Montreal has introduced this feature into its subway cars that is so functional, it’s hard to understand why all subways everywhere haven’t always used it: it is the revolution of the TRIPLE POST. It’s only one post on the floor, so you can’t get your foot stuck in it, but it branches out to three posts from about hip height up, so everybody gets something to hang on to, even if some dumbass decides she needs to lean on the post with her whole body and read or sleep. (Uh… sorry about that one time…) It’s fantastic!
That said, however, it is still incredibly dorky of the the STM to announce the arrival of these posts with lifesize posters of the posts on the outside of the cars. Do people need to be warned? Will they not otherwise know what to do with the post when confronted, and just stare, baffled, only to be thrown off balance when the train starts moving again? Will this make them choose one car over another? Is that something the STM needs to worry about to begin with?
Ah well, I guess the Post of Posts deserves its fifteen minutes. There’s a generation now in diapers which, if all goes well, won’t even be able to remember a time when posts were uni and didn’t come in threes.
Comments
Comment from lauralyn
Time: November 29, 2007, 9:01 pm
You mean like a time before bankcards? I’ve heard of this, eh?
Comment from Jill
Time: November 29, 2007, 11:51 pm
Whoa, that’s an oldie but a goodie. I can barely remember the time before bank cards. But I also know people for whom it will *always* be the time before bank cards. ATMS, they steal your soul! Who knows what strange demons these posts might conceal?
Comment from Chrisa
Time: November 30, 2007, 7:39 am
i like this idea!
as for posters, given the number of minister’s letters i write, indeed some politician has the posters up so that they can say “and you may have noticed the new three pronged poles that i fought to put up…” in speeches, letters, etc.
Comment from Jill
Time: November 30, 2007, 10:36 am
In that case, let’s all get together and send that minister a fruit basket.
Comment from andrew
Time: November 30, 2007, 5:10 pm
That fruit basket will be stopped at the central Quebec National Assembly mail processing centre, inspected, xrayed, debated, and finally disposed of. Although, given my experiences opening mail for the minister, maybe not. [Chrisa and I can explain pretty much 50% of what goes on in govt at any given time, between the two of us]
I want more handrails at overhead height in the King/Queen streetcars.
Comment from Jill
Time: November 30, 2007, 10:24 pm
Oh right. If I want it to get through, I should send an all-expenses-paid-vacation or a roofing contract or something.
I think there’s a lot of room for improvement in the general area of overhead handles worldwide, from safety, convenience and ergonomic standpoints.
Comment from lauralyn
Time: December 1, 2007, 11:21 am
Well, I would work at not registering as a lobbyist, seems to cramp the politico style. And I agree with the overhead handle idea… more is better.
Comment from Chrisa
Time: December 1, 2007, 4:19 pm
i also want to take the time to slag the TTC once again for sucking large.
the TTC is constantly complaining about how they need more money to do *anything* and i’ve always thought that that may be true, but they also need to get more *innovative* with what they do, which does not cost all that much. in the grand scheme of things, these posts cannot cost all that much, and yet they will probably allow for far more people to fit on the car and have a more comfortable ride (= cost effective and humane)
the TTC on the other hand, has just started installing led signs and automated announcements to annouce the stops. this is great, but it took a human rights case from a blind lawyer to get this stuff going. and i highly doubt we will see these three prong poles in toronto any time soon, simply because it is too innovative and inexpensive, something they don’t believe in.
okay, that’s my TTC rant for the day. it’s not logical, but they really suck.
Comment from andrew
Time: December 4, 2007, 2:30 pm
i want guest voices for announcing stops on a random basis. imagine if suddenly anthony hopkins says “next stop…strachan avenue”. but just once, then back to the regular boring voice.
Comment from Jill
Time: December 4, 2007, 2:42 pm
There was a subway car in Montreal I meant to write about but didn’t, Andrew. It was a lot like what you just described, only times a million.
Essentially, the entire car was art. It was wrapped in a deep royal blue on the outside. Inside it had intense dark blue faux-wood paneling. There were colourful deconstructed cityscapes applied to the windows with translucent 3M film. And at every stop, the sensor that normally triggers the station name announcement would instead trigger these random creepy surround-sound stereo voices, chimes and bird chirps.
It was freaking awesome, and I didn’t get a video of it because I was too busy being immersed in it, and watching the way it made people interact with it, and changed how strangers on board related to each other. If I wasn’t sober, I might have thought I was imagining it.
I guess it was part of a programme that’s like “Poetry On the Way” on steroids.
Comment from andrew
Time: December 5, 2007, 5:31 pm
Ahhh, see our inability to do things like that is part of the charm of Toronto. We are, however, full of young hippies who think that holding subway parties are a good idea.
Comment from Chrisa
Time: January 22, 2008, 4:57 pm
David Suzuki talks about stuff like this. Like how we tell people to take the stairs to be fit and environmentally conscious, but then they are ugly and dingy, and the elevators are nice. He thinks we should make office stairwells beautiful and inviting and a party!
Comment from Jill
Time: January 22, 2008, 5:05 pm
Yes, stairs should be front and centre in lobbies, and elevators off to the side. (And in really tall buildings, why not make the stairs for the 1st -3rd floors prominent, to avoid the who-the-hell-do-you-think-you-are-taking-the-elevator-to-the-second-floor syndrome.)
Write a comment