Another day on the TTC, another problem, as afternoon commuters in the north end of the city found themselves out in the cold on Tuesday, a large stretch of the Line 1 subway rendered unusable due to the vague but dreaded "signal problems."

Service on the line's four northernmost stations — York Mills, Sheppard, North York Centre, and Finch — was suspended just before 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, right on time to leave school kids and those trying to beat the evening rush in the lurch.

Shuttle buses were deployed to cover the affected stretch of the line, but the combination of being stuck in sub-zero weather and forced to pack onto the few buses available in sardine-like conditions has left a sour taste behind the masks and face coverings of commuters.

Line 1 Yonge-University: No service between Finch and York Mills while we fix a signal problem. Shuttle buses are on the way.

— TTC Service Alerts (@TTCnotices) February 8, 2022

With an Environment Canada Freezing Drizzle advisory in effect, TTC customers packed into crowds — exposure to COVID seemingly lower on the minds of riders than getting out of the cold — to await shuttle buses, though some were waiting longer than they'd have preferred.

I would like to know too

— Sophia (@sophia63873182) February 8, 2022

A few commenters complain that this is still a recurring problem, even as the rolling closures to upgrade the network's plagued signal system continue to deprive customers of weekend service, the most recent one occurring this past weekend.

All this money spent on signal upgrades, all these weekend subway closures for supposedly signal upgrades we keep having signal problems. And the TTC wants to talk about upcoming fare hikes. This is a joke.

— Kyle Cook (@KyleCook64) February 8, 2022

Almost exactly one hour after the outage began, the TTC announced that service had resumed from York Mills to Finch, though even with trains back up and running on this stretch, the complaints haven't let up.

Line 1 Yonge-University Regular service has resumed between Finch and York Mills. https://t.co/CdFDwR0L0g

— TTC Service Alerts (@TTCnotices) February 8, 2022

A whole hour of service shutdown was enough to mess up the day of anyone unlucky enough to be commuting through this stretch.

Second day in a row, yesterday stranded at Eglinton, today stranded at Sheppard. TTC, the shame of Toronto. Why do I keep paying a fare if you never get me where I'm going???

— Kirsten Edwards (@Cir_K_usGirl) February 8, 2022

Even when you time everything just right, meticulously planning down to the second, the TTC can always manage to ride in like a knight in rusted armour to foil your day.

Why bother being early when you have to wait for the bus for 17 minutes! Waste of time and money! Just don’t go to work anymore

— shanapple (@appleamd12) February 8, 2022

These outages are, unfortunately, something many commuters have come to begrudgingly accept as a fact of life in Toronto, and one nobody expects it to change overnight.

As always, service is a joke ! 😡

— Mar 🌊 (@marmb23) February 8, 2022

A TTC outage may just prove an inconvenience for some, but for others, losing time to shuttle bus waits can also mean lost shifts, wages and even jobs.