I went to Toronto yesterday - which in itself is not a big deal. 1.000s of people do it everyday - but I don't so it was a bit of an interesting trip. I decided not to drive in part because it seemed to make more ecological sense to use public transit, but also I didn't want the stress of traffic, parking and worrying about missing my medical appointment ( a MRI at Sunnybrook).
The Go bus from Peterborough to Oshawa was great as was the Go train to Union station ( but not cheap $33.00 return). The subway and the bus to Sunnybrook was equally as efficient. But what struck as being different from other bus rides was the mess of the city bus.
I have been on a lot of buses in various parts of this country. However with the exception of Victoria buses, my travels through the great ( and not so great) cities of Canada have been in the summer. I have gotten use to looking out of the window. You can't see out of the windows of the Toronto buses - they are covered in slush and sand sprayed by passing cars. I am certainly not blaming the TTC or anyone else - just making a comment that the trip through parts of Toronto was far less enjoyable because I could not see the houses or anything else.
Inside the buses the floors were mucky and wet. Again it is understandable given the weather but still it was rather miserable. People sometimes talk about how unfriendly people are in Toronto and they do appear to be less friendly than folks in other cities but I have always wondered if it is related to the weather. In Victoria the buses are clean both inside and out. But then the road seldom need to be sanded or salted. There is nothing to track into the busies. The seat coverings can be made of softer, more comfortable and attractive fabrics because they don't need to stand up to all of the sand and salt. You can always see out the windows - and of course things look so much nicer for much of the year. But perhaps most importantly, people when they get on the bus in Victoria are not burdened down by thick coats, heavy boots and wool hats pulled down over the ears. They are not physically exhausted from shivering and trying to burrow their heads between their shoulders.
So it is not that people in Toronto are unfriendly - they are just over burdened by clothing and tired of winter before it starts - and they are depressed by the state of their buses. Probably nothing can be done about it - but if I had to travel everyday in such conditions - I would be depressed and appear unfriendly too.
It is worthy to note that only one person said thank you to the bus driver as they got off the bus. Torontonians need to work on that.
p.s. the MRI at Sunnybrook - something ordered by my cardiologist was a piece of cake - I thought I might be a bit claustrophobic but it was no big deal - a bit boring in fact and of course noisy.
