As my packed subway train crept slowly eastbound on the Bloor-Danforth line this past Monday morning, I noticed I was grinding my teeth. An emergency alarm had been pulled on an earlier train, backing up the line. Ongoing track upgrades also meant my train was not allowed to travel faster than 15 kilometres an hour coming in and out of Christie station. A trip that can take about 12 minutes when things are running smoothly took almost 30 — I was late.

The train’s operator addressed us numerous times during the ride to explain the myriad complications. He used his name, and named the crew members who were assisting him. At one point he announced, “Turn that frown upside down, this is Lansdowne!” I kinda wanted to throttle him at the time, but in hindsight I’m grateful the TTC is making noticeable efforts to improve customer service on a chronically neglected and underfunded subway system.

When I moved to Toronto just over a decade ago, there were plenty of delays and disruptions throughout the transit system. Very rarely, however, would anyone inform riders what was going on. Occasionally you’d get a feisty subway driver announcing the stops (my favourite was the guy who rolled all his “r”s, like “The next stop is Rrrrrroncesvalles!”). Just as often, the driver wouldn’t announce any stops at all.

Today the stop announcements are all automated — not nearly as engaging as a live voice, but more consistent. Screens on the platforms have info about the next train, as well as system delays and disruptions. Sometimes that information is unavailable, but the added notice has mostly curbed my habit of trying to make the train come faster by walking to the edge of the platform and peering into the tunnel.

There are still too many people trying to ride two main subway lines. The intolerably loud and rickety Scarborough RT seems ready to tumble off its platform at any given moment. Only half of the TTC’s 69 stations have an elevator and only nine have a washroom. While frustration about these things is often borne by the closest transit staffer in a tacky plum-coloured jacket, it’s the result of decades of inadequate funding, poor planning, and political cowardice.

And sometimes we riders are our own worst enemies. Why do you jam the doors in rush hour, so your laggard friends can ride at the expense of a thousand other commuters? Why don’t you let me get off the train before you try to get on? And for God’s sake, when you do board, why don’t you move to the middle of the car so others can get on behind you? If people knew how to ride the subway, it would often move a lot more quickly.

Andy Byford, the TTC’s highly visible and brutally honest CEO, is a fearless man. He uses the system as his primary method of transportation, and wears a name badge so people can identify him and share their … feelings about the system. Under his watch, delays on the semi-dysfunctional Yonge line are down 13 per cent, the system is cleaner, and more than a third of subway stations are equipped with the PRESTO fare payment system.

Still, I wouldn’t want Byford’s job. The approaching winter weather threatens to disrupt streetcar service, and the long-awaited Spadina subway extension is poised to cost hundreds of millions more than previously expected (although it will probably open sooner as a result of increased spending). Byford’s phone is going to keep ringing, and customers who recognize him in public will no doubt keep sharing their frustrations, even as conditions continue to incrementally improve.

Neglect of the TTC has been a tradition for as long as I’ve been alive. The provincial Liberal government is selling off public assets to build new infrastructure, but it will not increase the inadequate subsidy that keeps the system operating on fumes. In recent years, we’ve sunk piles of cash into the Sheppard line and the Spadina extension, both of which have relatively poor ridership prospects, instead of building anything to relieve pressure from the Yonge line. Two steps forward, one step back.

For the moment, we’ll have to comfort ourselves with apologetic train operators and a bombardment of announcements on the latest system delay. It’s definitely not good enough, but it’s an improvement for which we can be grateful.

Desmond Cole is a Toronto-based journalist. His column appears every Thursday.