Despite the bad press that the TTC tends to get on a consistent basis, the results from its first customer service survey paint a picture of a mostly happy ridership. It may be a Toronto tradition to complain about our transit system, but unless the over 500 people who participated in the study are all just friends of Chris Upfold, there's actually reason for the folks at the TTC to give themselves a pat on the back.

As far as an overall rating goes, participants ranked TTC service at a very respectable 76 per cent. Perhaps even more noteworthy is that only seven per cent of respondents characterized service as poor. That's a far cry from the vitriol one often sees expressed in comment sections on city-based publications (there's a lesson in here somewhere).

I don't have info on the demographic makeup of the sample, so I'll take the results at face value. My experience riding the TTC is generally pretty good, and the addition of NextBus arrival info has drastically improved my commute. That said, there are a few responses that I find somewhat surprising. Take, for instance, the question related to the TTC's relative value for money. 60 per cent report that a ride on the TTC offers good or excellent value. That's a bit odd given that it's probably the most expensive transit system in North America. But, hey, maybe we just have low expectations.

If there's an area in which the TTC comes up short on the survey it's in notifying customers of delays prior to their entering the system. The installation of information screens near fare booths at some stations helps to address this — as does the @TTCnotices Twitter account — but there's clearly some work to be done given the feedback provided by the respondents.

For more results, check below.

Customer Satisfaction Survey 2012

Photo by sjgardiner in the blogTO Flickr pool