The blackout and how crowds move - off topic

(Off topic posts are posted in a personal voice, while actual articles in The Luddite Times are written in the editorial voice)

As a consequence of the West End Blackout of 2009 , Friday (January 16th) rush hour began with trains unable to run along a substantial section of the Bloor-Danforth line. The TTC began running a shuttle service of 40 buses between Jane Station and St George Station.

I was one of the people who had to take the shuttle bus that morning. I have lived in Ontario since 1996, and in Toronto proper since 2001. In all that time I have managed to avoid any emergency that has required me to take a shuttle bus, so I'm sure I was due for such an event.

I had prepared for the worst, and so I was not at all surprised at Jane Station, as we made our way up the concourse, to hear someone complain that there was only one stairway. This was said as we stood in the foyer, flanked on either side by a set of stairs. There was another set at the other end of the foyer, but this was closed so that generator cables could be run down. I bit my tongue, but wanted to ask the person if they (1) noticed the other staircase next to them that people were climbing or (2) expected the TTC to carry an extra staircase around in the back of a truck.

When we got the surface. People had to spill out on to the bus lanes while they waited for shuttle buses. At the same time, the regular bus service for Jane Station had to run. It was a large crowd, and it was very tight as there is not much room at Jane Station.

The TTC Constables did an admirable job of crowd control. They kept people back so that the busses could get through, informed them of what was happening, and looking out for people who needed help right away. They attempted as much as possible to communicate with the drivers what was happening with the crowd and trying to implement a plan so that as many people were loaded and ready to go as quickly as possible.

The drivers, themselves, did a good job. There were a few issues, but considering the number of people that needed to be helped they did an admirable job as well. And the TTC planning was great as well: busses appeared at regular intervals and left at them as well.

The problem was with the passengers.

Combinations of crowds, a barely understood situation, and the cold can create a very stressful situation. I myself briefly became curt with a fellow passenger when they had their elbow in my lung, but kept as calm as possible because I knew that getting angry wasn't going to get anyone on the busses any quicker.

Others did not deal with the stress as well. Many resorted to simple griping, which provided some quick entertainment, like the person who complained about their being only one stairway, or the person who was behind me and had been so since I arrived 40 minutes earlier, but somehow had managed to be waiting an hour and half. This meant she would have gotten there before the subway started running.

It got ugly very quickly. Pushing and shoving became rampant every time a bus appeared, and if the bus went past to the front of the queue, people began hurling insults and epithets at the drivers, and then at the TTC Constables. As this was Jane Station, the occasional Jane Street bus would pull up. People would swarm those buses and begin to bang on the doors and the bus itself, insisting it be opened despite the fact that it was going to Steeles. I pondered, but dismissed, the idea leaving more for my own safety than because of any inconvenience. My job is not so important that lives would be lost if I worked from home.

Others, it appeared, did not feel the same way. A woman began sobbing, and then yelling, and then screaming, and then crying. Her plea to the TTC Constable was the same: "You promised I would get on this bus! Why did the bus not pick me up? I pay your salary! I need to go to work!" No amount of reassurance or consolation from the constable would do, and she became more and more hysterical as the time went on, at points following the constable into the bus lane as we were trying to move back to let busses through.

This seemed to unleash an energy in the crowd. I could hear scuffling and people yelling behind me, and more and more people insisting, borderline yelling that something must be done.

There were then two moments that chilled my soul.

A bus was slowing down so it could navigate the turn, but there was still a little bit of room at the end of the queue so there was a very good chance it was going to go past us. "SOMEONE! QUICK! JUMP IN FRONT OF THE BUS!" I looked around to find the voice, which was to the right of me. I looked at her, trying to measure intent. This woman was not joking. This was not trying to alleviate a little stress. This woman was in such a rush to get to work that she was willing to sacrifice the body of a fellow passenger.

A few minutes later, in the middle of a complaint about having to wait so long, and from a different person: "What is going to have to happen before they do something for us? DOES SOMEONE HAVE TO DIE?"

These are tough economic times. We all have jobs to do that are important to us and to our families. In the end though, very few are required for the world to keep spinning. Unless you are a surgeon, doctor, or fireman (and possibly a couple of other highly specialized professions) there is no reason to for you to risk life and limb and sanity to get to your job. And at the point where you completely lose your composure and your grip on your situation, it's time for you to turn around and go home. Use a sick day if you don't think your boss will understand, but don't make a situation worse because of your inability to cope with some hardship. Yes, it was cold, we were all shivering. If it's that much of a bother, go back into the station and wait, or borrow a cell phone and call your work and tell them you will not be in, or will be very late. The simplest solution is often the right one.

Since I have moved to this area I have been through 4 major catastrophes: The Snowstorm of 1999, 9/11, the Blackout, and SARS. For all except the first, I have seen the City actually acquit itself very well. People were informed about what was going on, plans were executed, and the City survived. What has not coped well have been the PEOPLE of Toronto. Crowds move in an irrational manner, but the reaction to every situation has been so out of scale with the actual impact of the event that it has been alarming, and not just in retrospect but even as the event was occurring. As I stood in the crowd, wondering how much longer it would be before I would have to ACTUALLY worry about my safety, I could not help but wonder what would happen if an actual catastrophe did happen, heaven forbid. I have no doubt that there would be great plans and infrastructure available, but that the people would not avail themselves of these in their panic and make the situation worse.

I have a Jimmy Breslin-like relationship with Toronto. I both love and fear this city. There is much more about it that I love than fear, but I find there is more and more that worries me about it.