TTC prepares to restrict subway access

Entrances can be blocked if any station’s platforms become too crowded

The TTC plans to restrict access to subway platforms and evacuate stations to prevent potentially dangerous crowding during the COVID-19 recovery period.

Details of the agency’s pandemic crowd management plan is included in a report going to the TTC board next week that outlines the transit agency’s ongoing response to the virus. As reported Thursday, it recommends requiring transit users to wear masks while on the system in order to help prevent the spread of the disease.

Ridership on the subway network remains low and, as of June 1, was at about 16.5 per cent of pre-COVID levels. But as the province opens up, the TTC expects systemwide passenger volumes to return to between 30 and 60 per cent of normal in the fall, depending on factors like when elementary and high schools reopen, and how many people continue to work from home.

As ridership starts to return, the TTC will have to be diligent to prevent crowding caused by subway delays and other service disruptions.

Jim Ross, the TTC’s chief operating officer, said having the right safety policies in place will not only protect riders, but also be key to drawing ridership back to the system, which is losing $21 million a week in fare revenue during the pandemic.

“We’re even more sensitive to people’s feeling of personal safety,” Ross said. “The more safe they feel, the more willing they’re going to be to come back and be a regular transit rider.”

The transit agency stepped up its crowd-management policies after a notorious incident in January 2018, when a series of cascading subway delays left hundreds of passengers crushed together at St. George station.

Ross said measures used to combat crowding during the pandemic recovery will be similar, but will be triggered at much lower passenger volumes. He said there is no set crowding level that will trigger a response and the decision to implement emergency measures will be up to the to the discretion of the TTC incident commander in charge at the time.

The TTC will monitor customer levels, particularly at busy transfer stations like Bloor-Yonge and St. George, and “incoming customer access may be restricted” if delays cause crowds to form, the report states.

Depending on the severity of the delay, transit employees could set station fare gates to “exit only” mode so riders could leave the station but not enter, a change that can be made using a control panel in subway collector booths.

The agency could also shut down station escalators, and deploy shuttle buses to replace subway service.

During delays, passengers may “be restricted from waiting on platforms … and, in some cases, may be directed to leave the station,” the report states.

Ross explained that when subways are delayed, most customers normally wait in the station, assuming the problem will be cleared in a matter of minutes. But the TTC can’t allow that while the virus remains a threat.

“We can’t have 1,000 people waiting on a platform while you have trains coming in that need to off-load,” he said.

“If I’ve got trains coming in there, then the people — you need to leave.”

For the moment, the TTC will monitor station crowding by simple observation.

Starting June 21, the agency will deploy 100 “COVID ambassadors” at Union, Bloor-Yonge, St. George, Kipling, Finch, Sheppard, Eglinton and Dundas stations, as well as at key bus and streetcar platforms, to help guide customers and assist in emergencies.

But Ross said the agency is also working with BAI Canada, the firm that provides Wi-Fi service in stations, to track passenger volumes by detecting users’ cellphone signatures.