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COMMENTARY

TTC: Building on Our Strategic Objectives; Excerpts from Address to Toronto Region Board of Trade, Jan. 17

Upon my second appearance in January 2014, I described progress on system cleanliness and customer information, and how the first Customer Charter, along with the then-new station management structure, was helping to increase customer satisfaction.

We are now in the final, pivotal year of our five-year plan built around seven strategic objectives.

On safety, the need for vigilance is greater than ever in an increasingly troubled world as we continue to carry more customers on an ever aging system. We are taking action to maintain the TTC in a state of good repair, but we also have laid far deeper foundations than just physical upgrades.

In a first for North American transit systems, TTC has installed a completely new, risk-based Safety, Health and Environmental Management System with a corporate risk register and governance structure to support it. Subway stations have been made exponentially safer via locally accountable station staff and a zero tolerance approach to fire code violations.

Customer service has received similar focus and we’ve had record customer satisfaction scores.

Working with Metrolinx, we delivered on our promise to have every TTC vehicle and at least one entrance at every subway station enabled for PRESTO smart card by the end of 2016. Meanwhile, rapid progress is being made to complete installation of Wi-Fi to all stations by the end of this first quarter.

Subway performance is only as good as the reliability of the assets and people that support it. To that end, we have delivered year-over-year reductions in the number of delays and in their duration, including a 21 percent reduction in delays due to subway infrastructure and a 44 percent decrease in signal failures.

Critical to subway performance is the ongoing renewal of worn out track, signals and other key infrastructure assets. In 2016, we replaced over 5km of rails and nearly a kilometer of power rail.

In addition, we laid more than 180,000 meters of cabling and installed hundreds of track transponders in preparation for the new automatic train control (ATC) signaling system that will go live this fall. New buses and streetcars have entered service and we have dramatically reduced the number of short turns.

Ground-breaking work is being done to change the way we serve our Wheel Trans customers, one that will save millions of dollars by migrating those customers who can use the conventional system, while continuing to provide personal service for those with special mobility needs.

Our growth portfolio is busier than ever. We will open the Toronto York ­Spadina Subway Extension this December. Our Easier Access program continues to make the TTC even more accessible.

Our cultural transformation is making huge strides. We secured four four-year negotiated deals with our unions. New training programs are helping to hard wire a customer-first ethos into new recruits from day one and we have made great strides on succession planning.

Progress is never easy, but we have built an in-house team to help employees through radical changes, including the introduction of one-person train operation, the most challenging overhaul of subway functions in a generation.

Culture change also means making the TTC more diverse and more reflective of the city it serves. In just five short years, we have moved from having never had a woman on the TTC executive team to nearly 50 percent ­representation—all on merit—and the next levels down show increasing numbers of women and people from diverse groups rising through the ranks.

In terms of finance, we are in a much stronger position, thanks to Public Transit Infrastructure Fund support from Ottawa and my board.

Finally, reputation. In a city where transit is always the talk of the town, the TTC team has improved the way it is perceived by customers, media and stakeholders. Successful delivery of the 2015 Pan Am Games was a triumph for us.

What remains to be done?

Job one is to finish what we set out to do in our first five years. The key deliverables include opening the Spadina Subway Extension, installing new signaling, completing the introduction of PRESTO and at least 40 more new streetcars in 2017.

So what’s to come, after 2017?

The next five-year plan is already being drafted. We will complete the rollout of ATC, push on with the implementation of one-person train operation and other more efficient ways of working.

We will continue to work on fare integration, both with GO and across the GTHA and we will complete our thinking on a possible cashless TTC of the future.

The biggest challenge—and opportunity—will be to expand the transit network with big projects. Who leads and operates these projects must also be clarified.

A second challenge is funding. While we welcome the increased capital money from Ottawa and the increase in operating subsidy from the city, the TTC remains the lowest funded system in North America. If we are to expand to meet present and future needs, we must continue to invest.

The future is bright for North America’s third largest transit system. My strong belief is that the job of a leader is to present a vision of the possible, to map out a journey, a compelling vision of what can be achieved with determination and a common goal. That’s what we did back in 2013 and my executive team and the 14,000 men and women of the TTC have risen to the challenge. I remain convinced that we will deliver on our vision of a transit system that makes Toronto proud. 

"Commentary" features points of view from various sources to enhance readers' broad awareness of themes that affect public transportation.

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