TTC TO NAME NEW CHIEF

Hiring committee unanimously advocates for acting CEO Leary to replace Byford

Acting CEO Rick Leary in line for transit agency’s top job, sources say,

After a months-long international search, the next leader of the TTC will likely be a familiar face after all.

Sources have told the Star the hiring committee in charge of finding the TTC’s next permanent chief executive officer decided unanimously to recommend that Rick Leary take the wheel of the organization.

Leary has been acting CEO of the transit agency since last December, when Andy Byford left the TTC to become president of the New York City Transit Authority. The five-person hiring committee, which consists of councillors and private citizens who sit on the TTC board, made its choice roughly two weeks ago, the sources said.

The panel is expected to make its recommendation for the new CEO at a closed-door meeting of the full TTC board Tuesday.

In an interview Monday, TTC Chair Josh Colle, who sits on the hiring panel, declined to discuss who was in line for the job, but described the appointment process as “really thorough.”

“The committee unanimously put forward a name from a long list of international candidates, and I think everyone’s really comfortable and pleased with who we’re going to put forward,” Colle said.

Leary declined to answer questions about the potential appointment.

Commissioners on the board have final say over the CEO’s appointment, but they’re expected to endorse the committee’s recommendation.

According to the sources, while there were many initial applicants for the position, only Leary and one other candidate made the final round. The low Canadian dollar was believed to be a deterrent for some potential candidates from abroad.

The TTC had planned to announce its new chief executive next week, after the board had voted and a contract with the appointee had been finalized.

on the line was once a major complaint of riders, but under Leary’s watch, between 2014 and 2017 short turns on streetcar routes fell by 89 per cent, according to TTC stats.

Byford endorsed Leary to take over his former job.

Prior to joining the TTC, Leary, 55, who is from Boston and now lives in Aurora, worked at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. He then crossed the border in 2009 to work as general manager of York Region Transit.

Although he technically has been serving in an interim capacity, Leary has played a hands-on role in running the TTC in the past six months, including unveiling a new ridership growth strategy and shaking up the agency’s management structure.

Should the board approve his appointment, Leary will be tasked with shepherding a handful of difficult projects toward completion, including managing the transition to the Presto fare card system, and grappling with the TTC’s troubled $1-billion streetcar order from Bombardier.

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