TTC has renamed its Passenger Assistance Alarm and launched a media campaign to educate subway riders on its proper use.
The new name for the long yellow strip found on all subway trains is the Emergency Alarm and that’s the only reason it should ever be activated, said TTC CEO Andy Byford on Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 26, flanked by representatives from Toronto’s paramedic, fire and police services. He compared its use to calling 9-1-1.
"Before you press the alarm think, do you really need fire, paramedics, or police?" said Byford. "If you do, and it’s a genuine emergency then that alarm is there for you to press."
In 2014 thus far, 2,677 alarm activations were recorded and more than two-thirds of them were for non-emergencies, said Byford, resulting in nearly 48 full hours in delays – much of them coming during the packed rush hour periods – to subway service.
Making matters worse, when an alarm is activated, a train must stop at the nearest station platform, which then freezes service of all other trains behind it.
"You get a domino effect. If an alarm is pressed on one train in the subway, the trains are held up behind it as we get assistance, and then other alarms are pressed and the delay accumulates," said Byford.
Deputy fire chief Mike McCoy said Toronto Fire Services answers around 460 calls triggered by the subway train alarms every year. He said it can take as long as 20 minutes to determine there’s no emergency – time and resources lost which could be used for an actual crisis.
"We send between four and six trucks on every call activated from the subway which ties up around 16 to 22 firefighters," said McCoy. "That basically takes up all the resources in an immediate area."
The alarm is often triggered when riders complain of feeling faint or queasy, said Byford. But he said there have also been cases where it was pressed by accident, such as by an unintended tap of a hockey stick, or "inquisitive children" standing on the subway seats. Riders have even pressed the alarm to ask for directions, said Byford.
"There’s a whole raft of reasons why it’s not an emergency situation," he said. "If it’s something that can wait, or doesn’t constitute an alarm, you don’t need to hold the service up."
As part of the campaign, the TTC has changed the wording on the alarms themselves indicating when they should be used, and introduced vehicle and station advertisements which are intended to clearly convey the proper use of the alarm to English and non-English speakers alike.
The TTC also posted a short YouTube video this week featuring Byford and TTC communications chief Brad Ross explaining how to properly use the Emergency Alarm.
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