From My Bottom Step

To: All News/Public Service Directors
From: London Transit Commission
Date: Wednesday, December 16 2009; 3:19 p.m.
Subject: LTC Labour Issues

The gradual return to regular transit service will begin on Saturday, December 19, 2009.

• Bus service on Saturday, December 19, 2009 will be the regular Saturday schedule as posted on the LTC website at www.ltconline.ca
• Bus service on Sunday, December 20, 2009 will be the regular Sunday schedule as posted on the LTC website at www.ltconline.ca
• A modified weekday service will begin on Monday, December 21, 2009 ramping up to full regular scheduled weekday service by Monday, January 4, 2010. Details on routes and times will be available on the London Transit website at www.ltconline.ca

The service on both Saturday, December 19, 2009 and Sunday, December 20, 2009 will be free, with the Commission’s thanks and appreciation of our customer’s continued patience and understanding.

As service resumes, whatever your views of the strike, we kindly ask that you treat our returning employees, fellow customers and our equipment with respect and should you encounter any issues with the service, please contact our Customer Service staff at 519-451-1347.

Further, answers to frequently asked questions regarding the resumption of service; refund/credit of November 2009 passes, and the potential for a fare increase can be found on our website at www.ltconline.ca

To begin with, it’d be nice if the return was not to “regular” service. Because the service has never been good enough. It’d be nice if the users could get something more out of all of this also.

And by more, I mean more than simply the token gesture on Saturday and Sunday. Which won’t be free. It’ll be cashless by the sounds of it, but it will be paid for. Mostly by the users of the service, albeit in a deferred payment scheme. After they jack up the fares on us again, after they think it’ll be politically acceptable to do it. Or at least, not suicidal.

As for calling the LTC Customer Service line, your problems had best be within normal business hours, because LTC doesn’t answer it’s information line after that.

And I’m still waiting for a reply from LTC with respect to my inquiry about the resumption of service. Funny how they’ve got lots of time to push out slanted media releases to me but they can’t address a question about their actions.