SERVICES MARKETING GROUP

02
CASE STUDY ON:

TORONTO TRANSIT COMMISSION

BY:
Mani Kumar K (18A2HP445)
Hari Haran V (18A3HP608)
Shashi Kumar V (18A3HP614)
Sai Deep (18A3HP662)
Vishwanath (18A2HP443)
 SUMMARY

The Toronto Transit Commission was the 3rd most highly used urban transit system in
North America, it was established to take over all the other transit services that are privately
operated in the city of Toronto. It was formed in the year 1921.Although the Company main
business started with street cars, within no time, it built a first subway network in the year 1954
and then added the bus services. The fare structure of the company was so flat that the customers
were able to travel an unlimited distance per trip for one price. The TTC’s revenue in the all the
years matched with its budget until, when in 1950’s when the Toronto City Council mandated the
company to provide bus service to low density housing areas. In 1996, after the end of certain
provincial subsidies, there were other shortfalls in the budget of the company which were covered
by the municipal government and is also funded by Toronto property taxes. The company has been
facing consistent deficits as the fares were accounted for only 70% of the total budget.

There were clear service Gap’s in the TTC’s services, in 2000’s, the commuters of the
company became very much used to shabby seats and less reliable service, because of the
underinvestment in its routes and equipment. The assets of the company include 1800 buses, 247
streetcars and 700 subway cars. On the other side the management of the company gave high
priority to the safety of the employees and customers. The employees of the company include
Unionized and Ununionized groups. The average salary paid to the employees was $113502 each,
whereas the highest paid is $ 281931. As the service levels were deteriorating because of the
ongoing. The Main aim of the company now is to Develop a PR strategy to meet their customer
expectations.
 Q1 What is your view on how well TTC is managing its public transport?

TTC’s public transport consists of both cars and buses. In a day it provides services to 1.5
million passengers by operating around 2500 buses that travels 7500 km. It is a 24/7 service and
as it is a massive undertaking it is very difficult to achieve customer expectations.

TTC’s focus is on safety of its riders and its employees. It even conducted a program
with a motto that every employee has to leave the work place in the same condition in which
he/she arrived.

TTC’s service levels tend to be deteriorate because of the growing frustration of

As per CSAP report, the following are notable comments about TTC’s service levels

There is a clear between the service provided and the customer expected service, The
customer expects the bus operator to provide some special assistance like helping in guiding to a
specific address and expects to act as a fare collector as well as Custodian for safe keeping their
things. But it is not possible for the operator to do these special assistances while keeping his
concentration on driving.

Q2 What is the focus of TTC communication to consumers and how well it is aligned
with customers view?

The following are the views of the company TTC and the customers.

TTC’s view: Safety of the customers and employees is of prime importance to TTC
management. They had a Work Safe Home Safe program as a result.

However, the customers of the service expressed the following views which are presented in the
CSAP report.

1. Customers felt that the bus drivers should have stopped the bus when they people
walking towards the bus stop. The bus drivers didn’t stop the bus and customers were
unsatisfied with the service. On the TTC defence, the bus operators worked on a tight
schedule so are unable to stop the bus.
2. High expectations from the operator led to dissatisfaction among customers as customers
felt that the operator of the bus can act as tour guide, fare collector, policy enforcer,
custodian by providing assistance and direction when needed. On TTC defence, the
driver should focus on the safety of the consumer by maintaining the speed limit, paying
close attention to road and ensure all passengers reach safely and on time.
 3. Students felt that they need a discount rate for travel as other students of other cities are
offered discount rates on transit fare. On TTC’s defence one can observe that as TTC is
underinvested, it cannot afford to offer discount fares to students.
From the above we can conclude that TTC communication is not well aligned with customers
view.

Q3 with the goal of fixing the TTC in mind what suggestion you would like to give to
TTC management and Toronto city Council?

The goal of fixing TTC is a giant challenge, it may require may activities to be initiated
and implemented to alter the perception and expectation of the customer. Special tariffs should
be approved by the city council for the senior citizens and students like other cities which has
implemented, so that TTC image will be boosted up in the views of the customer. Students are
the demographics that are involved in social media and events should be initiated to enable the
students to reconstruct the image of TTC. Campaigns should be run on focusing senior citizens
and school students that will portray image that TTC cares for its customers. Providing facilities
for the physically disabled persons and demonstrating that drivers care for the customers will
give positive impact of TTC to its customers.

Q4 From the above case, identify the various service quality gap.

GAP 1: The knowledge gap

We can say that TTC lacked the ability to concentrate on customer relationships through the
activities that happened. The image of ticket collector sleeping went viral, the absence of
assisting clients reaching theor stops, the absence of any kind of guidance to the tourists led to
Knowledge gap in TTC. Although there were student passes throughout many states in North
America, TTC was still unable to enforce them in cooperation with the city council, which was a
serious need for students and senior citizen.

GAP 2: The Policy gap:

Customers complained that inside the buses they were unable to hear announcements
which eventually led the commuters to miss their stops. The coaches inside the trains were not
connected to each other and the individuals faced a lot of trouble moving around the coaches.
The facilities were very poor but later the 70 “rocket” coaches were launched, and the above-
mentioned problem was rectified.
 When TTC raised the ticket fare from January 10, 2010, they capped the quantity of
tokens that could be purchased by commuters before the previously mentioned deadline to
prevent tokens being “hoarded” or purchased in advance. They subsequently developed an
inconvenience for commuters by abolishing token purchase and returning to paper tickets,
resulting in lengthy ques at main stations.

GAP 3: The Delivery gap:

On January 22, 2010, a picture of a sleeping TTC face collector was posted on social media with
a caption “Now I know where my TTC’s $ being spent”. That post has gone viral on social
media. He went on to post about the collector online instead of the commuters attempting to
understand if the collector was ok or if he had any illness. This showed how the customers did
not fulfill their responsibility as a responsible traveler or as a successful service
partner/stakeholder.

GAP 4: The Communication gap:

There were 15 – 30 minutes delays on the busy paths during peak hours before the e-alerts
scheme was introduced in January 2010, and commuters had no way to know about the delays
except to ask the drivers. As a result, customers were less informed in daily routes about
breakdowns, slowdowns or diversions.

GAP 5: The Perception gap:

The customers anticipated drivers/operators to act as tourist guides, policy enforcers, fare
collectors and custodians. They were also anticipated to drive safely, arrive on time at the
destination, and wait for the travelers who are reaching their destinations as well as assist senior
citizen. This resulted in a combination of problems that did not meet the perceived service level
of the customer because they “over-expected” from the drivers/operators. If there was reckless
driving, the commuters also complained about it. Because the customer base was so vast, the
client gap and the anticipated satisfaction of the service fell. TTC alone could not cater for the
perceived level of service, which in turn led to the development of the Perception Gap.