Mini-Ethnography of TTC
1Friday, November 23, 2012 by Dongxia Wang
This blog is the continuity of the last week’s blog from my team member titled “Readings week 11”. He talked about TTC system as an information system. Here I use Star’s framework to analyze the ethnographic aspects of TTC as an infrastructure.
Embeddedness. The TTC is a transit system serving city of Toronto. The system is tucked into the structure of the city of Toronto. The TTC buses have to run on the roads and streets, which are part of the city.
Transparency. For TTC users, they take buses or trains to travel in the city. The routes and schedule are publicly advised on the website or on the post. The users only need to know where to get off and where to make transfers. They do not have to know the how the schedule is made. For TTC workers, especially for those who make schedules, the system appears more transparent.
Reach or scope. The TTC users not only need to access to the physical TTC maps or paper based schedules, but also have access to those information online. The users can also subscribe the SMS service to access to the most current information about bus arrivals and departures.
Learned as part of membership. The new employees will get training to become familiar with TTC system. Such as the information technology they used, policies and procedure, etc. The employees are trying to overcome the strangeness in the workplace.
Links with conventions of practice. TTC system shapes and is shaped by its conventions. In TTC system, you only need to pay once and you can get on a few buses by showing your transfers. It is convention for TTC, which is hard to change. If the customers were asked to pay every time they got on the bus, it would have caused huge objection from the community it serves.
Embodiment of standards. TTC system has built on certain standards. There are standards for the bus, drivers and working conditions.
Built on an installed base. TTC system is built upon city civic system. It was not as big as what it is today. It grows every year with the increasing demand.
Becomes visible upon breakdown. When TTC is running smoothly, people did not realize the works behind the system. When TTC was on trike some years ago, people started to realize how important TTC was and TTC started to be listed as essential services for the city.
Is fixed in modular increments, not all at once or globally. The city of Toronto is a large city and TTC system is one of the biggest transit systems. We are not able to upgrade system all at once. For example, the city needs to make 5-year plan to upgrade the buses, trains and subway facilities gradually.
Overall, TTC is a perfect infrastructure for ethnographic studies.
Great! I had not thought of analyzing the infrastructure from the point of view of the employees. I was only thinking about it from the point of view of the riders-- the front end. Definitely, thinking about what is going on with the employees begins to open up the "black box" of the infrastructure. Also, I was really interested in the information aspect of the TTC infrastructure from the point of view of the riders. For example, how does one figure out how to get where you need to go? How does the signage work? How do you know that you can only get tokens if you buy three of them? Otherwise, you need to pay money to the person in the booth. How do you know or learn that only certain entrances will work if you have a token, otherwise, you need to go to the entrance with a person working behind the counter. How do you know which entrance has a person working there? For, some people the infrastructure is taken for granted, but for anyone new to the city or visiting, it becomes an obstacle that must be overcome and learned about it. For other, the TTC is their job, and for others, it is a topic of conversation or debates. I was also thinking about for individuals with mobility issues, the physical infrastructure becomes a huge obstacle. Overcoming the physical obstacle requires an understanding and engagement with the information and social infrastructure of the TTC to find ways to navigate it. Also, the questions of boundaries that we read about and discussed last week comes into play when examining the infrastructure of the TTC. TTC is massive and includes so much technology, geography and social aspects. I think you could do a whole study on just how people do navigate getting in and out of the station. Or on the street car drivers and their interaction, role, and navigation of the infrastructure. And you would need to decided which part of the infrastructure. I wonder if the TTC has conducted studies using social scientists to understand the behaviour of riders and employees in order to make the best policy and design for its systems.
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