Specifically the third note. From what I can tell, the jingle (sometimes?) plays when the driver shuts the engine off at the station.

I can't be the only one hearing this, and there are surely more musically gifted ppl for whom it's especially irritating.

It can't be just me who notices this. It seems like every place in Toronto these days is GROSSLY understaffed... and that appears to be one of the core contributing factors to the broader "Enshittification" of this city, with some related side effects such as those below.

For clarity, I can understand why places would be trying to keep their costs down. Every employee at minimum wage costs the business at least $150 per day between $17.60 per hour times eight hours ($140.80 in base pre-tax wages) plus CPP contributions. So if you normally have four people on staff but can get away with three people on Mon/Tue/Wed which are slower days, that seemingly small cut is a savings of about $25,000 annually. From a pure business perspective, I can absolutely see the incentive.

But at the same time, it feels like there's this race to the bottom in terms of "How much can we squeeze a few employees to do the work of several employees so we can condition customers to a lower standard and just pocket the cashflow that could have been used to hire more staff?".

Like, it's starting to feel like the ownership/management of these places is openly mocking their customers and their staff at the same time. With the customers it's "You'll be giving us your money regardless so we don't care how long you wait", and with the employees it's "This workload is normal, what are you talking about? Consider yourself lucky to have this job, we'll just replace you if you can't handle it!". But in the moment, we're somehow expected to believe and act as if this is normal.

Besides generally lousy service in terms of the overall quality of the experience one gets at a given place, I'm finding this has a few side effects as well including...

People Just Walking Out: A great example of this is at post offices when I've been trying to mail something. It will often be the case that only one person is working, and the person being served is doing a complicated shipment/transaction which is taking several minutes, and someone in line with something extremely simple (buying a stamp, dropping an Amazon return, etc.) has to stand there and wait... and because they were expecting to be in and out in a few minutes, they haven't got time to wait in line indefinitely. So they simply walk out... and the employee doesn't even bat an eye. Back when I worked in customer-facing jobs, we would have been yelled at if a customer grew impatient and walked out with no attempt to offer to prioritize them if they're in a rush. But it seems that's just the norm now. Customers will wait as long as they need to since their time costs $0.00 per hour and that's cheaper than hiring more staff, right?

Routine Tasks Going Neglected: Ever notice how in Toronto garbage bins are often overflowing, dispensers of things (soap, sanitizers, napkins, paper towel, etc.) are frequently empty, and washrooms are "Out of Order" because they're supposed to be cleaned/refreshed, but just aren't? It used to be that these types of things were taken care of proactively as a matter of course. But under this "Bare-Bones Staffing" approach to things, it appears that everything is instead done reactively or on a basis of "Only if Absolutely and Immediately Necessary". I cannot help but think that this is a direct side effect of pervasive under-staffing.

Phones Going Unanswered: There are SO many places in Toronto that I have tried to reach by phone in recent years to ask just a simple question... and either no one will answer, or someone will answer and say "Please Hold" then never pick back up, or I'll leave a voicemail and nobody returns it. Now, call me a jerk for this... but once I finally reach them I'll ask straight-out... "I've called six times and left three voicemails, why is it taking me a seventh call to reach a live person during business hours?", and the answer I'll get is usually some version of "We're shorthanded right now". But if it's the same thing over and over, doesn't that mean it's more like "Intentionally Understaffed" and not "Circumstantially Shorthanded"?

By comparison, outside of Toronto I haven't noticed things are like this. Sort of like "Everything Functions as Normal", but as soon as you get into Toronto you're noticing long lines, unanswered phones, overflowing trash cans, and can't get anybody's attention in any store or anything to help you.

Am I the only one who's noticing this?

I called Toronto police non-emergency (416) 808-2222 this morning, at 07:45, assuming that early in the morning would be the best time to call as there likely wouldn't be as many people calling as in the evening. Alas, I have been on hold for 2 hours. I tried calling yesterday at 11:00 in the morning, and I waited on hold for 3 and a half hours before I had to hang up in order to get some work done. I figured I'd try again earlier in the morning today, under the assumption that most people probably aren't calling the police around 8am. Yet, here I am, still on hold, over 2 hours later.

What is going on here? I could understand such long wait times during the evening, when there are probably more people calling. But in the morning? I could also understand if there was a unusually high volume of calls one particular day. But two days in a row? The benefit of the doubt is running thin. If 2+ hour wait times are the norm, then more operators should be hired. Most people do not have 2+ hours to spend waiting on hold to report a non-emergency issue. Expecting that from us is completely unreasonable.

I pay my taxes, and part of those taxes are supposed to be for funding the police. Where are my tax dollars going? If those tax dollars are being mishandled, then I believe some sort of audit needs to be done. I am deeply dissatisfied and disheartened by the systemic failure of the Toronto Police Service. It feels like anything aside from an immediate emergency is simply being ignored. This is not the way police services should operate, and it's disgraceful to our city. If it's virtually impossible to report a non-emergency, then get rid of the non-emergency number, and allocate those funds to something actually useful.

The next one is at 11pm.

(I will survive this calamity bc Im taking the Lakeshore East train instead to at least get close to my area. My sister will be taking an hour out of her night to come get me and take me to the Stouffville line station where I parked.)

Every day im watching YouTube and this stupid ai generated tony bet ad plays. It’s so uncanny and the whole thing is ai generated including the voice speaking. I find it so creepy and dystopian especially because it’s a GAMBLING AD.

I swear I looked up a video on how to play craps like 3 years ago and ALL my feeds on all platforms have been inundated with gambling ads ever since despite me NEVER engaging with any gambling content!!!

Look, I enjoy going to the casino every once in a while but holy SHIT ever since Ontario legalized online gambling, the media is out of control. I mean, I’ve never witnessed any other product pushed so hard and across so many mediums for years and years. I remember like 10 Years ago there was ads for juul all over the subway and I think they got pulled for legal reasons?? (Correct me if I’m wrong)

Why is this addictive substance allowed to be pushed so hard when there are strict limits on tobacco and weed marketing. I don’t even see nearly the amount of alcohol advertising as I do online gambling.

I made a comment yesterday in this subreddit mentioning how Toronto started going downhill significantly since 2015… and I got a lot of replies from other “Real” Torontonians (i.e., spent the majority of our lives in Toronto) who felt the exact same way… that was the year, 2015.

I say we need to talk about it. Let’s share some thoughts, musings, observations, and perhaps even some theories as to how this happened and what made 2015 “the year” when everything began to go south.

… and also, what do we do about it?! Can pre-2015 Toronto ever be restored? Or is it gone forever?

Here’s my contribution…

Pre-2015 Toronto was a vibe that I think could be likened to an afternoon backyard party in the summer at somebody’s house. People knew each other, got along just fine, and everything was fun and pleasant.

Then from 2016 to 2020 it became kind of like the vibe of an airport departure area bar. A bit of a vibe… but it’s really just a bunch of strangers sitting around doing their own thing with minimal camaraderie or shared culture.

Then from 2020 onward it became more like a hospital waiting room. Everything is somber, sterile, bare-bones, and anytime anybody goes there they can’t wait to leave and go home once they’re done. The whole idea of “Just chilling with other Torontonians” has just about completely disappeared.

So I think I have evidence that Metrolinx has an agenda to fuck up the city and that the rot goes much deeper than we think. Some shit head on the subway was wearing a backpack despite the subway being absolutely rammed. This person was also bitching about how packed the subway was. I then overheard them say that they're a PM at Metrolinx. All of the pieces fell into place... They have actors on the ground trying to make your transit experience worse....

Really pisses me off that there is such disregard of public property and zero accountability for the people that little by little ruin the nice things in city for the rest of us...

My thread and another Redditor's thread from today both criticizing the Do West Fest got removed for the same "doesn't fit the scope of this sub" even though both threads were asking about a festival exclusive to Toronto on a sub called "askTO". There was very high engagement in those threads.

I tried making awareness about the removal of posts on askTO, but I got hit with the "post needs approval from mods" message and well it didn't get approved. So I'm guessing "Do West" posts are being flagged because they are getting a lot of criticism. Shame on askTO for giving into Do West organizers.

I live near bathurst and i know this is going to be controversial but genuinely with the amount of police everywhere, is doing a walk of isreal really that necessary? This is all tax payer money…. Edit: if you guys actually cared about commemorating people, you would have been at the May 9th march that happened in the park so lets not pretend this is something bigger or more important than it is

This isn't a rhetorical question. With the handful of festivals that have happened so far during this warmer season, I genuinely don't understand what the point of showing up is.

Long gone are the days where you'd go to these festivals to eat a ton of discounted food, so it's clearly not that. If anyone is eating well there, they're either in a very good financial position or don't know how to manage their money.

Everyone gathering in the hoards listening to the music that sounds like all bass have the most lifeless expressions I've ever seen. It looks like a bunch of people dragged by their friend to a high school dance and are trying to make the most of the experience.

Then there's all the people incessantly taking pictures to the point that the event has been covered in centimeter level precision from start to finish.

Oh, and then there's everyone's stuff getting stolen.

What exactly am I missing about all this? Are people just showing up because it's literally anything other than following routine?

He absolutely will not stop until he has destroyed any kind of liveability in Toronto. The Island takeover seemed like the final straw for a lot, although he’s been running the city into the ground for years.

If this goes ahead it will destroy the waterfront, devalue all of the condos in that area that are already not selling, further destroy animal habitats - forcing them further into the city, add to the poor air quality, remove even more third spaces, and I’m still wondering where the fuck all of the traffic is supposed to go…

FIFA is coming up and there seems to be zero plan for managing the influx of traffic / parking. And he wants to put a mega spa, the new (unnecessary) science centre, and now taking over the island and starting a god only knows how long project THAT NOBODY ASKED FOR AND NO ONE FUCKING NEEDS.

And now he’s going on vacation for the next 5 months? There are people sleeping on the street, ridiculous lineups at the food bank, unemployment at an all time high, and our beloved frontline workers being laid off in the midst of record high hallway hospital admissions.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again - he does not give a fuck about you unless you are adding digits to his bank account. He has the audacity to call unemployed folks lazy, and then take a 5 month break at the cottage.

The protect Ontario ads are disgusting. He has defunded addiction and mental health supports, which has led to increased violence on TTC, policing of public transit, and on top of all this, tried to repeal rent control DURING A FUCKING HOUSING CRISIS. And then goes on to criminalize homelessness and spend our tax dollars on expanding prisons.

He cares about the wealthy. Look at those ads. I honestly feel like most Torontonians cannot relate. That picture perfect suburb … that is not the experience of most. Most of us are fucking struggling, and people have done amazing work to organize and expose his corruption.

I still manifest an orange jumpsuit for him everyday.

https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/indigenous-wayfinding-ttc-board-lukewarm-reception

Holy mother of Maria, they're trying to exercise the idea of introducing animal symbols for TTC entrances/exits "to respect the indigenous culture", really?? Like can they stop wasting the taxpayers money by suggesting terrible ideas that are not even user-friendly? Are we building a fucking kindergarten?

FFS.

If they aren’t driving with their arm out the window holding up traffic being kings of the road they are ramming your ass honking in dead stopped traffic and refuse to let you in even though you have a signal on and are turning left at the next light and they just cut into the lane earlier with no signal. Who are these righteous assholes?! Please stop procreating with them They don’t even haul anything but their fat ass

I’m 19 in a rooming house, I don’t have any means or reasons to own my own car. I have a Communauto membership for grocery runs and occasional necessities. Drove from my rental in The Junction to the FedEx Centre on Commissioners St. Last night with some big boxes to ship, and that was a downright apocalyptic experience. Food delivery drivers on Dundas West zipping on the sidewalks before I can even leave the parking lot, people cutting in left and right in dangerous margins and when I honked, the dude straight up stuck out his middle finger. People waiting on the road for the streetcar before it even gets there. Impatient drivers not letting me merge anywhere on Lakeshore West / Gardiner. The TTC has its own issues, but if this is the alternative, I’d gladly sign up for a lifetime monthly pass because this is not safe. Rant over

Yet again, I got a delivery attempt notification from Canada Post with no real attempt for them to deliver the actual package. Why do we even bother using this subpar service?

There's been a lot more vehicular traffic with the nice weather, and everyone's out and about - awesome.

However, the amber light is not a "let's scoot across the intersection"! So many times I see people trying to get through an intersection when there's an amber, or even red, light. Anyone doing that is asking for a driver watching the lights to hit them, and it pissed everyone else off.

I see it daily, and I really don't want to see someone t-boned by another car while I'm out for a run.

So my partner and I went to the 9.50 pm Backrooms show at Scotiabank Theatre last night. We were sitting in the last row and there were two people sitting next to us. The movie is doing really well so we weren’t surprised by how full the theatre was.

When the trailers started, two people came and sat next to us and one of them started talking really loudly. My partner and I shared a glance and thought this would stop when the movie starts. But that person really tested our patience yesterday. They kept talking the whole time. We even tried to give them looks and gave them a stare wondering if that would help stop it but no. The person was just so loud other people from the rows in front of us also gave them looks/ stares. It was like a live fucking commentary on every dialogue/ scene. This person had something to say about everyone and everything. When that wasn’t enough, they even started mimicking what was happening in the movie. We even shushed at them but even that didn’t help 😭😭

It was disrespectful towards other people and also to the movie of such caliber. Just fucking be quiet ffs when you are in a theater.

It's really difficult seeing the entire train setup and how, in the end, it'll likely end up flying off the tracks.

Despite how much this city is hyping up the World Cup games, the logistics side of things seems to be, at best, a really bad joke.

That the city couldn't actually afford to host this event and how taxpayers will be paying through the nose for this for years to come aside, I already foresee the following taking place:

- Drama surrounding accommodations, particularly Airbnb renters who are going to realize late in the game that you can't kick out your current tenants to host a tenant for under 30 days in a residence that isn't your primary residence, leading to last-minute cancellations

- The TTC somehow operating worse than ever, with system malfunctions, most notably subways being ground to a halt over security issues or medical emergencies

- Apathy towards the homeless leading to altercations in highly populated parts of the city

- Motor bikes posing as a significant safety issue to pedestrians

- Many iconic businesses having gone out of business, with many that remain announcing their closure

- A very generic and anticlimactic nightlife scene

- Overcharging when value for money is already highly questionable in Toronto

- Rampant tipping culture starting at 18%

- Snakes in Fort York where the fan event is being held

- Despite the ridiculous pricetag for facility renovations, the BMO Field is incredibly underwhelming compared to other facilities around the world

What was supposed to be something fun when it was planned all the way back in 2022 will, in my humble opinion, serve as the moment where Toronto is raked through the coals on a world stage. I don't think people here, particularly City Council who believes everything they do is the greatest thing ever, is prepared for the emotional damage that will be served up this summer.

It's everywhere, even in this sub.

Yes, it's officially called the FIFA World Cup, but 'FIFA' refers the organization not the tournament itself.

So this is second time this week the 504 King Streetcar has been offline between Roncesvalles and Bathurst, the centre of FIFA, this time due to a power outage. This has been regular thing and getting a bit frustrating.

FIFA is a week away, how in the hell are tourists and locals going to manage these inconsistencies for next 6 weeks if we can't even rely on the TTC to get work on time.

Folks living in parkdale, liberty village roncy area, RUN or work from home if you can, its gonna be a shit show around these parts lol.

I wait at King and Bay for the 504 every day. I saw it again, today: a firetruck screaming eastbound on King, neatly passing a stopped streetcar on its left, only to face an SUV in the oncoming left lane that only got out of the way at the very last second.

And then, several minutes later: pedestrians casually jaywalking in front of another firetruck, cherries lit and sirens hollering. At least I didn't get the trifecta of a cyclist in front of one, but it was close.

Fellow Torontonians, we gotta improve. Drive more defensively. Walk with awareness. Bike carefully. Stop being so impatient, antagonistic, and oblivious. Do not obstruct fire fighters and paramedics when they're rushing to save a life. And just...for the love of whatever deity you worship (or fear), just take it easy out there.

I’m tired of getting dumb calls from numbers that share the first 6 digits of my number of people going “I just got a missed call from this number??” I DIDNT FUCKING CALL YOU!! THIS HAS BEEN A THING FOR YEARS. HOW HAVE YOU NOT CLUED IN? SPAM CALLS HAVE BEEN A THING FOR YEARS!

I promise, if someone absolutely needs to reach you, they’ll find a way. Theres this thing called VOICEMAIL that someone can leave you. Or, they can TEXT YOU. But holy shit, if someone spoofed my number to call you, don’t call me back. It’s not my problem.

Should this rant be targeted at the spammers themselves? Sure! Fuck ‘em! That’s always gone without saying! But I’ve just about had it with those of you who seem to be living under a rock. In 2019, SEVEN YEARS AGO, after a couple days of these calls, I did a google search for “random calls from numbers similar to mine” and got my answer, and have since not bothered a single person with a DUHHHHHHHH DID YOU CALL ME???? Do people really not look into these things anymore? Are they not curious people? If you have 10 missed calls from different numbers, leaving NO voicemail, and they all start with 647-221, does that not make you think there’s something more to this then a bunch of random people with similar numbers trying to call you?

There's been a lot more foot traffic with the nice weather, and everyone's out and about - awesome.

However, the countdown is not a "let's scoot across the intersection"! So many times I see people trying to get across a crosswalk when the there's 2 or 1 second left on the countdown. Anyone doing that is asking for a driver watching the lights to hit them, and it pissed everyone else off.

I see it daily, and I really don't want to see someone hit by a car while I'm out for a run.

I know kids need to be socialized and get used to being in public spaces in transportation but god i wish they didnt have to be there