Have a look at the letter below, and if you feel the same way I do, feel free to cut, paste, personalize and send it…
To:
councillor_shaw@toronto.ca
councillor_shiner@toronto.ca
councillor_ashton@toronto.ca
councillor_minnan-wong@toronto.ca
councillor_lipreti@toronto.ca
councillor_miller@toronto.ca
councillor_kelly@toronto.ca
Cc:
michael.neuman@bell.ca
nadir.mohamed@rogers.com
darren.entwistle@telus.com
Bcc:
callforhelp@g4techtv.ca
homepage@pulse24.com
marketplace@cbc.ca
technews@canoe.ca
To the councillors of the TTC:
I was shocked to read this article detailing the TTC's plan to install an underground wireless network solely for the purposes of advertising.
As a Torontonian who has travelled abroad, I believe that what our supposedly "world class city" needs much more than a wireless advertising network is a usable mobile phone signal in its subway system. As a TTC user I must ask you: Given the steep declines in ridership on the system, how exactly do you think that more advertising is going to attract more riders? Do you not think that underground mobile phone service is a more valuable investment for the TTC and wireless carriers to make?
Along with the other recipients of this email, I would be most interested in hearing your thoughts on this matter...
Sincerely,
(Your name here)
Andrew Currie 
4 responses to “Toronto Transit Corruption”
AC:
The TTC isn’t going to make much money from this crap ($700K from one report I saw), so why bother the riders?
But even more disturbing is the Montreal subway’s experiment with cell phone access in the tunnels.
I can ignore a TV screen with a good book, but the possibility of my reading being interrupted by people yelling to heard over the train noises as they yammer on about the inane things that most cell conversations seem to involve makes me even angrier.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!
Ed,
As always, I appreciate your point of view. But I’m wondering if your opinion might change if you were stuck underground on a subway car during a power outage?
Cell phone etiquette is entirely another matter, and I’m in total agreement with you that few cell phone users seem to have any of it!
I have to agree with Ed on this Andrew. I like the serenity of not listening to others talk incessantly, and I like the serenity of nobody being able to call me. I say if you’re worried about safety then maybe that’s where they should put some dough. That or maybe improve service, some of the routes have been cut so dramatically that getting places like the Toronto Zoo is an ordeal without a car. This in turn doesn’t help these great attractions and again cuts into the money we could use for other things. It’s a horrible circle; I would ride more often if it wasn’t such a pain to get to certain places.
No problem, I’m used to being an army of one. 😉
I know we’re getting into semantics here, yet I must humbly maintain that your arguments presuppose that “cell phone signal” must by definition equal “loud, obtrusive and inane conversations, plus shrill ring tones”. While this is probably (and sadly) true in most cases, there are, believe it or not, those of us who just want to quietly text and read BBC Mobile.
Here’s proof: I called my ladyfriend the other day and caught her on the streetcar. “I shouldn’t really talk now” she informed me, and hung up after a quick goodbye.
I couldn’t have been more proud!