Street to visit the Winners.  We then returned to the subway and scotted over to St. Andrew Station (King Street & Spadina) and walked over to the Moutain Equipment Co-op to see if they had any spring jackets on sale.  Unfortunately they did not at this time.

We ventured along King Street and up Spadina Avenue through Chinatown to meet my brother and his wife at Mother Dumplings for dinner at 5:00 P.M.  We were quickly seated and handed menues. 

Now normally I know right away what I want to order in a restaurant as I'm quite familiar with the food choices.  But in new atmospheres like a Dumpling Restaurant I'm a little stuck.  Mainly for two reasons: 

1. I do not know what is good to eat.

2. I dislike seafood that includes crab, shrimp and lobster.  

So with that out of the way I normally did what I normally do in an Asian restaurant where I haven't really had what is on the menu, take a look at the ingredients that I like and hope for the best.    In this instance I chose some pork dumplings and others chose other kinds of dumplings that I have no clue what they were.  So.....

The Order: A vast quantity of dumplings that I have no idea what is in them washed down with copious amounts of tea.

The food took a little while to show up.  But that is mainly because each dumpling is made by hand in the kitchen and cooked either fried or boiled.   But eventually they do hit the table.

The first round of Dumplings we had four different plates.  However, one plate had dumplings that were a little frozen inside.  Um...don't they check these things for temperature before serving?  Apparently they missed this plate and it went back to the kitchen.  With that hiccup out of the way the rest of the meal was pretty good. 

I enjoyed my time here using chopsticks to try different dumplings.  My brother and "the wives" were great at explaining what each dumpling had in it before I tried it. 

As for whether I liked dumplings and this restaurant?  I like dumplings and would gladly try this restaurant again as well as others so I could have a better comparision.   So for a first time dumpling taster I had a great time and can't wait to return!

Election Fever

"ELECTION!"

Seems to be the most popular and least popular word in Canada right now.

Last year Ontarians had municipal elections to elect local government.  In Toronto Rob Ford took over and has been cleaning house since David Miller has left.  News for Rob though, the campaigns over and you have four years to do whatever you do.  So you can stop campaigning and dropping "Stop the Gravy Train!" antics (sloganeering?) and start looking for some CHACHING (read: money) savings for the 2012 budget because, as of this writing, there is over eight hundred million dollar shortfall that must be made up by this time next year in order to balance the 2012 budget. 

Further in Municipal politics, in Aurora the Phyllis Morris which seems to have restored order to council under new Aurora Mayor Geoff Dawe after the previous fractious term.   So far this term it has been only Wendy Gaertner who has stirred the pot by going on and on with questions to staff ad nauseaum to try, as she puts it, "clarify" her thinking.  Other councillors have pointed out that staff have been ready willing and able to answer questions and provide material to councillors before a council meeting is held.  Councillor Evelyn Buck, who has been previously Aurora Mayor and Councillor, has pointed out the only reason to ask a question of staff at a council meeting is to show information that will further a debate point and not to research out your point.  Bottom line to Wendy, council meetings are for presenting your points, making a collective decision and moving onto the next item.  Time for contemplating which way the wind blows on an issue is at General Committee or various other comittees and doing your homework with staff assistance during office hours at the town hall.  If you cannot understand this concept, please resign right now so someone that does can occupy your chair and the town's business can move forward.

Later this year is an Ontario provincial election.  The main issues in the election are going to be increasing electricity rates and the HST.  Premier Dalton McGuinty has overseen increases in electricity rates of over fifty percent in the past four years plus is promising further increases to electricity rates in the next five years as well.  All of this, McGuinty says, to invest in new green infrastructure like wind mills on the lake and gas powered plants.  Dalton McGuinty also oversaw the imposition of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) which takes the federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the old Ontario Provincial Sales Tax (PST) and melds them into one tax that is imposed on anything the GST was on before.  This meant the Ontarians saw a further eight percent increase to their electiricity and Natural Gas bills as previously these bills didn't have the old PST imposed on them.  Overall, Dalton McGuinty has a lot of explaining to do for these items and others.  But what does Dalton do?  He asks what the Progressive Conservatives (PCs) are going to do in the future? Where is there plan?  Do the PC's have a plan?  PC leader Tim Hudak says the PC plan will be released in due time once it has been formulated, revised and released. Dalton, the real question here is do you have a plan?  What is that plan? A clear plan for Ontario is what is needed in these troubled economic times.  So put the Liberal party plan out there for the voters to decide on and stop worrying what the other side can do.  The election is when the decision will be made and the election can only be a good thing.

Federally, there is a 2011 Budget coming out soon.  The Liberals and the Bloc Quebecois are refusing to support the budget no matter what.  The Conservative government, in a minority position in the House of Commons, needs another party to the budget to get it passed, if not, as per the Constitution, an election must be called.  With Liberals and Bloc Quebecois out of the picture the only party left is the NDP.  NDP leader Jack Layton has met with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in consulation over what the budget would look like.   The decision is now up to Stephen Harper, does he put some of the items the NDP is hoping for into the budget to get it passed?  Or not.  If not, an election, that most Canadians don't want. will be called.  If Stephen puts some of the items into the budget, will it be enough for the NDP to support the budget and allow Parliament to continue on?  Probably as the NDP, for financial and health reasons doesn't want an election at this time.  Financial?  Canadians have had four federal elections in just over ten years and three of those have resulted in minority parlimaments under either a Liberal or Conservative government with threats of a coalition government mixed in for good measure.  Health?  Jack Layton is currently undergoing cancer treatment and obviously would rather concentrate his time and energy on that instead of criss crossing Canada over a months time in election mode.

So there you have it, us poor saps in Ontario by the end of 2011 may, but not necessarily definately, will have gone through three elections in about a years time.  It almost makes you wonder who the guy at the front door is trying to do...sell you something you don't need or get elected.  If it is the latter then I have a questions before you can start..who are you? and which ballot exactly are you on? Now what are going to do exactly?  Thanks...bye...I got three or four more of you coming by and I still have to cook dinner.

Elections...it is enough to make almost anyone feverish.

Into the Hall Roberto!

Finally the Baseball Hall of Fame has recognized the Toronto Blue Jays as actually existing in the anals of major league baseball history.  There have many tries but so far no luck until Thursday.

Many have tried to get the late famous Blue Jay broadcaster Tom Cheek in by honouring him with the Frick Award for broadcasting.  The Frick award, as described by the Canadian Press (via this Toronto Star article):

The honour is given out annually by the Baseball Hall of Fame for excellence in broadcasting based on longevity, continuity with a club, honours, national assignments such as the World Series and all-star Games, plus popularity with fans.

Tom Cheek matches all of the above by calling over 4,306 consecutive Blue Jay games, Two World Series (Toronto Blue Jays 1992 & 1993), American League Playoff Games (Toronto Blue Jays 1985, 1989, 1992 & 1993) and I would dare anyone in Toronto, Ontario or Canada to find anyone who disliked Tom Cheek on the radio.  Tom has the Frick Award credentials aced. In fact he would be so good he could be called "Dr. Cheek of baseball broadcasting" for his longevity, quality and quantity of baseball games called.  But sadly no, he is still waiting to be elected the Frick Award and be installed in the Hall of Fame. 

Jack Morris, who pitched during the 1992 Blue Jay World Series winning season is also due for the Hall of Fame.  But in his thirteenth round of being on the ballot he is loosing steam at just over fifty percent of the balloting.  Sadly it looks like he won't be destined for the Hall as he only has two more tries before he is removed from the ballot permanently. Although, if Jack was to be elected, he probably wouldn't be elected as a Blue Jay (i.e. seen in the Hall of Fame with a Blue Jays cap) as he had several good seasons  with the Minnesota Twins.

But there is good news.  Former Blue Jay Second Baseman Roberto Alomar on his second attempt was elected with ninety percent of the vote.  I still remember Roberto Alomar's glory days of the early 1990s when he played second base.  Between him and Centre Field speedster Devon White, they had the top of the Blue Jays batting order sewn up.  Watching either or both of them on the bases would give any pitcher the willies that a base would be stolen.  Then there was Alomar's glove.  His was one of the best in baseball with ten gold gloves for his position at second base.  He was a master at diving and catching balls that hit anywhere else would have eluded the second basan.  But not Alomar, he would get the out no questions asked.  A big congratulations to Roberto for finally getting in the Hall. 

There is still more good news about Blue Jays of the past getting into the Hall of Fame.  Pat Gillick, the Blue Jays General Manager (GM) has also been elected into the Hall of Fame.  Pat was the GM through the agravating 1980s and 1990s when the Blue Jays kept falling short of even getting to the World Series.  Pat kept on trying by making the trades, watching the talent in the farm system develop and going gray and bald pulling his hair out while trying to do it.  Pat and the Toronto Blue Jays finally pulled it off with not one, but two World Series Wins back to back. 

Those were the days of the Toronto Blue Jays.  The main question wasn't "Who will represent Toronto on the All Star Team?" but "how many Blue Jay players and coaches will there be on the All Star Team?" Times have sure changed.  This past season I didn't go to a Blue Jays game, the team can barely contend in their division.  Every year it is the same old story, in the spring the team says "this is going to be the year..." and then half way through the season..."we'll be better next year...so still come watch the players...because we will do it next year..."  Right. I bought that the first couple of years but will not anymore until I see the evidence screaming back at me in July or August with the Toronto Blue Jays near the top of the standings.   Until then, I might listen to them on the radio the odd time, but that will be all. I've been hornswoggled enough. 

Oh the glory years!  Roberto, Jack, Pat and the many others.   Hopefully Joltin' Joe Carter can land in the Baseball Hall of Fame as he also was a five time All Star, was a key player in Two World Series wins (remember a certain home run in 1993? "TOUCH EM ALL JOE!" Remember a certain player playing first base catching the ball for the final out in 1992?) and pretty well also hit more than 100 RBIs per season every year he played.  It would be nice to see another Blue Jays cap in the Hall of Fame, Joltin' Joe would be your next best bet...especially when after him there isn't much hope for a while of another Blue Jays player even making the ballot considering the seasons the Jays have had lately.   Oh for the glory years....until the glory years return...INTO THE HALL ROBERTO!

End of the Toronto 5 Cent Bag Fee?

Recently Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has mused to the National Post about removing the 5 cents per plastic bag that Toronto retail outlets charge for.  Ford plans to bring this to Toronto council in January 2011 for debate.   One kudo to His Worship, is that he has gone on the record as saying:

"I am personally not in favour of it but I want the feedback from the councillors and the constituents." - Rob Ford in the Toronto Sun.


He told the Toronto Sun that also, before the vote, is looking for a city staff report before considering the item a council meeting.  Basically Rob Ford wants to do his homework on the issue and then bring it forth to be debated and voted on.

I've previously written about this issue before and do believe a reduction in the use of plastic bags needs to occur.  However, strategies in reducing the use of plastic bags need to be examined carefully.

There are a couple of questions that are behind the Toronto five cent bag fee that need to be addressed before the question can be brought forth to council.  These questions include the below:

1. Where does the money, collected as per the City of Toronto by-law, go?

The fee is not technically a tax as the money doesn't go to the City of Toronto. If the City of Toronto collected the fee then it would be a tax and, theoretically, would be illegal under the Province of Ontario's City of Toronto act. So where does the money go? Good question.

Many businesses, like Loblaws, donate the money to World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and other similar charities.  Others just simply pocket the money as a new source of revenue.  This obviously angers some as the prices for products were never reduced as they used to cover the cost of providing free plastic bags and now the store charges for them.  This whole issue needs to be further investigated by the City of Toronto Staff for the report to be brought to council as this is definately "the homework" that needs to be done.

2. Should businesses have the five cents bag fee as a requirement by city by-law or remove the by-law and let businesses decide?

Currently the city of Toronto's by-law stipulates that all Toronto retailers must charge five cents for plastic bags.  Businesses have been taking a lot of heat from consumers over the charge for five cents per bag.  Business owners throw up the their hands and point to the by-law saying they have no choice but to charge the five cents.  

Businesses should have the choice of charging the five cents and not be mandated by a city government.  This could be perhaps done at the provincial or federal level in order to create a level playing field for businesses to compete in.  Currently only the businesses in the City of Toronto have to legally charge the five cents.  So businesses in Toronto have to compete against those outside of Toronto who do not charge five cents. 

It also means there are issues with programming computer systems in large retailers like Loblaws.  Loblaws must now program the option of charging for bags onto their cash registers in Toronto and not for the rest of their stores in Canada.  Loblaws got around this issue by charging for bags at all their stores accross Canada.  But what happens to Loblaws stores in a city where a city council sets the price per bag higher than five cents?  Does Loblaws raise the fee for the rest of the company's stores in the country?  So obviously this issue is larger than the City of Toronto and should be investigated by a higher level of government.

Businesses should be encouraged to provide incentives to customers in reducing the number of plastic bags.  It is in retailers interest to reduce the number of plastic bags in a financial way.  Less plastic bags used means there are less items to ship to the store and less source for in terms of finding plastic bag manufacturers that can handle the volume required.  For example, it is easier to find a plastic bag manufacturer that can handle an order for 100 plastic bags rather than 1000 and thus it would be cheaper to ship 100 plastic bags to store level than 1000 bags.   Loblaws, for example, already provides incentives for customers by giving away 50 PC points for every bag used.  Customers can cash in 20,000 PC points towards $20.00 for anything in the store. So this translates into Loblaws giving away five cents to customers for every bag not used.

If the bag tax were axed, then businesses could relook at their own bag fee policies.  Some policies are not well thought out. One commenter at the Toronto Star noted fast food delivery in Toronto can be a little  ridiculous in terms of the plast bag fee:

Just yesterday I wrote a note to Swiss Chalet Customer Service as they also charge the 5 cent fee for their small plastic bags. A normal size bag is one I have learned to accept but, come on, 5 cents for a 4” x 6” bag?? This is where I think a retailer is pushing the point and pocketing much more than they should. There is also no choice to a customer here. When you order in, you have to accept their way of delivery and subsequently pay for it. They responded saying it was automatic in their computers, it is a municipal law and to take it up with my city councillor. I think they missed my point. I just wanted them to stop charging for the small tiny bags they use for butter, etc.

The main issue here is did the customer have a choice to not use the plastic bags?  It seems in this case Swiss Chalet delivery didn't give him the option to use one plastic bag for his food and butter.  Instead the way Swiss Chalet normally packages items there is one large plastic bag with the food order and inside this large plastic bag is a smaller plastic bag with the condiments and utensils.  What is even funnier is the large plastic bag is clear plastic.  So it isn't like these items are going to be lost, you can see if the the bag is empty or not. But again, there is no alternative to the plastic bags, that I'm aware of, that Swiss Chalet offers.  Swiss Chalet will need to relook at this issue as obviously it doesn't make sense to charge a customer when there is no alternative given. 

3. Wouldn't charging for plastic bags be better handled by the provincial or federal government?

The provincial or federal governments should investigate a method of reducing the number of plastic shopping bags used.  The province of Ontario, as I commented before, has investigated ways of reducing the number of plastic bags used.  Another investigation at the provincial level, like the one done by Ontario in 2007, should be done.  Since 2007 the invention of the compostable bag has arrived.  Should the province mandate that the compostable bag mandatory?  This would obviously have major implications for the producers of plastic bags as the materials for the new bags would have to be sourced properly.  So a phase of compostable bags would be a must.

Overall, the City of Toronto needs to investigate several items before it can reconsider the bag tax.  The homework assignment has been issued by Mayor Rob Ford.  City Council and Staff need to get this assignment completed and report back for a vote.

Toronto Paper Comparison: A Reader's Perspective

Newspapers periodically release circulation numbers and various readership studies. The release of the numbers includes percentage increases, number of readers and comparisons to previous years. The papers obviously try to portray the numbers in a positive light towards their readership that basically says "hey we are number one!". So many numbers and bragging it makes a reader's head spin.

This past October my wife found on Redflagdeals.com a free subscription for the Saturday Toronto Star and Monday to Saturday delivery of the National Post and the Globe & Mail.  So each Saturday until next weekend we will receive three newspapers on your doorstep.  I've found this to be a great opportunity to investigate which newspaper I prefer to read based on various aspects that I, as a reader, look for in a paper. I explore these various aspects below for the deliveries of the Toronto Star, Globe & Mail and National Post.

Delivery: The first and most obvious is delivery of the newspaper itself.  For each of the papers I requested front door delivery and all promised delivery before 6:00 A.M.  Thus, every morning of delivery I should have a copy of the paper at my front door at 6:00 A.M.  Here is how the papers ranked:

1. National Post - Only had one missing paper the first Saturday.  After that, I've never had an issue with the paper not being there.   The paper has always come dry and on my front porch.

2. Toronto Star - The carrier on our route delivers the paper closer to 7:00 A.M. on a Saturday since subscription started.  On weekends this may not be such a big issue.  However, for some this may be an issue if they leave for work early before 7 and hope to take the morning paper with them on their commute (e.g. subway, bus, etc.) or to work. Otherwise the paper has been properly delivered. 

3. Globe & Mail - Over the past two weeks the paper has failed to show up on first attempt and sometimes many after that:

a) The first time my wife called circulation.  Circulation had an automatic recording saying there would be no delivery for the Globe & Mail that day and two copies would be delivered on the next day.  Well we waited for the paper to show up the next day and there was only one edition.  

b) The second time it didn't show up I called at 6:50 A.M. and was promised delivery within 90 minutes.  Nothing showed up after 120 minutes (i.e. 2 hours).  So I called again. I was promised again delivery.  Nothing.  The third call, the Customer Service Representative said I was basically out of luck and the next day I should have the regular paper. 

c) Then third time this past week I called and the Globe & Mail Circulation had an automatic recording saying there was an emergency situation at their place and they couldn't pick up the phone.  I called back 30 minutes later and there was a recorded message saying delivery of the paper was delayed until at least 11:00 A.M.  By 10:00 A.M. we had the paper delivered.

If we were paid Globe & Mail subscribers, we obviously wouldn't be pleased.  But as a free trial, the Globe & Mail fails miserably on delivery.

Customer Service:  We've had to call all three Customer Service Centres for the papers. Each paper was ranked based on, how annoying their automated systems were, how long after we dialed in we had to wait to speak to a live person and were the Customer Service Reps able to assist us in resolving our issues.

1. National Post - Called once about a missed delivery.  The Customer Service agent picked up within 30 seconds and had a new paper delivered within an hour. 

2. Toronto Star - Called to cancel our trial subscription.  The Customer Service agent was more interested in figuring out why we were cancelling and then offering us another paid trial offer.  Bottom line, if we were interested in continuing we would inquire about another offer to further our subscription.  

3. Globe & Mail - Called around five times to have the paper delivered in the first place.  An automated voice recognotition system picks up and asks you a bunch of questions in appearance of trying to help.  One time I called and told the automated systemd "missed delivery".  The system responded if I would like to add the Sunday New York Times to my subscription. I responded "no" and then it kept asking me what I was calling.  After repeating the "missed delivery" fiasco above two more times I hung up and retried.  Bottom line, every time I called in with questions on my account (i.e. to cancel the trial subscription or a missed delivery) I end up at a live person anyway.  Is it really hard to train a live customer service person to answer simple questions like: 1. "How much longer do I have on my subscription?" 2. "The paper didn't come today, can I have a redelivery?" After all the Globe & Mail has been around for over a hundred years, newspaper delivery on specified days to subscribers homes on time shouldn't be rocket science anymore.   To make matters worse, I can't remember ever waiting less than 5 minutes to talk to a live person,  but again I kept being reassured that "your call was important to us" and that there were "higher call volume".

Ottawa Bureau Coverage (Parliament Hill):  Newspapers that provided in depth coverage of the House of Commons and other goings on at Parliament Hill tended to rank better.  This coverage included the day to day goings on by the reporters to analysis and opinion by columnists.  

1. Toronto Star: The Star excels at covering Parliament Hill with in depth articles written by veteran newspaper reporters who know the workings of Canadian politics.  From the day to day coverage by Bruce Campion-Smith and Allan Woods  to the columns by Chantel Hebert and James Travers and in depth coverage by senior writers Susan Delacourt and Linda Diebel, it is hard to beat this coverage. 

2. Globe & Mail:  Not to be outdone, the Globe & Mail has a decent set of writers as well (e.g. Gloria Galloway, Jane Taber, John Ibbitson).  They are close to what the Toronto Star has in terms of quality.  However, being a "national focused" newspaper instead of a "Toronto focused" the coverage doesn't really tell me how the parliamentary decisions really affect those that live in and around Toronto.

3. National Post: The Post has gobbs of commentary by John Ivision (not to be confused with John Ibbitson of the Globe & Mail) but the straight news isn't really lacking.   There really is no memorable writers from the National Post that seem to be able to bring the straight goods from Parliament Hill without some sort of "analysis" or "comment" label being associted with their name.   However, the commentary by John Ivison and the odd feature article from the National Post's writers or associated writers from the Post's sister papers do provide some interesting reading.  But overall, the National Post needs to either grab a writer from somewhere else or grow a Parliamentary Bureau reporter that can dig into the goings on at Parliament and give the readers the straight goods without the bias that a columnist would present. 

Greater Toronto Area (GTA) News: Like the Ottawa Bureau Coverage, the GTA should have both reports of what is going on at City Hall (i.e. Toronto City Hall) and analysis provided by columnists. 

1. Toronto Star:  Obviously a Toronto based paper like the Toronto Star would have better coverage of the Toronto area than the other two national papers like the Post and the Globe.  The Star even has better local GTA coverage than it's main Toronto area coverage competitor, the Toronto Sun, as well.  The Star has the lead stories on the front page, letter to the editor on the comment page and a full "GTA" section everyday except on Sundays included in the paper.  The coverage is quite complete from Royson James and Christopher Hume providing their commentary of items both at City Hall and in the community to Jack Lakey taking on City Hall in one of my favourite columns "The Fixer" and of course the usual staff writers investigating the day to day goings on at Toronto City Hall.

2. National Post: On most days the Post has two pages and one or two letters to the editor on Toronto issues.  The Post really only ranks higher than the Globe & Mail as I've found a new columnist, Chris Selley, who I enjoy reading.  Otherwise, the coverage is focused on city hall and matches the same coverage provided by the Globe & Mail.

3. Globe & Mail: The Globe only provids two page on Toronto goings on and some letters as well like the National Post.  However, like the National Post, most readers want the national news instead of the local.  But for myself, Toronto and national coverage together better. 

Comics: The papers were ranked based on the number of comic strips in the paper (i.e. space taken up), are the comics humourous most days and were there comic strips that provided "reliable" (i.e. almost guaranteed to provide at least a smile on a daily basis).

1. Toronto Star:  The Star beats the others hands down.  The Star has really invested in being the number one spot for newspaper comics by having such reliables as "For Better or for Worse, " "Sherman's Lagoon" and others on a daily basis.  But the Star also expanded their Saturday paper's three pages of comics content by picking up  "Garfield" and "Baby Blues" from the Toronto Sun. Also, the newer strips like "Retail" have been a hit as well.

2. Globe & Mail: Beats the National Post because they have six strips and the Post has none. Although these strips are nothing to write home about.

3. National Post: Comics?  None.  Hence last place finish.

Overall: What do the papers bring to me overall that I appreciate.

1. Toronto Star: The Star has great local coverage of the Toronto area and compliments it's local sister paper, The Liberal, with local Toronto area coverage.  A full page of comics is a great asset to this paper that it probably doesn't get the recognition it deserves.  Specialty columnists like Jack "The Fixer" Lakey going after simple day to day problems around town and Consumer Columnist (and blogger!) Ellen Roseman provide good tips and provide an interesting read.

2. National Post: Reliable delivery!  I've never wondered where the paper was after the first phone call.  Every time the front door is opened int he morning there the National Post is guarenteed dry and ready to be opened and explored.  I've also enjoyed the City Hall Musings of Chris Selley as well and may look him up more often after our free trial subscription ends.

3. Globe & Mail: Poor delivery performance  and Customer Service issues seem to be major problems at this publication. After one hundred years in existance in the Toronto area, one would figure that delivering a paper to subscribers reliably wouldn't be an issue.   Otherwise the paper is a decent read for both it's National politicial coverage and business news.

Finally, the main question, will I subscribe to one of the above papers?  No it's not worth having a paper land on my doorstep every morning to read.  Not at a cost of over one hundred dollars a year for a subscription.  Besides for commuting the Richmond Hill area is well served by the freebies of Metro and 24 Hours that easily help to pass the time on the bus.  For news and information in the evenings and weekends I can usually turn to the newspaper and television websites for nothing more than the cost of an internet connection.

Tall Ships in Toronto

Today my wife and I headed down to Toronto's waterfront to take in the Tall Ships Festival.   Here is just a sampling of what we saw.


Looking down Bay Street at the Tall Ships. 

The HMS Bounty


The Europa 
Lots more can be found in the Toronto page of My Srapbook at my website.

Why are Transit Customers taking photos?

Over the past couple of weeks in Toronto photos and videos have been surfacing of TTC Workers found in compromising positions. It all started with the now famous sleeping token collector. Then there was a flood of other photos and video of similar actions. Everything from the Queen Street Streetcar driver who stopped the vehicle and crossed to an ATM machine to a video of a TTC Bus Driver visiting a Country Style donuts mid route.

Why are all these photos and videos being taken and released by TTC Customers?

The answer to this question is simply customer frustration. Customers call and complain to the TTC Customer service, presuming it is open, and nothing happens. About three months ago I complained to both YRT and the TTC about the Route 107B near my workplace in Vaughan. The TTC is contracted by YRT to provide an extended TTC Route 107B north into York Region. I received a phone call from a "Sarah" from TTC who promised to look into it and get back to me with a solution. Three months later I haven't heard back from Sarah.

I've since complained back to both YRT, TTC and my Regional Councillor Aurora Mayor Phyllis Morris with no result. The TTC 107B 75% of the time will not come on its scheduled time. This despite the TTC and YRT both looking into it. YRT claims it is a TTC issue and there is nothing they can do about it as the TTC sets the schedule and they don't. Phyllis Morris has tried and doesn't seem to be getting very far with either YRT or the TTC. All I get in return is dumb answers like "the bus is considered to be on time if it arrives within 10 minutes of its scheduled arrival time". Um...so that means if the bus comes consistantly 10 minutes after it's scheduled time YRT and the TTC don't consider this to be an issue? So with that excellent example of "Customer Service" YRT and the TTC provided on this it is no surprise TTC customers are getting a little agitated. To make matters worse, the TTC just raised fares at the beginning of January.

Another issue of forwarding issues to Transit agencies is what the reply is back. That is presuming you get a reply back from the Transit agency. I've made a couple of complaints about YRT Drivers and YRT Transit inspectors, who follow up on customer complaints, either try and defend their driver or the reply is the transit driver denied it. This either ends in the YRT Customer thinking "why did I even bother reporting this?" to complete aggravation with steam coming from Customer's ears. I have experienced both of these. It seems transit agencies have very few people who have the wherewithal and energy to actually investigate the customers complaint instead of writing it off as frivolous. The "frivolous" attitude results in the transit customer being aggravated and not wanting to deal with idiotic customer service people at the transit agency again. Those that work and follow up the transit complaints actually ensure customers get reasonable action taken and a fully informed answer back.

However, there is a way customers can prove their point to the transit agency or at least ensure issues get attention. This is by taking photos or videos of offences like the ones referenced above. I've actually completed an example of this back in June 2007. This example provides all the possibilities that transit agencies use to wriggle themselves out of a driver issue:

On Saturday July 16th I boarded a northbound VIVA Blue Bus at Finch Station. At the station on the platform within a couple weeks of York Region Transit posting on their website no smoking is permitted at any YRT transit terminal (which Finch Subway station is a major one for YRT) was one of their drivers reading a newspaper and smoking. I did have my 10 megapixel digital camera with me and snapped a photo for evidence.



Once I returned home I forwarded the photo in an e-mail to a YRT Transit Inspector I had dealt with very positively in the past with. In the e-mail I also noted that two By-laws that were being contravened (York Region's and GO Transit's). Basically I provided YRT with a pretty open and shut case.

A few days later I received a response from the YRT Transit Inspector over the phone. He called to say that Veiolia, the YRT contractor that operates VIVA for York Region had followed up with the driver. The driver was pulled into a meeting with her supervisor.

The Veolia supervisor asked the driver if she was smoking at the Finch Station. The driver denied that she was. This is the typical "deny, deny, deny..." excuse that transit agencies give you when making a complaint. Note: This excuse is removed with photo or video evidence as it is tough to deny photo or video evidence that is contradictory.

The supervisor then opened the above photo and asked again if the driver was smoking a the transit agency terminal. Obviously there was no denying it a second time and an admission of guilt was provided.

The YRT Transit inspector also applauded me for providing such good detail in my original e-mail in terms of providing both GO Transit's By-law (Finch Station is a GO Transit Terminal) and York Region's No Smoking at YRT Terminals and Bus stops. All he had to do was forward the issue off to Veolia for follow up.

Obviously without the photo the above complaint would have been denied by the driver and Veolia and YRT would have provided the "this is a he said she said" type of scenario. This would have left me angry and wondering "why did I even bother reporting this?" But this was not the case all because a photo was taken.

In the case of the sleeping TTC Token Booth Collector and others, the TTC cannot deny these issues never happened and that customers are making this up because of the photo and video evidence.

But finally the worst about the customer service is the investigation and follow up. In the case of the TTC, they jjust bury the issue and hope it will go away eventually. This is proven in the case of the TTC Sleeping Token clerk:

TTC spokesman Brad Ross said officials will conduct an internal investigation and take appropriate action but the public will likely never know the outcome.

"It's not something that we would share publicly anyways, it's a personnel matter," Ross said. "I don't think the TTC is unusual in that."
So in other words the TTC is officially saying they will investigate the issue and might do something but the TTC will not release an answer as to what action may have been taken to discipline the worker in question (read: suspension or dismissal). So this leaves the TTC customers asking themselves: "how do we know the TTC has investigated and dealt with this issue if we never hear of any results from complaints like this?" This question only further leads to the usual "why do we bother", anger and the belief that all TTC complaints end up in the "TTC's black hole of Customer Service".

It is no wonder TTC Customers are taking photos of TTC Workers' trangressions on the job. TTC Customers are frustrated at the fare increase, service disruptions and, as TTC General Manager Gary Webster put it in a memo to employees: "The culture of complacency and malaise that has seeped into our organization...". Since the TTC has obviously failed their riders in terms of customer service, riders have begun to turn elsewhere. Thus, TTC Customers have turned to the ultimate customer service agency found in this era, the internet. So if the TTC Customer Service wishes to deny, dismiss and obfusticate their way through this mess, photos, videos and other such media will only appear more and more online. This will only lead the media, like the Toronto Star and the Toronto Sun to do what they do best. That is to hold public officials to account for what is going on by asking the hard questions. Sadly, it is only when agencies like the TTC are embarassed into action that they start moving to resolve issues.