YRT's Problems with Presto

After much delay and marketing, on July 18th York Region Transit (YRT) rolled out the Presto Card payment system. There were free Presto Card campaigns where the card issuance fee was waived at Richmond Hill Centre Terminal, Finch Station and Newmarket Terminal.
From travelings on Yonge Street there has not been that many passengers using the card.  Since the roll out, I have only seen one person use their Presto Card to pay a fare.   But, YRT has only rolled out the Presto Card to those that regularly use tickets.  Hopefully once all the kinks are worked out YRT will roll them out to the monthly pass holders to use.   But this will take a while as there are several issues that need to be ironed out.

Yorkregion.com is reporting several customer complaints that YRT seems to be unreasonably attempting to resolve.  The first has the been the distribution of the card.  Kevin Ball says it best about this experience:

"All in all, it has been only a frustrating and disappointing experience,” he said. “I was dumbfounded that any system could be run this poorly.” -Yorkregion.com article.

Kevin had issues finding the card distribution in the first place.  He lives in Newmarket and attended the Newmarket Terminal where he was told he could obtain it.  The card was not there.  He was told the York Region Transit Office in Richmond Hill has the card.  A couple of issues here for Mr. Ball, the Richmond Hill Transit Office is only open between 8:30 A.M. and 4:30 P.M. Monday to Friday.  Now let's ask a very poignant question, what might the average transit user be doing between the hours of 8:30 and 4:30 during a regular weekday?  Working full time or attempting to navigate the transit system just like Kevin Ball!  Mr. Ball even tried the local GO Train stations, sure they have the cards but they are only open in the mornings for a couple of hours to sell GO Fares.  In the end Mr. Ball returned his card after having the Presto system reject his card and being unable to refill the card.  To further aggravate the situation, Mr. Ball was unable to get a live operator on the phone when calling Presto itself and e-mailing  about the issues.

Next up is Jo-anne Brown who ordered the Presto card online and had it delivered for her teenage daughter.  Ms. Brown then inquired with York Region Transit as to how to ensure only student fares were deducted as her daughter fits into that fare category.  The rocket scientists at YRT said the only way to do this is to come down to the Richmond Hill YRT Office to have the card set correctly.  And the hours again on that office: 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. Monday to Friday.  Ms. Brown was also told the Newmarket Terminal would be able to do this as well.  But, the Newmarket Terminal, like Mr. Ball above found out, did not do this.  She visited the Richmond Hill Transit office during her work hours to get the card activated.  But that was not all to finish activating the student card: "Ms Brown had to tap the card within seven days to complete activation, but was told that, since she didn’t want to actually board a bus, she could have the fare refunded by pushing the cancel button. There was no cancel button, however, and instead she had $2.75 deducted,..." Ms. Brown has since turned the Presto card into an very expensive, yet, decorative coaster for her coffee table.

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 and the reader said he hadn't paid.  The reporter embarrassingly disembarked the bus with the transit enforcement team and tapped the Presto Machine he used and it showed 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 in this case. The next guest on CBC's Metro Morning was the head of Metrolinx, Bruce McCuaig, who did not offer an apology but pointed out Presto was a new system and there were technical glitches being worked out across the system.

So with this in mind the Yorkregion.com reporter followed up with the head of York Region Transit, Richard Leary.  Mr. Leary however stayed on YRT's carefully written script just like a seasoned politician in a political campaign in response to the Yorkregion.com reporter's questioning.  Unfortunately the Mr. Leary's published comments in the article only make him seem totally out of touch with what has gone on in YRT's failed attempt at rolling out Presto: 

YRT general manager Rick Leary said the rollout has gone better than expected and the transit service has registered only eight complaints.

Really?  Then why was the Presto roll out delayed from March 2011, as written in a staff report to the Region of York's transportation comittee, to July 2011.  According to my sources at YRT there were significant technical issues that needed to be worked out and that is why there was a delay.  From Mr. Ball's and Ms. Brown's experiences and Mr. McQuaig's own admissions, it appears that there are still technical issues to be worked out.  Thus, Mr. Leary's contention that the "rollout has gone better than expected" is simply not true. 

“It’s been nearly seamless because everyone else has gone first.”

No things have not been "seamless" for York Region Transit.  If the system roll out was "seamless" the Presto program would have been rolled out as promised by Regional Transportation staff of March 2011 instead of July 2011.  "Seamless" also does not mean having distribution network issues requiring people to have to take off work to visit the transit office during work hours.  "Seamless" also does not mean Presto card fare payment issues where users are accused of not paying their fares properly (CBC Reporter) or not being able to use the duly payed for card itself (Mr. Brown).

As for the issues raised by Mr. Brown and Ms Ball, he conceded the distribution network is not fully in place, but said it will change in 2012 as the system expands. Right now, the focus is on education and attracting riders who typically use a cash fare or 10-ticket packages. By the middle of next year, YRT hope to also sell monthly passes via Presto.

"Education and attracting riders"? The only thing the Presto experience so far has shown is YRT can not handle a roll out of a new fare system that is properly tested and easy for the customer to use.  Presto has had technical issues as Bruce McQuaig, the head of Metrolinx pointed out on CBC Radio. So if there were so many technical issues, why was the Presto system not delayed by YRT and a proper explanation in staff report presented to the Region's Transportation committee. This report would have said there had been issues in other jurisdictions that need to be ironed out and, thus, a one year delay would save the Region and it's transit customers time, money and frustration.  But then again, Mr. Leary would not be able to contend that the roll out has been "seamless" and would be forced to admit the failure of Presto.

“What we have is working very well,” Mr. Leary said.   

Really?  After reading and hearing about the issue of Presto, I don't think this statement by Mr. Leary is believable.

Decent Wimpy's Diner with a Big Burger with It

Friday night my wife and I headed down to Wimpy's Diner (8123 Yonge Street, Markham) for a burger and some greasy breakfast food.  We had been to the Aurora location before and liked the burgers and food.  Now we thought we would try a sister location of this Toronto area chain.  

 We originally came to Wimpy's looking for a new breakfast greasy spoon restaurant.  Last weekend we visited Three Coins in downtown Richmond Hill to find the big breakfast portions had shrunken a little. So we turned to Wimpy's to see if they could fulfill the role of being the tastly local greasy spoon breakfast location.

We entered and immediately noticed this location looked slightly smaller than the Aurora location.  There were only two tables open when we arrived, but while we ate our meal there seemed to be a steady stream coming into the restaurant to replace those that had just vacated. 

There were two harried waitresses on the floor.  One looked experienced while the other seemed a little dazed at times at what to do next.  We were greated by the experienced one and told to choose between the front table and a table further in the back. We selected the front table and reviewed the menus. 

The Order: Wimpy's Famous Burger combo with fries and a Coke. Wimpy's Five Star Combo (breakfast combo).

Unfortunately we could not find the "Wimpy's Big Breakfast" and had to settle for the smaller brakfast combo on the menu.  As an aside, this is a little puzzling as today I review Wimpy's website the big breakfast is still listed there.  So is the breakfast being discontinued or just not offered at the Thornhill location.

The food came within ten minutes of ordering.  My wife's big breakfast came first and sat on our table for about two minutes until my burger was topped and brought to the table.  No big deal really about the small gap between the food plates, I have experienced worse.

The breakfast seemed to dissapear courtesy of my wife. But again the portions just were not there like the big breakfast portions provided previously at the Aurora location.  The breakfast food itself was nothing really special or to write home about. The sausages, which I had one, was a little dry and not really bursting with flavour.  The home fries were decent and well matched with a little ketchup but also stood on their own if need be. 

The burger combo itself was the usual oversized steak like patty that Wimpy's is famous for.  The burger comes with whatever toppings you wish and was, as usual, well cooked and delicious.  The fries were well done as well taste wise.  However, quantity wise it was stretch to have them cover the rest of the plate the burger did not.  

Wimpy's is a decent spot for their burger and fries.  The demise of the big breakfast is a little cocerning though and may lose some of their loyal customers.  Overall this greasy spoon needs to watch that they do not merely become like their competitors by lowering the portion sizes and starting to do away with the large hearty breakfasts.  This is how Wimpy's will retain their customers, by offering their customers old fashioned large portioned heartwarming greasy spoon breakfasts while also grilling up their famous steak like burgers.

In the Blogosphere Recently...

Lately, I have been mentioned in the local Aurora blogosphere a couple of times in August.  The topics of Town of Aurora history and politics are where I am being quoted as both a helper and a well reasoned opinionator of local Aurora issues. 

First the interesting historical part.  Growing up in Aurora I have been around many of the long time Aurora residents who know of days gone by, an avid reader of local newspapers and the book Àurora: A History in Pictures (now out of print but can be found at the Aurora Library).   As well, lately I follow several Aurora based blogs including Anna`s Living in Aurora.  One entry that caught my eye was Anna`s recounting of her purchasing the aformentioned Aurora: A History in Pictures only to find an old photograph stuck inside the book.  She wondered about the photo in the book.  Chris Watts' weighed in pointing out that David Heard who regularly attends the Aurora Farmer`s Market may help as he has done quite a bit of historical Aurora research for his gig overseeing A Step in Time  which provides walking tours of historical Aurora as well as pointing out that the man in the photo was possibly a relation to the former Knowles Butcher shop that used to be on Wellington Street in Aurora.

I responded two times.  At first I was thinking of the name "Knowles Crescent" and thought it could be the person the street was named after.  As well, I suggested a few locals who are into history in Aurora who could shed some light on the topic. After clicking the ``submit`` button a thought popped into mind.  I leafed through my copy of Aurora: a History in Pictures and stopped on the photo of old Wells Street School.  There was the man in the photo, J.H. Knowles the principal.  The principal`s face matched the man in the photo perfectly.  I suggested to Anna, in another comment on her blog posting that she contact Bob McRoberts as I remember somehow he was a relation to J.H. Knowles (i.e. a man in the photo) and may be able to shed some light on it. 

In a follow up posting, Anna, thanked myself, Chris Watts and Bob McRoberts for getting the photo returned to it`s rightful place, J.H. Knowles' descendants, Bob McRoberts himself.    I`m glad I could help Anna both experience Aurora history in real life but also help her learn who some of Aurora`s builders were.  As an added bonus, and to drive her crazy a little more about the "Knowles" name in Aurorora, I noted this evening that there are 52 mentions of the Knowles family name in the listings of the Aurora Members of Council on the Town of Aurora history.

Meanwhile, over on Chris Watts' blog I happen to be mentioned two times.  The first was on my blog`s posting on the ongoing debate about some playground equipment at Confederation Park. Chris uses several excerpts from my posting (Note: I`m honoured Chris quoted my posting) to both question the municipalities` communications department and take my side of the issue that the climber needs to stay and parent`s supervising need to shape up and watch their children better. 

Chris Watts` other posting about the arrival of his 2011 edition of the local phone book on his front stoop.  Chris linked to my posting when I attempted to auction off the local edition of Goldbook. Chris ruminates about the usefulness of the printed phone book in the age of the internet before coming to the conclusion that "Phonebooks need to be flushed from our wasteful society once and for all."                       

It has been a very busy couple of weeks in the blogosphere for me lately indeed!

Wobbelling like a Domino at Domino's

Sunday evening my wife and I decided to have a nice pizza and a movie night in.  We thought for a change we would try our local Domino's Pizza (9251 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill). 

We attempted to go online to pick out our pizza and search for deals.  But the Dominos Canada website kept asking us for our local address information and finding our local Domino's Pizza.  The whole idea behind the website was to get to the customer to order online as that was the only way I was lead to seeing the menu.  I can understand choosing the local Domino's location for pricing and product availability issues for the menu, but really must I put in my home address information to even see the menu and/or your specials?   It was a little frustrating and we almost decided to order from another place. But I stuck through it and found a pizza we thought we would try. 

The Order: 1 Medium Deluxe Feast Pizza (toppings: meatballs, pepperoni, mushrooms and green pepper).

I placed the order over the phone and was told the pizza would be ready in 15 to 20 minutes.  Fifteen minutes later I walked through the front door for pick-up.  The pizza was just coming out of the oven as the attendent reached for the pizza flipper to put it in the box and cut.  Two minutes later I was paid and out of the store.

I got home five minutes later and we dug in.  The pizza was perfectly sauced and cheesed like any other pizza would be from a chain pizzeria, so no complaints there.  The only real issue were the toppings. The mushrooms and meatballs did not want to be eaten at all as they slid off the pizza slices repeatedly either into the box or onto the floor.  There has to be a better way to keep these type of toppings from sliding off. 

Otherwise the pizza dissappeared pretty quickly as it was finely done and for just over ten dollars a decent price.  Will I go back? Likely but there are other pizzas places out there waiting to be tried, thus Domino's really didn't hook me in as a guarenteed customer.

Not Quite On Target: How the World's Hottest Retailer Hit a Bull's-Eye

On Target: How the World's Hottest Retailer Hit a Bull's Eye by Laura Rowley investigates the history and popularity behind how Target became a retailing sensation while taking the discount juggernaut Wal-Mart.

The book is a decent read but hardly an outstanding recount of Target's history from department store to 1,300 plus store retail chain. 

The problem with the book, ironically, is right at the beginning where traditionally authors tend to hook the reader.  In this particular book Rowley starts off writing about how great target is in terms of how Target competes on price, design, welcoming environment and being good corporate citizens.  Except, she spends five plus chapters, 82 pages, telling readers what Target today is all about.  Then, on page 83 the rewind occurs and the reader is taken back to start the history of Target from George Draper Dayton onwards. The rest of the book takes the reader from George's founding of what would become Target up until the early 2000s and the challenges Target faces.  The main issue about the book is it is not written in chronological order and makes a great jump. 

Perhaps the book could have been reordered so that the introduction gives the reader a snapshot of what Target is today.  This introduction could be five to ten pages at most.  Next in Chapter one it would start off by saying "to actually understand Target's success and corporate values one must start at the beginning and watch the company evolve."  This would then lead the reader from back of George Draper Dayton's era to the issues Target is facing today and then forcast into the future how target could be a success.

The book overall - once the excitement about how the Target is a great designer, marketer, clean and philantropic is ingrained into the reader in the first five chapters - is a fantastic read.  The book investigates how George Draper Dayton moved into retailing industry via founding a department store in Minnesota. From there, Bowley takes us through how the return policies, corporate values, company was passed down through the Dayton family and the possible hostile takeover was thwarted.  While chronologically moving through the history of Target, author Laura Rowley, brings in current and ex Target executives and management to provide insight into how things were at the time.  As well, she brings forth ample amount of research noted in over 8 pages of endnotes. 

The only downfall with her research is the failure to provide a full Bibliography of her sources at all.  The insight the reader has that Laura Rowley actually did any reasearch is her end notes.  However, a complete list of sources at the end would have made her research stand out even more.  Without the Bibliography, one wonders how in depth the research actually was in terms of reading the current availbility of books, newspaper articles, in depth interviews and much more was.  The only indication at all about the depth of research is mainly evidenced in the content of the book with direct quotes from company and industry executives as well as, again, the end notes.  But the Bibliogpraphy references would have further reinforced the author's authority on Target company history. 

Overall, those wondering how Target as a company came to be a leading American, and soon to be Canadian retailer, should read Laura Rowley's book as it delves into the company history quite nicely.  However, the reader should be warned this book does have it's drawbacks that need to be duly noted.

PRESTO! The Card is Here!

After overpromising a March start, York Region Transit (YRT) finally launched the Presto Card to it's transit system as a fare payment option.  On July 18th the Presto system went live on York Region's transit system.    So far there have been lots of pluses and minuses about the system during the roll out. 

The first issue remains the delays in rolling out the Presto system in York Region.  Yorkregion.com reported the original delay back in March 2011 with the Region of York being tight lipped about the delay.  At that time I noted there was no mention in either the Region's Transportation Comittee or the  Regional Council's minutes or staff reports about the delay.  It was not until I heard rumours there were technical difficulties that needed to be worked out that caused the delay.  But about a 90 day delay?  Was this so the great YRT "everything is hunky dory!" marketing machine could get their act together and overpromote the launch of Presto?   For months several YRT buses had the Presto green advertising bus raps on them promoting the launch of the Presto card, yet no explanation was coming forth about the delayed launch date being due to technical difficulties.  To be clear, technical difficulties do occur with new and proven technical installations, thus, a proper customer update that technical issues have caused YRT to push back the launch date and updates are coming soon should have been publicized to YRT customers via their website, their My Transit customer newsletter, and, since Presto has been a large taxpayer investment in transit, a mention at the Region's Transportation comittee. YRT and the Region really dropped the ball on communicating with the public non positive news about the roll out.

Next comes the expected traditional YRT overhyped roll out date of July 18th.  Ironically this type the prehype just was not there.  Perhaps this was because the Summer 2011 edition of My Transit had already hit the printer and was being distributed on the buses by mid May so that marketing option was not a possibility and the budget on bus advertising raps had been blown already with the promised launch of March 2011 that that was not an option either.  The only mention was on the YRT website with the promise of a July 18, 2011 launch. YRT did miss an marketing option though through the local municipalities Notice Boards in the local papers.  Local municipalities post these noticeboards weekly in the local papers to provide information to residents about upcoming activities, meetings and other relevant public notices.  Richmond Hill and Aurora both have previously had YRT transit updates included in these noticeboards so why was the launch of Presto not included in there as well?  The great YRT marketing machine seems to have missed this but may have been caught off guard with the push back of the launch date to properly organize a marketing campaign on the fly.

Perhaps the marketing budget was not for the marketing purposes advertising the launch date but for ensuring the launch day itself was overmarketed. On the YRT website, YRT promised prospective riders that their team would be at Richmond Hill Centre to help sign up people with the Presto Card and show them how to use it. YRT even promised 5,000 cards would be given out free with the $6.00 issuance fee waived as long as riders purchase $19.00 worth to put on the card. 

On July 18th I took VIVA Blue up and down Yonge Street a couple of times including through Richmond Hill Centre.  In the afternoon at Richmond Hill centre as I waited to transfer buses I noted the YRT tent was there with at least four laptops set up.  This same tent was staffed by two burly YRT Special Constables who were sitting there making sure the laptops did not grow legs and walk away.  I also noted the YRT Special Constable SUV was illegally parked on the island where the buses pull up to.  This despite there being a perfectly good parking lot less than 90 feet away for the peons who ride transit can park their vehicles to ride transit.  But I digress, this would obviously be such a burden to them to park over there instead of pulling right by "Do Not Enter, Buses Excepted" signs and park right in the middle of transit island.  Also on hand were five Presto swag outfitted agents all standing around talking with each other. These agents were not really useful either as after I boarded the bus I was waiting for a YRT customer had questions for the driver.  Not one of the Presto agents walked over to lend a hand so our bus could get on it's way.  About thirty passengers were on the bus delayed because a Presto agent couldn't walk less than thirty feet over to provide a little customer service. 

Overall a quick calculation of what I observed for the roll out of Presto so far:

$6.00 x 5,000 = 30,000 in free Presto cards handed out. (costs noted based on promotion on YRT website)

$15.00 per hour for 7 Presto Agents for four eight hour work days to provide customer support = $840 (all these numbers are estimated).

Bus wraps, lap tops,  paying two special constables to guard the lap tops, printing of promotional materials before Presto was rolled out and the Presto Machines themselves?????

As you can see the costs of the Presto Roll out exceed probably exceeded $50,000 to launch the machines themselves.  And there is no word yet on how much Presto (i.e. the Province of Ontario) and YRT (Region of York) are paying for the launch.

There are some good marketing aspects YRT managed to acquire including a free how to use Presto video.  Over at Yorkregion.com a video is up showing YRT General Manager Richard Leary modelling how the Presto card is used to pay fares.   This is precisely what YRT could have produced themselves and uploaded to YouTube could have helped.  In the past VIVA and YRT have used videos to show the public how VIVA would like before VIVA was launched in September 2005.   Those videos showed riders how to validate a ticket, purchase a ticket, to board a VIVA vehicle and how the routes would operate.  A similar video could have been produced for Presto but sadly was not until Mr. Leary mugged for the press.

The major issue with Presto is the cost of the card itself.  Riders are required to pay $6.00 for the card itself without anything on it.  So for $6.00 all you get is flashy green credit card that does absolutly nothing.  You can not get on a bus until you add value to the card.  The card though is refillable at any time.  As of right now Presto can only be used in York Region for single or multi rides with the intent on eventually replacing the current fares of ten paper tickets that can be purchased at select merchants throughout the region.

Contrast this to New York City and famed "Metrocard." Metrocards are magenetic stripped cards provided free as long as the rider pays a fare to board the city's transit system.  Metrocards can also be loaded with ten rides, day passes, weekly passes and monthly passes.  The added bonus of weekly and monthly passes is the user can use it for 7 (weekly) or 30 (monthly) days from the date of purchase.  Thus, you are not hogtied like you are with the YRT GTA weekly pass into using it between Monday to Sunday of a certain week, you can use it from, for example, Wednesday to Tuesday if it is a weekly.  New York City at least makes it convenient and economical for riders to pay and utilize their fares. 

The New York City options obviously gives more flexibility and less costly fare payment options than the current fare options provided by YRT.  Hopefully Presto in the future will be broadened to replace and improve the fare payment options, but the initial $6.00 fee for the card needs to seriously be relooked at as I believe this is nothing but a cash grab by YRT or Presto. 

Another issue that YRT should be working on is where do customers obtain the Presto card for $6.00.  Currently the only place in York Region to pick up a Presto Card is at the YRT offices in Richmond Hill between 8:30 to 4:30 Monday to Friday.  Otherwise riders have to travel outside the region to purchase their card to places like Brampton and Mississauga.  Presto does advertise that riders can puchase Presto cards "at any PRESTO activated GO Transit rail station", but then does not give a list of these stations and the hours.  Perhaps Presto could provide a continously updated list of fare purchasing locations that include contact information and hours that the fares are sold similar to how York Region Transit does on their website.  This would allow riders interested in Presto to see when and where to get their card at a convenient time for them.  Presto does provide an online order option, but many people are leary of purchasing things online.   But then again, allowing YRT customers to conveniently purchase their fares was never a forte of YRT at times. Hopefully YRT is working on getting their fare providers up and running with the distribution of Presto cards. 

There are some kudos to go to YRT, the Region of York, Presto and the provincial government.  One of the kudos is to the way fares are now collected and receipts (transfers) issued to passengers.  Previously, YRT local route (e.g. Route 4, Route 85,  Route 98, Route 99, etc.) had to let passengers board pay their fare and have the driver manually rip off a transfer just right.  The transfer had to be ripped just right as across the bottom it shows when the passengar has until to use the transfer (i.e. 2 hours after paying initial fare).  This manual process resulted in short delays while drivers readjusted the transfer ripping equipment and punched new booklets of transfers.  As well added waste was created as YRT had a different coloured transfer booklet for each month. There was much wasted customer travel time and probably paper waste using this manual system.  

Fare payment and transfers all changed with the installation of Presto.  The added bonus of the Presto system is not only is there an added convenient way to pay a fare, the transfer system has been automized as well. Now when a passenger boards a YRT vehicle with a cash fare and drops it in the fare box the driver can push a button on the Presto machine to have a transfer automatically printed which now removes the need for the driver to fiddle with outdated transfers while passengers waste their time watching the second hand on their watches wizz by.  But this method of printing transfers is not new.  YRT's counterparts in Ottawa at OC Transpo have been offering automated transfers similar to Presto's since at least 1998.  But at least for YRT this is a step forward and a significant improvement over TTC that offers one way travel only for one fare nevermind the need for two way travel within a time period.

With Presto there seems to be the intent of getting it right.  But the launch in York Region by YRT leaves quite a bit to be desired.  The setting of the launch date, the marketing, the overall launch date and the launch date itself are concerning.  As well, YRT needs to work with Presto in setting up a better network of agents to provide convenient locations to pick up Presto cards and refill their cards.  The start of Presto in York Region has had a rocky start to begin with.  But hopefully Presto will lead to better fare collection processes and convenience of use for passengers similar to other more advanced transit systems around the world.

Confederation Park Climber Kerfuffle

Recently at the past two Aurora Council meetings two residents, Laurie Harris and Martin McIntaggart, have come forth to speak to council pleading to have the "double hump camel climber" removed from Aurora's Confederation Park.

Laurie Harris, at the latest meeting, brought her four year old daughter to the recent council meeting to explain that her daughter hurt herself when falling from the climber.  Ms. Harris, along with her husband Jeff Harris, believe that the climber should be totally removed before a child is seriously injured or killed.  Her husband Jeff Harris has taken to Evelyn Buck's blog and the local media to defend their family's belief the the climber should be removed as well. 

Martin McIntaggart, claiming to be a Labour ministry specialist who inspects buildings like the CN Tower, also believes the climber should be removed.  He believes this structure should be removed as he has seen kids climb up to the top and freeze in fear of continuing onwards. 

The Town's Parks and Recreation Department attempted to take a poll of local residents who use the park about the structure.  Instead of having a clearly posted sign attached to the climber or posted in a conspicous spot next to the structure, town staff posted a computer print out in a plastic baggy on a baby swingset.  This sign eventually became so weathered it became unreadable.  Thus, as Park and Recreation Director Al Downey told Aurora Council, the town did not receive a conclusive feedback of for or against the climber being removed. In fact, I would imagine, the town park's staff probably wasted their time and money in putting up the sign and undertaking such an under publicized inconclusive poll. Overall, I did not see anything posted on the Town's website about the poll and I doubt anything was published in the Town of Aurora's Noticeboard in the local newspaper asking for feedback.  Further, the town communications department late last year launched  Twitter and Facebook accounts, I've just done a search on both and not even a mention in the last 30 days of the words "Confederation Park."  The Parks and Recreation department has done this before for resident feedback for such opinions on the Aurora Family Leisure Complex Fitness Centre.  One wonders why the Parks and Recreation Department never did this. 

Also at the last council meeting were two mothers who also work as lunch time assistants at Regency Acres Public School who believe the climber should be left in its place.  Gayle Palmer and Leah Clark noted to council that kids have issues all the time with playground equipment whether it being tumbling over the sides of slides or misjudging the height of monkey bars.  They also pointed out that children should be shown age appropriate equipment and explained that when they get older they can try the other equipment. 

Parks and Recreation Director, Al Downey, pointed out in a Yorkregion.com article:

[He] confirmed the park, including the climber that was installed two years ago, was approved by the Canadian Safety Association and continues to comply with those standards.
“However, this doesn’t prevent injury,” he said. “There is challenges in the parks to increase enjoyment.”

With all of the above in mind Aurora Council has a major decision to make, to remove the "double hump camel climber" or let it sit in place as is and move on. 

Aurora Mayor Geoffrey Dawe at the recent council meeting put forth a motion to have the camel climber removed.  There was vigorous debate before Councillor Evelyn Buck moved for a staff report be brought forth with options on removal or letting the climber remain in place.   Al Downey and his team at Parks and Recreation have a big issue at hand and need to come through with all the possible options. Hopefully the Mr. Downey and his department will overcome the mistaken public input process undertaken on the initial public consultation methods as noted above and bring forth a superb report on whether or not to remove the equipment.  If the latter is chosen council has inquired as to what the climber could be replaced with.  Mr. Downey needs to do his homework on this report along with his staff to prevent this issue from becoming even larger.

The question overall is simple on this issue.  It is not whether the equipment should be pulled or not, but the answer can be pieced together through several opinions in an easy to understand way.

The first, Councillor Evelyn Buck responded with an e-mail to Laurie Harris with her stand on the issue which Ms. Buck posted on her blog.  Ms. Buck contends the equipment meets CSA safety standards and are consistently inspected.  As a former day camp councillor with the Town of Aurora I have noted the parks department weekly inspecting the equipment for defects and other issues to ensure children's safety.

Secondly, over at her blog, Living in Aurora, Anna echoes Councillor Buck's beliefs and furthers the point in a posting by noting:

Playground equipment is not designed for one age. It is designed for range of ages. It is my responsibility as a parent to recognize my child’s climbing and maneuverability skills and let them play with the monkey bars. Would I let my three year old now, or four year old next year climb the monkey bars? No, he is a talker, but definitely not a climber at this stage of his life.

Thus, parents should be responsible for what their children are using at the local parks and not merely sit on the bench to talk to the other parents.

Thirdly Professional playground designer, Daniel Haddaway of Designed for Fun Inc., points out, in a letter to the editor on Yorkregion.com that this particular structure is for ages 5 to 12.  Ms. Harris' daughter, as noted above, is four years old, under the age of five.

Thus the main issue as pointed out by the people above is the lack of supervision of the children involved which lead children to attempt to try equipment not manufactured for their age.  This resulted in injury that the parent is now trying to blame the town on instead of themselves. 

The only change that needs to be made in this case would be for the town to add a nearby sign stating the equipment should be used by those five years old and up while being supervised by an adult.

All parents and others supervising children visiting the local park need to take heed of some important safety precautions.  During my five plus years on staff at the Town of Aurora Day Camps we were guided on how to properly inspect the playground and surrounding grounds before the children arrived for the day.  The first step was do a complete walk around each piece of playground equipment (e.g. jungle gym, swings, etc.) looking for anything on the ground, particularly at entry and exit points (i.e. stairs and slides) that would harm a child including glass and other garbage.  Next we completed an overview of the equipment itself looking for any possible damage or issues that might arise including splinters and, as Anna mentioned in her blog post, hot surfaces like slides.

During the day when the participants were attending camp counsellors oversaw their safety.  Day camp participants on their first day were shown the boundaries of where they could safely be and if they had questions or concerns about the playground equipment or if they wanted to try something they had never done before.  If the latter was the case and the equipment was allowable to be used by the age of the child, the counsellor would have another child show them how the equipment was used and the counsellor carefully supervised the participant trying it.  To ensure participants knew the safety rules each day were also asked to repeat the safety instructions whenever possible to ensure compliance.  This was especially important for younger children as this shows younger participants know where it was safe to play and which one they were not big enough to try yet.

Finally, each counsellor had a group of six to eight campers (depending on the age group) and at minimum always had a fellow staff member on site with them when completing outdoor activities.  Thus, while the children were engaged with the playground equipment, each staff member had their own section of the playground to watch from their vantage point.  Periodically each staff member would count the kids in his/her group to ensure each participant was accounted for and obviously enjoying themselves. 

The town of Aurora and other municipalities install playground equipment for children of various ages.  Therefore, not all children should be using all the equipment.  Children should be shown by parents and supervisoring adults which equipment they should be using and what they should not be using because it is above their abilities.  Those supervising children on playgrounds should be closly watching children playing on playgrounds carefully.  If the child is younger than seven years old, supervisors should be within three to five feet of their youngster for safety purposes.  Overall proper supervision and safety precautions are key at playgrounds because these prevent accidents.  But accidents can never be fully prevented on playgrounds as children can be unpredictable.  Scrapes, bruises and the odd broken bone happen and are part of growing up in childhood.  The sooner parents realize this, the better parents they will become.