Frustrated transit riders will soon get a chance to voice their complaints in person, now that Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 has announced the details of a series of town hall meetings to address the strained relationship between passengers and workers.

Saying his members are “open to criticism,” union president Bob Kinnear adopted a more conciliatory tone than before, while announcing three meetings where riders will be able to publicly air their grievances.

The forums, billed “Let’s Talk: TTC Riders and Workers,” will be held Sunday afternoons in various parts of the city and moderated by public figures not affiliated with the TTC or the union. John Tory will host the first event on April 11.

The audience will be able to ask questions and be polled instantly, through hand-held electronic voting devices, to gauge which issues are most relevant to them.

The union is following through on a February announcement, at the height of a period of bad customer relations, that it intended to engage with customers.

Reading a prepared statement, Kinnear said he wanted the meetings to be “a platform for a new beginning of positive relationships between transit users and workers.”

“We are tired of the negative and unproductive ‘us vs. them’ climate that is distracting the city from the very serious issues facing public transit.”

Kinnear’s softer demeanour was a marked change for the fiery union head, who last month lashed out at the public and media after riders captured on camera a series of embarrassing gaffes involving TTC workers.

“Stop the video stalking of drivers when they stop for a washroom break,” he said then.

Rider discontent over fare hikes and token shortages came to a head earlier this year when a TTC fare collector was photographed sleeping on the job. A spate of bad publicity followed, including video footage of a bus driver taking a long coffee and washroom break while en route and the suspension of another driver who failed a breathalyzer.

Kinnear said the union’s meetings have nothing to do with the TTC’s recently struck customer service advisory panel, from which he claimed the union had been excluded.

“We were very, very concerned with the direction of the panel,” Kinnear said, alleging that it is “politically motivated.”

“That’s just not accurate,” said TTC vice-chair and city councillor Joe Mihevc, who says he personally invited Kinnear to participate in the panel, which also includes a transit worker.

Still, Mihevc said the union’s initiative is positive and can only help the “reweaving of the relationship between the TTC and the riding public.”

“It’s big enough an issue that a lot of different kinds of conversations can happen,” he said. “At the end of the day we’re going to have a great public transit system if the transit workers and the public understand each other better.”

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The meetings, slated to last two hours, will be broadcast live on Rogers Cable 10 and streamed on the union’s websit, wemovetoronto.ca. All venues can accommodate more than 300 people. Kinnear said the union will cover the costs and provide free shuttle buses to the events from nearby subway stations.

Kinnear and four front-line workers will be on stage with the moderator. Other TTC workers will act as greeters and ushers at the meetings, but will not be allowed to ask questions, Kinnear said.