TTC board members share their vision
Councillors answer questions about their priorities for transit
The TTC board will hold its first meeting of the new council term on Thursday, and already there’s no shortage of pressing decisions members will have to make in the coming months.
Those include grappling with the province’s plan to take ownership of the subway network and whether to increase fares.
Four of six councillors on the 10-person board are new to the agency, including chair Jaye Robinson.
The Star put a series of questions to councillors on the board to get their take on key issues. All but deputy mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong responded. Their answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Chair Jaye Robinson, Ward 15 Don Valley West Do you take the TTC?
I ride the TTC every day. I ride Line 1 south to city hall and north to various Ward15 events. What is the board’s top priority?
To address the critical reliability and capacity issues on Line 1 by getting shovels in the ground for the Downtown Relief Line and completing automatic train control. Do you approve of the province’s plan to take ownership of the TTC subway system?
No. The TTC is a highly integrated service. I do not believe that one aspect of the TTC can be isolated from the system as a whole and continue to run effectively. Would you support an increase to TTC fares in 2019? No. How would you describe
the state of TTC service? How would you improve it?
A number of initiatives have been taken in recent years to address reliability and customer experience, but we need to expand on these efforts.
Brad Bradford, Ward 19 Beaches—East York Do you take the TTC?
I love cycling so I try to ride my bike year round, but I still use the TTC at least a couple times a week. What is the board’s top priority?
My top priority remains moving the Relief Line forward so we can accommodate the 200,000 to 300,000 new workers that will be coming to Toronto in the upcoming years. Do you approve of the province’s plan to take ownership of the TTC subway system?
The TTC is the backbone for so many residents in this city, which is why I voted with the majority of councillors to tell the province loud and clear that the TTC should stay within the city of Toronto. Would you support an increase to TTC fares in 2019?
I’m looking forward to reading the staff budget and I don’t want to interfere with their process. How would you describe the state of TTC service? How would you improve it?
One of the exciting opportunities I see is to support community-led transit planning. There are many local ideas I’ll be working on like reducing short turns on the 501(Queen) streetcar and expanding express bus service on Victoria Park Ave. Jennifer McKelvie, Ward 25 Scarborough—Rouge Park Do you take the TTC? I have been commuting by GO train and TTC from Scarborough for decades.
What is the board’s top priority?
It’s time to move from plans to action and expand the transit network. Do you approve of the province’s plan to take ownership of the TTC subway system?
I prefer the city of Toronto retain ownership of the TTC subway system, but unfortunately that decision falls to the provincial government. We need to have a strong presence at the negotiating table to represent the interests of transit users and TTC employees, while ensuring the Scarborough subway extension and the Relief Line are built. Would you support an increase to TTC fares in 2019?
As a member of the budget committee, I am committed to carefully examining all revenue tools to ensure we balance our budget. How would you describe the state of TTC service? How would you improve it?
While we have excellent service through much of the city, we continue to have transit deserts. I live in one of them. I’m interested in exploring microtransit in some of these areas. Shelley Carroll, Ward 17 Don Valley North Do you take the TTC?
No, and I won’t lie about it. My husband, daughter and I are a typical suburban family who use a combination of transit and driving.
What is the board’s top priority? We have to make sure we have a board who fundamentally understands our existing transit system. This means taking deep dives into the workings of our system, such as assigning every member of the board 10 routes to ride, from start to finish, and reporting back to the board. Do you approve of the province’s plan to take ownership of the TTC subway system?
There is no advantage to changing the ownership of our transit system unless the funding formula is revamped as well. Would you support an increase to TTC fares this year?
We have hit the ceiling for fares. People need to see better service and a reliable Presto system before fare increases are justified. How would you describe the state of TTC service? How would you improve it?
It is clear that we are at capacity for most of the day, and something has to give.
As we proceed through these concerning conversations with the province, one thing is clear — we need to focus our discussions on the system as it exists today and move away from debating about which subway line should come next. Jim Karygiannis, Ward 22 Scarborough-Agincourt Do you take the TTC? If so, what is your regular commute?
No. Try to get from (city hall) up to Scarborough on the TTC on a bus. God help you.
What is the board’s top priority?
Maintain, number one, what we have.
Number two, make sure that whatever is in the pipeline does not run over cost (including projects like the McNicoll bus garage).
One of the things that I would like to see is, have all our veterans get a free pass. And two, anybody over 65, off peak hours, I’m talking between 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. to have free access (to the TTC). Do you approve of the province’s plan to take ownership of the TTC subway system?
As long as they build (a subway extension on Sheppard) I don’t care if anybody takes it over. Would you support an increase to TTC fares in 2019?
If that means that we provide the service that we’re doing, yes. How would you describe the state of TTC service? How would you improve it?
It needs a lot of improvement, especially Wheel-Trans.