The Subway Stations in Toronto - definitely not exceptional!

Matt and I ventured to Toronto on Friday for an e-Publishing workshop and couldn't help but do a circle check everywhere we went - including the subway station. For you Torontonians, you have probably become so accustomed to it that you don't even notice the physical surroundings, but for an outsider like me, it was barely 'comfortable' let alone 'exceptional'. In our book, Trucker Management, we talk about the difference between a business that makes it comfortable for their customers vs a business that makes it exceptional. So back to my day, the reality and what it could have been better.

When I got into the subway, as a newbie, I had no idea where to start. Did I need to find the appropriate subway station or do they all meet in the same place? There were some maps around on the walls that helped me, but there was only one person working in the booth and the line-up was at least 15 people long. I saw a machine marked "tokens", so I put the money in and out popped a token. The only problem was, I didn't know what to do with the token. Did I still need to wait in the line and give it to the person? Or did this token work in the drop spots in the turnstiles? I was also still apprehensive about putting my money in, entering, and then realizing I was in the wrong spot with no way out. Everyone around me was going so fast. I didn't see a smile or a person that looked approachable for support. So on I went. When I got to the platform (I was at Union Station) there were two sides, with two trains going different directions. Thank goodness one of them was the Yonge Train and where I was going to was on Yonge. If not, I may have ended up on some other adventure I guess. At the end of the journey, I arrived in one piece - and fairly quickly too.

So how could the TTC have made my journey exceptional? Here's some ideas:

• a big sign that says 'New to the TTC: here's some tips'
• having ambassadors in the crowd seeking out and helping 'newbies' like me
• providing better signage like 'you are here'
• audio messages reviewing the steps of using the TTC
• and maybe even more proactive and having information available on the train so that I could have read it ahead of time and being organized and prepared on arrival