Comments on: Why’s the Dufferin Bus so awful?

By: Kinnear

Kinnear — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:36:16 +0000

Take the Lansdowne instead if you’re going to Queen. It is slow and annoying as well but not quite as bad as Fuckerrin.

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By: Sam

Sam — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 19:38:42 +0000

It is not the TTC that sets the schedule, but the UNION. They can create havoc, delay, 5 bus convoys – anything they want, just to piss riders off. Drivers all have cells TTC telephones – just one call from brother Kinnear and the whole City is in chaos.

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By: Second that

Second that — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 02:46:55 +0000

It shouldn’t be the driver’s job to oversee transactions and count a fistful of pennies (R.I.P.). The cashier/gatekeeper aspect of the job has to be the worst part. Put him/her in a plexiglass box, get us some RFID cards to swipe and let them just focus on the actual driving of the bus.

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By: Danny P

Danny P — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:12:33 +0000

Your level of frustration won’t change if you start driving, it’ll probably be about the same because you’ll have to start paying for gas, insurance, parking and upkeep, not to mention dealing with sitting idling in gridlock, looking for parking spaces, and worrying about not hitting stray pedestrians, dogs, cats, etc…

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By: EL Mojo

EL Mojo — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:38:57 +0000

Mike, exactly *how* are drivers supposed to know that an empty bus or streetcar is a block or two behind them? Are they psychic?

Better for passengers to look down the road before they get on a crowded vehicle. I do this all the time on the 506 in the morning, since there will often be 2 running close to each other. The morons crowd on the full first one, and I get on the empty second one, take a seat, and have an enjoyable ride.

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By: Sean

Sean — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:04:05 +0000

John, there’s two sides to that. As a lifelong TTC rider, the number of mean, nasty and downright surly drivers I’ve had to deal with has left me unwilling to risk ANY interaction with a TTC employee. I’ve had drivers threaten to kick me off into the snow for asking (ASKING, not yelling, bitching, swearing, or threatening) why I have just spent 20 minutes waiting for a short-turn turn streetcar I was told was “two minutes behind me” by the last driver. I’ve seen drivers treat elderly, disabled, immigrant and poor riders like dirt.
Most riders start our days intending to have a great day, and hoping for a nice, smooth ride. We don’t go out looking for a fight with TTC staff, but all too often we’re treated so rudely that situations deteriorate and thing get said. I know that drivers deal with a lot of rudeness in their jobs, but boy howdy if a lot of them don’t give back much worse than they receive every day.

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By: Louisa

Louisa — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 18:56:05 +0000

I’ve lived in the east, west, and south end in the last 10 years. In that time, I’ve contended with the 25 Don Mills horror show, the 504 King condo shuttle and the 29 Dufferin suicide route. None of these routes is well managed, all of them are victims of the poor transit planning our city is famous for, and every single one of them is subject to selfish, get me there whatever the cost riders.

That said, I have never before hated a bus route so much that I will try any other combination of routes to avoid it, no matter how much more time consuming and convoluted, as this route. The drivers are surly and rude in a way i’ve not seen before. Most of them are completely oblivious to the fact that hard stops and speeding uphill wrecks havoc on their riders (little old ladies who go flying because the driver couldn’t take it easy while they take their seats? Check. Wrenched my back due to hard stops? Check)

I don’t know what the answer is, but I know that articulated buses alone are not going to cut it.

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By: agso

agso — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:11:27 +0000

@ Dorothy…no, to clarify, the bus was packed by the time I got to Bloor but I took it to st. clair.

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By: Roger

Roger — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 02:27:04 +0000

Line Management
The last time I unfortunately decided to take the Dufferin bus, myself and a crowd waited for 25 minutes. We saw a train of 6 buses headed south on Dufferin past Queen. By the time the same train of buses came back north there were 7 of them as another had joined in.

Twice taxis passed and each time a few people would try to be the first one to get on. People were upset but nobody complained, as bunching on Dufferin (and many other routes) is routine.
A major cause is certain drivers that don’t seem to prefer not to have to deal with passengers. They leave in packs or speed to catch up with other buses and enjoy a bus to themselves. Rather than ignoring the problem or worse blaming it all on factors beyond their control, the TTC needs to make route management a priority on surface routes.

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By: Stupid TTC Riders Ruin It For Everyone

Stupid TTC Riders Ruin It For Everyone — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 17:44:11 +0000

“If they just let the full buses continue without stopping except to let people off…”

Except there’s no way to do that! Why can’t you understand that riders need to accept responsibility for their stupidly selfish behaviour?! Every time there’s a caravan of buses or streetcars, there’ll be two or three people trying to squeeze into the first always-packed vehicle and spend several minutes bargaining with the operator or simply ignoring their request to take the next one. I’ve been in packed vehicles where the other passengers got fed up and heckled the sociopaths too entitled and stupid to realize they are delaying EVERYONE’s ride until they got off! How are those people not culpable?

Having said that, most riders need to observe past their noses and move to the back of the vehicle when there’s space. Nothing more infuriating than seeing a bus or streetcar go by that’s empty in the back, only because passengers are too lazy or selfishly-preoccupied to move.

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