只有TTC知道答案，但TTC却不回答

Only the TTC knows, but it won’t tell

对于那些天天依赖TTC的人来说，它的低效率和可笑的客户服务早就让乘客们习以为常了。很多TTC乘客对经常性的延误和不断冲破新高的车票费日益不满。但Kevin Jia在下文所指，TTC在常常宣称再不涨价就没法维持其正常运营的同时，却缺乏一个完整而准确收费系统，这实在是荒谬。

For those who rely on the TTC on a daily basis, its inefficiency and laughable user service has become a norm. Many dependent TTC riders have grown impatient and annoyed over constant track delays and skyrocketing fares.  As Kevin Jia writes, it is preposterous that the TTC lacks a failsafe system to ensure accurate fare collection while frequently declaring that it needs another fare hike to maintain the services.

多伦多人支付的公交费用是全北美最贵的– 还不算我们为了维持这个摇摇欲坠的机构而支付的其它沉重赋税。在多伦多，一张月票的价格是成年人133.75元，学生108元，属于北美最高的。据TTC说，随着今年的乘次预计增加到5.4亿，增加的票价将用来支付上涨的燃料、能源、运作、以及人工费用。有人甚至说，为了提供优质服务，涨价是应该的。实际上，TTC有超过1300人上了省府2013年的阳光名单，即年入超过10万元– 其中238人是司机和车站售票员。

Torontonians pay the most out of any North American city in fares—lest mentioning the burdening taxes we pay to support the crumbling institution. In Toronto, a Metropass costs $133.75 for adults and $108.00 for students, amongst the highest in North America. According to the TTC, the fare hikes are paying for increased fuel, energy, operator, and personnel costs as annual ridership is expected to increase to 540 million this year. Some have even stated that in order to provide high quality service, increased fares are to be expected.In fact, over 1,300 TTC employees in 2013 were on the government’s Sunshine List, earning over $100,000—of which 238 personnel were operators and station collectors.

可是如果你在买一张价格100多元的月票时，仅付了1元会怎么样？2014年五月，一位乘客在St. Clair的一个繁忙地铁站购买价值108元的月票时，信用卡上只刷掉1.08元。卖月票的售票员没能发现这个错误，不知不觉地给了超过100元的优惠。更糟糕的是，这个售票员在给这位乘客开收据时都没能发现这个明显的错误。

But what would happen if instead of paying over $100 for a Metorpass, you only paid $1? In May of 2014, one rider was charged $1.08 on their credit card for a$108 Metropass at a busy St. Clair subway station. The collector who issued the pass failed to notice the error and inadvertently discounted it by over $100. Worse yet, the collector didn’t spot the blatant error even after issuing a receipt.

TTC的公司传媒部门对此表示：“这只是这个售票员所犯的一个诚实的错误。”

“This was just an honest mistake by the collector,” explained the TTC corporate communications department.

毫无疑问的是，购票的乘客在这种情况下会有负疚感，有些人可能会担心TTC官员会来找他们增补票价。可事件已过去数天，TTC并没有联系过那名乘客，也没有试图纠正错误。那位乘客很困惑，为什么这么严重的错误居然会在一个这么庞大而高级的机构的眼皮底下发生。      

Undoubtedly, the ticket buyer would feel guilty in this situation and some may become anxious that TTC officials would contact them. However, nearly several days after the transaction, the TTC hadn’t contacted the rider, nor had they attempted to rectify the situation. He wondered, how could an error of this magnitude go unnoticed in a supposed sophisticated organization?

《大中报》向TTC反应了这种担忧；可他们仅仅用简单的一句话做了答复：“售票员将被责成支付这一差额。这仅仅是一个错误。”

Chinese News brought these concerns to the TTC; however it responded with a short statement. “The Collector will be required to pay the difference. This was nothing more than a mistake.”

可是TTC每天要处理将近280万乘次的客流量，因此找到具体的那个出错的售票员几乎不可能。在私营公司，尤其是零售和住宿行业，每天要处理上千宗交易的员工在信用卡上出错很常见。但职员们必须牢记，在交易结束时复查收据以免出错。他么还须掌握客户联系信息，且在当天关门前核对所有发票。为了消除人为错误，这些系统性机制是不能缺少的。


But the TTC handles nearly 2.8 million riders a day and finding the exact collector responsible for the transaction would be an impossible order. In the private sector, especially the retail and lodging industry, credit card mistakes are commonplace as clerks handle thousands of transactions. Clerks have it ingrained in their heads to always double-check receipts and are required to maintain customer details and to review all receipts at day’s end. These systemic mechanisms are required to eliminate human errors.

但是，看起来TTC并没有这么一套机制，售票员也没有获得过适当的培训以免类似错误的发生。只是在《大中报》与TTC联系后，他们才了解有此事故的发生。更有甚者，TTC都没有向《大中报》索取一份发票的复印件或者有关那个售票员更进一步的信息。当被问及TTC到底有没有一个失误防止机制时，TTC仅表示不会做更多评论。

However, it seems that the TTC doesn’t have a systemic mechanism in place, nor does it seem like collectors are even properly trained, to prevent similar errors from happening again. It was only after Chinese News approached the TTC for a statement were they aware of the incident. Furthermore, the TTC didn’t even ask Chinese News for a copy of the receipt or any further information regarding the collector. When asked if indeed the TTC had a failsafe system, it simply stated the TTC had no further comments.

TTC 果真会找到这名售票员并对其惩罚吗？显而易见，TTC系统内的浪费以及TTC糟蹋纳税人的税款是更严重的问题。尽管这个错误似乎便宜了那位“幸运的乘客”，很难断定TTC会更改错误，因而最终这笔账还是会落到多伦多老百姓身上。随着TTC的票价涨幅远高于通涨率，人们会问，这到底是一次孤立的事故，还是更为普遍导致TTC遭受损失的更严重的问题。


It’s doubtful if this collector will ever be identified or reprimanded. But the elephant in the room is the concerning amount of waste in the system and how the TTC abuses tax payers’ dollars. Even though the error was seemingly in the favor of a “lucky rider”, it’s doubtful the TTC will be able to rectify the mistake and thus the burden once again falls upon Torontonians to muck up the mess. As the TTC continues to increase fare prices far faster than inflation rates, one must wonder if this is just an isolated case, or if this is a relatively common issue that plagues the TTC.

只有TTC知道问题的答案，但TTC却不说。

Only the TTC knows, and the TTC won’t tell.