The Pan Am Games will be a disaster for Toronto.
God, where to begin with this clusterfuck.
- Union station a complete wreck with a week to go. I walk through it on a regular basis and there is still lot of work to be done; there is still sections cordoned off. I was asked this morning by a tourist family how to enter the subway system. It was only 20 yards away! I was walking on the path between Bay Street and the side entrance when they stopped me. I explained how they would need to go to the front and down the stairs. Since the entrance closest to them required a pass or a token. I looked around and there was not a single way-finding tool to show people where to go. Not a good sign (pun intended).
Pachi the porcupine. Did you know this is the mascot for the 2015 Pan Am games in Toronto? I just found out today, a week before the start of the games.What the does a porcupine have to do with Toronto? A racoon would have been better mascot (and more common to the city).And what is with the whole rainbow motif? We get it, Toronto’s really gay. At least it is better than the ugly blob they initially went with.- Traffic is a clusterfuck of the first order. They have changed the HOV lanes to 3 or more people. It was barely used when it was 2 or more people. I know because some morning’s I would drive in with Zuimei and we could zip downtown in no time. Now you have two lanes of bumper to bumper and an entire lane sitting empty. Look at this photo from The Canadian press by Frank Gunn. That was the entire commute today for most people coming to work and trying to get home again!
At work we had to fill in questionnaires about how we were going to help relieve traffic by a) taking public transit b) working from home c) taking vacation time d) carpooling. The overwhelming message to locals has been “Get out of Toronto!” - Most of the hotels are reporting numbers lower than last year. Admittedly the weather has been cool, but surely part of it is the lack of decent advertising and the mixed messaging to locals. If my family said they were thinking of coming I would be like, “Why? We’re told to stay away.” If you can’t convince the locals to get interested, how on earth are you going to convince a tourist?
- Speaking of messages to locals, where is the advertising? I have not seen a single banner ad online, on any of the major local sites. No billboards, not much in the way of a push on the TTC. I think I saw a wrapped streetcar, but just one mind you. Bloor station is still wrapped in Madjack or some cider adverts.You would think someone would have coordinated an effort to welcome people into the city and ensure the busiest and most trafficked parts of transit had appropriate messaging. Like, “Hey, the games are on and here is how easy it is to go see them! Looking for the Aquatic center? Take the number two line to the end and take the Ellesmere bus” Or whatever. I’m sure some marketer could do something witty with it.
- Speaking of signs, seen the cryptic venue signs? NPS. No, not Net Promoter Score, Nathan Phillips Square. (I only know that because I asked someone) PAF? No idea. Know what events are there? No clue. No one thought to have a little iconograph indicating what events are at each or perhaps the actual name under the acronym? Here is an example of what is current around the city:
- Now the real kick in the crotch. This trainwreck apparently cost taxpayers $2.5 billion dollars. Now granted, we have some great buildings coming out of that. A stadium in Hamilton, a velodrome in Milton, an aquatic center in Scarborough. But those are not worth $2,500,000,000.Anytime I see some government project like this I always think, who’s getting rich off of this? Cause it ain’t Toronto.
