Only in Toronto - public transport chaos

Today afternoon a contractor was digging a trench to lay a cable on Jackes Ave in midtown Toronto. The trench went right over the subway line. As it happens in cheap thrillers, the contractor dag too deep and dislodged a piece of concrete from the subway tunnel. Then the chaos in style of Stephen King's best horrors ensued: the TTC (Toronto's public transit company) closed the subway line. Since it all happened during the evening commute, thousands of people were stranded on the streets. Busses sent to pick up spill-over passengers were sparse and late. No one bothered to inform the public. Traffic was jammed. Taxi drivers charged insane fares for a short haul to the closest functioning public transport - in some instance $60 for a ride of a few city blocks, that would originally be under $10. It always amazes me how such a wannabe metropolis like Toronto gets crippled and even completely disabled with smallest of troubles. There's no inventive thinking or a contingency plan for pretty much anything. The city gets paralyzed when it rains, when it snows, when someone digs in the neighborhood, and for any other number of reasons. It would be laughable if it wasn't real.