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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jun/23/move-over-transport-etiquette-campaigns-blame-riders-poor-service
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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| Rider v rider: how transit etiquette campaigns make you the scapegoat | Rider v rider: how transit etiquette campaigns make you the scapegoat |
| (10 days later) | |
| “OMG!,” tweeted Lamont Dex in April 2017. “Why is there always that one person who thinks it’s okay to block the door on the train?! #Move #TTC” | “OMG!,” tweeted Lamont Dex in April 2017. “Why is there always that one person who thinks it’s okay to block the door on the train?! #Move #TTC” |
| At the time, his complaint got little attention. Roughly a month later, it was plastered on advertisements across Toronto’s transit system – part of a new etiquette campaign called “You Said It”, showing what your fellow riders have tweeted and complained about. | At the time, his complaint got little attention. Roughly a month later, it was plastered on advertisements across Toronto’s transit system – part of a new etiquette campaign called “You Said It”, showing what your fellow riders have tweeted and complained about. |
| The campaign comes at an interesting time for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). Ridership is dropping, the infrastructure is ageing (the air conditioning is particularly dilapidated), and commuter frustration has been growing for years. | The campaign comes at an interesting time for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). Ridership is dropping, the infrastructure is ageing (the air conditioning is particularly dilapidated), and commuter frustration has been growing for years. |
| “We’d been talking about, and thinking about, the right time to do a courtesy campaign,” says TTC spokesperson Cheryn Thoun. “Customers themselves tweet about these things, and are really annoyed by them. Obviously someone’s the perpetrator here.” | “We’d been talking about, and thinking about, the right time to do a courtesy campaign,” says TTC spokesperson Cheryn Thoun. “Customers themselves tweet about these things, and are really annoyed by them. Obviously someone’s the perpetrator here.” |
| But in the hunt to find that perpetrator, some rider advocates think the TTC is using the excuse of “etiquette” to blame the system’s problems on the riders themselves. | But in the hunt to find that perpetrator, some rider advocates think the TTC is using the excuse of “etiquette” to blame the system’s problems on the riders themselves. |
| At best, etiquette campaigns treat the symptoms of transit inefficiency, not the disease, they argue. At worst, they contribute to a ridership more concerned with each other’s behaviour than advocating for a better system. | At best, etiquette campaigns treat the symptoms of transit inefficiency, not the disease, they argue. At worst, they contribute to a ridership more concerned with each other’s behaviour than advocating for a better system. |
| “When you look at what riders want, they don’t just want the people to take their backpacks off. They want lower fares, they want two-hour fare transfers. They want their bus to turn up on time,” says Jessica Bell, spokesperson for TTC Riders, a group that describes itself as a voice for transit users. “We can’t let a rider etiquette campaign distract from the real issues that are causing riders to be frustrated, and are causing riders to leave the TTC and stop taking transit altogether.” | “When you look at what riders want, they don’t just want the people to take their backpacks off. They want lower fares, they want two-hour fare transfers. They want their bus to turn up on time,” says Jessica Bell, spokesperson for TTC Riders, a group that describes itself as a voice for transit users. “We can’t let a rider etiquette campaign distract from the real issues that are causing riders to be frustrated, and are causing riders to leave the TTC and stop taking transit altogether.” |
| There is a better way to ensure the seats stay clean, and that’s to invest in public transit as a public service again | There is a better way to ensure the seats stay clean, and that’s to invest in public transit as a public service again |
| It’s not just happening in Toronto. Since Queensland Rail’s “Super Simple Stuff” campaign from 2011 – subsequently spoofed by riders – transport agencies around the world have been one-upping each other with etiquette campaigns. Seattle’s Sound Transit, for example, focused on humour and cartoon animals. “Humour is one of the key values of our brand,” says Kathryn Van Sanden, head of Sound Transit’s marketing department. Lecturing people is ineffective, she says, and it’s even less effective to try to police them. “As a transit authority we can’t really make people move, unless we put transit police on board.” | It’s not just happening in Toronto. Since Queensland Rail’s “Super Simple Stuff” campaign from 2011 – subsequently spoofed by riders – transport agencies around the world have been one-upping each other with etiquette campaigns. Seattle’s Sound Transit, for example, focused on humour and cartoon animals. “Humour is one of the key values of our brand,” says Kathryn Van Sanden, head of Sound Transit’s marketing department. Lecturing people is ineffective, she says, and it’s even less effective to try to police them. “As a transit authority we can’t really make people move, unless we put transit police on board.” |
| In some cities where public transit is notoriously crowded, etiquette is a bigger concern. Yokahama, Japan, created “Smile-Manner Squadrons” – teams that would ride on transit and actively attempt to enforce etiquette rules. In Singapore, a musical was performed with characters from the “Thoughtful Bunch” – a group of mascots who were meant to reinforce positive behaviour. And in Paris, where commuters are notoriously unfriendly, the transit operator released an entire book of etiquette rules with a set of 12 commandments, including not to raise your arms on hot days to avoid subjecting other riders to your armpits. | In some cities where public transit is notoriously crowded, etiquette is a bigger concern. Yokahama, Japan, created “Smile-Manner Squadrons” – teams that would ride on transit and actively attempt to enforce etiquette rules. In Singapore, a musical was performed with characters from the “Thoughtful Bunch” – a group of mascots who were meant to reinforce positive behaviour. And in Paris, where commuters are notoriously unfriendly, the transit operator released an entire book of etiquette rules with a set of 12 commandments, including not to raise your arms on hot days to avoid subjecting other riders to your armpits. |
| But etiquette campaigns can be as much about marketing as behaviour. In 2011, when Vancouver’s TransLink launched its campaign “Building Community One Pet Peeve at a Time”, changing commuter behaviour wasn’t really the point. “The primary goal of the campaign,” wrote Robert Willis in 2012, then the online communications advisor to TransLink, “was to increase the number of fans of the TransLink Facebook page.” Success, he wrote, ought to be measured not principally by improved etiquette but rather by increased reach – in this case, an extra 1,000 likes on Facebook. Generating a “multidirectional conversation” about etiquette was fourth on TransLink’s list. | But etiquette campaigns can be as much about marketing as behaviour. In 2011, when Vancouver’s TransLink launched its campaign “Building Community One Pet Peeve at a Time”, changing commuter behaviour wasn’t really the point. “The primary goal of the campaign,” wrote Robert Willis in 2012, then the online communications advisor to TransLink, “was to increase the number of fans of the TransLink Facebook page.” Success, he wrote, ought to be measured not principally by improved etiquette but rather by increased reach – in this case, an extra 1,000 likes on Facebook. Generating a “multidirectional conversation” about etiquette was fourth on TransLink’s list. |
| Thoun was keen to avoid the Toronto campaign coming across as a form of victim blaming, but said: “If people were more courteous and changed their behaviour on many of these things, it would result in fewer disruptions and delays.” | Thoun was keen to avoid the Toronto campaign coming across as a form of victim blaming, but said: “If people were more courteous and changed their behaviour on many of these things, it would result in fewer disruptions and delays.” |
| Some critics think that argument doesn’t hold water. Most delays are caused by malfunctioning trains or structural blockages, not other passengers – who, including genuine medical and safety emergencies, only account for about a quarter of all delays on Toronto’s public transport. | Some critics think that argument doesn’t hold water. Most delays are caused by malfunctioning trains or structural blockages, not other passengers – who, including genuine medical and safety emergencies, only account for about a quarter of all delays on Toronto’s public transport. |
| “What we don’t want is rider versus rider,” says Bell. “It can’t ignore the bigger issue, which is riders do tend to behave more badly when the TTC is overcrowded, when cost-cutting happens, when there’s chronic delays.” | “What we don’t want is rider versus rider,” says Bell. “It can’t ignore the bigger issue, which is riders do tend to behave more badly when the TTC is overcrowded, when cost-cutting happens, when there’s chronic delays.” |
| Globally, transport has come under increased pressure in recent decades. The demand for public transit has increased in many developed cities, but this is not growing in conjunction with supply; the International Association of Public Transport noted in 2015 that the average supply per resident since 2001 has not increased. | Globally, transport has come under increased pressure in recent decades. The demand for public transit has increased in many developed cities, but this is not growing in conjunction with supply; the International Association of Public Transport noted in 2015 that the average supply per resident since 2001 has not increased. |
| Certainly, casting etiquette and decorum as principal concerns may be a quick, cathartic fix for frustrated passengers, but it does little to address long-term problems such as safety, affordability and ways in which it can be improved. After video of a Toronto woman dressing down a man for putting his feet on the train car seats went viral earlier this year, a journalist for Torontoist magazine wrote: “There is a better way to ensure the seats stay clean, and that’s to invest in public transit as a public service again.” | Certainly, casting etiquette and decorum as principal concerns may be a quick, cathartic fix for frustrated passengers, but it does little to address long-term problems such as safety, affordability and ways in which it can be improved. After video of a Toronto woman dressing down a man for putting his feet on the train car seats went viral earlier this year, a journalist for Torontoist magazine wrote: “There is a better way to ensure the seats stay clean, and that’s to invest in public transit as a public service again.” |
| But until that happens: turn your music down, kid. | But until that happens: turn your music down, kid. |
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