Rogen jumps on board with another transit group

Vancouver-born comedian Seth Rogen has voiced several announcements that will begin playing this week over speakers at subway stations in Toronto after a similar collaboration that launched last week in Vancouver.

“The TTC thanks Seth Rogen for his generosity, commitment to public transit and eagerness to make Toronto smile,” said Toronto Transit Commission chair Josh Colle in a statement.

TTC spokesman Brad Ross had first hinted at the collaboration Monday, when he posted a selfie of himself with Rogen alongside a studio microphone on Twitter. A day later, he tweeted “the incomparable @Sethrogen — Canadian Hall of Fame inductee, public transit user — has generously lent his voice to the #TTC.”

To be clear, Vancouver did it first. After actor Morgan Freeman’s recorded messages — which were set to roll out as part of a Visa collaboration introducing tap-to-pay services — were canned in May because of sexual misconduct allegations, Rogen stepped up after being suggested as a replacement by a Postmedia reporter.

TransLink social-media manager Robert Willis jumped on the opportunity and invited Rogen to chat about possibilities, to which the actor said, “Hit me up.”

The collaboration was kept under wraps for weeks until it was finally announced July 26 in a slick video featuring clips of TransLink’s SkyTrains and Rogen in a recording studio. The messages began playing Friday across the TransLink network.

The messages recorded by Rogen for TransLink and the TTC were done for free.