Rocket Talk: When's the TTC Going to Roll Out More Fare Collection Methods?
Newsstand: November 9, 2009
Zack Taylor in Disney Mama Drama
Santa's Weston Workshop
The Daily Photoist: November 9, 2009
It seems its website isn't the only thing embarrassingly behind the times at the TTC these days: the above scan is of a current January Metropass. (Councillor Howard Moscoe was TTC Chair from 1998-2000 and 2003-2006; his successor, Councillor Adam Giambrone, was elected by the Commission as its Chair on December 6 of last year.) What makes this a particularly odd error is the fact that it's not simply a case of the TTC forgetting to change the wording on the back of the pass between months; rather, the information and legal text is always tweaked and revised from month to month, and this is actually the first Metropass since August 2005 to bear the name of a Commission chair.
A dear friend who dug through all of her old Metropasses prepared for us the following report:
July-Dec 2004: no Moscoe.
Jan-Aug 2005: hello Moscoe.
Sept 2005-Dec 2006: no Moscoe.
This raises some questions, including:
What is the turnaround time for the production of Metropasses? That is, how far in advance of production are new texts and layouts delivered to the manufacturer? And how long is it between production and the Metropasses eventually being sold to the public?
Why was there an expectation, on the TTC's part, that Councillor Moscoe would still be its chair in January? At whose direction was the additional sentence fragment added, and was there not an awareness of the appointments process that occurs with the commencement of each new term of Council?
An email to TTC Public Affairs has thus far gone unanswered.
FEBRUARY UPDATE: The text on the back of the February Metropass is identical to that of January's. The font in which the month is printed on the front, however, is remarkably different, which is perplexing because the January pass itself introduced a new font as part of the larger redesign. Perhaps they're now trying to foil counterfeiters by utilizing a different typeface each month?
MARCH UPDATE: The TTC finally got it right on the third try; the March Metropass correctly namechecks "Chair Adam Giambrone." And the typeface in which the month is printed on the front is indeed different from those used in January and February.
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If I didn't know better, I'd think this was deliberate, as a way to catch counterfeit passes.
"Chairman Adam Giambrone?!? You think we're smart enough to update the chairman's name that fast, law scoffer!!"
But I do know better! Though, I could see the text going to the printing company many months ago, knowing bureaucracy at public entities.
This week's weekly pass also bears the name of our fuzzy hat-wearing, departed chairman.
My guess is it probably takes at least 2 months for a production run on the manufacturing side, adjusting for volume. Given the TTC's turnaround for, well, hell, anything, you're probably looking at another 2-3 months at least.
It doesn't strike me as odd that it would take 6 months for a production run of passes. And that's not even with my Cynical(tm) turned on. Throw in unions, short-staffing, management tampering, equipment failure...wow...6 months is nothing.
When I travel Air Canada or Porter Airlines or VIA Rail I don't have Robert Milton or Bob Deluce or Donald Wright's names on my tickets. Why is a politician's name advertised on my metropass?
It takes 3 months - when they made the passes transferable they started running out a lot it took them 3 months to have enough because that's how far in advance they order them.
I seem to remember a time, mid-1980s, when Julian Porter's signature was on the Metropass, sort of like the Bank of Canada governor's signature on a banknote, I guess.
Another question to ask is, "who cares." Concentrate on something IMPORTANT. I like it when people of the city pay attention to the details, but this is one tiny detail that is kinda silly, but certainly doesn't really need to be addressed.
Just watching CBC @ 6 an hour ago and they mentioned how today there was a huge raid and a ton of counterfeit Metropasses were seized...
Any relation?
actually i'm pretty sure that this couldn't have been a far in advanced pre-order of metropasses, still bearing the name of howard moscoe. when i bought my january pass, i waited for the chap in the booth to give me my receipt for it, but he didnt and said that they were only giving those out because the 2006 passes didnt have prices on them, but the 2007 ones do. was that metropass tax credit not just implemented in 2006? meaning that the 2007 passes couldnt have been made that far in advance, because if they were, then the 2006 passes would have probably been able to have had their prices on them also.
i could be wrong, though.
I believe the tax credit was announced in late spring/early summer and took effect in July. So there was plenty of time to redesign the Metropass and get them printed for January 1, 2007. However, Adam Giambrone was not officially appointed chair of the TTC until a couple days after December 5, 2006. Obviously four weeks isn't enough time to redesign and print new passes.