January 2009

First and foremost, I would like to congratulate everyone involved in the opening of our newest operating complex – Mount Dennis.

Mount Dennis Division/Garage opened its doors late last year with a lot of effort from a lot of people. More than 400 buses – and a greater number of employees – were re-assigned across the city.

The complex began operations in conjunction with last November’s board period, which included additional bus requirements and a lot of new service to improve both peak and off-peak loading standards.

Our employees did an excellent job to make this happen seamlessly, and their efforts didn’t go unnoticed. Thank you to everyone involved.

Safety.

A lot of effort has gone into transforming the TTC’s safety culture over the last two years. In 2008, we began the Work Safe-Home Safe initiative. Employees had an opportunity to tell us what they thought – and they did so honestly and clearly. All of us want to see change in the way we do business.

We’re starting to see encouraging signs in the reduction of lost-time injuries and we’ve only just begun the worker training and engagement process. We should feel optimistic about achieving a 60-per-cent reduction in our accident rate over the next few years.

At the same time we’re doing everything we can to minimize the likelihood of assaults on Operators through the use of cameras, barriers and putting more focus on prosecuting those responsible for those unacceptable acts.

Employees are excited and engaged in this process. When we talk about Work Safe-Home Safe, it’s not just about improving safety, and changing our methods and behaviour. It’s about creating a better working environment for everybody – and that’s going to translate into a better riding experience for our customers.

Service.

Service to our customers will continue to be a top priority in 2009.

One of the things that we want to do early on is identify additional performance measures in order to continuously improve our surface route management.

We’re looking at different operational techniques to lessen short turns, reduce gapping and improve travel times. We are introducing these on Queen Street. They are showing some improvement in the quality of service, which could apply to all of our routes.

We’re now running service that extends from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. and that’s a very positive change for our customers. We’re providing transit for the citizens of Toronto that makes it possible to live and travel in the city without a car. We’ve made it much more convenient, for example, for our riders to go downtown in the evening, or on the weekend, and catch a bus or streetcar or subway train back home.

This level of service is now part of our base budget and future plans. Although it’s uncertain what the full impact of the downturn in the economy is going to be in the long run, the TTC is in growth mode, albeit modest, and we’ll see the benefits of the added service on our ridership in 2009.

Courtesy.

This year, the TTC will have an appropriate level of service to match ridership demand. But we don’t want transportation to simply be a way to get from A to B. We want people to enjoy the riding experience. After all, we are in a customer-driven business.

We’re improving the transit trip by informing and educating riders through next vehicle arrival and service disruption notices. And many other features to improve customer communications are in the works. By giving customers better information – and advance notice – about what’s happening on the system they can adjust their travel patterns.

So when they show up at the Collector’s booth, or stand waiting at their stop, that first contact with the customer will be a pleasant one.

I would like to wish you all a happy and safe New Year. With Transit City, Toronto Rocket and new LRV milestones on the horizon, the TTC is taking real steps towards changing the face of Toronto. Our workforce is also changing, becoming more diverse and better reflecting the Toronto we live in today. The TTC is a large and accomplished organization. I am proud to be part of the TTC family, as I know you are.

Gary Webster
Chief General Manager