The TTC’s only photo ID centre has been shuttered for a month, leaving post-secondary students and customers with disabilities no way to get proper identification to ride the transit system.

The Star has learned the facility at Sherbourne station has been closed since March 12 over a contract dispute with Trans ID, the company that had been providing the photo processing service.

The transit agency’s six-year, $3.77-million contract with the company expired February 28. Emails obtained by the Star show the TTC offered Trans ID a one-year extension just two weeks before the contract expiry date, and had no replacement lined up when the deal fell apart after Trans ID sought higher compensation.

The photo ID cards processed at the facility are required for students who ride the TTC using a post-secondary pass, and for customers with disabilities who need to be accompanied on the transit system by a support person.

Support persons are allowed to ride for free, but only if the customer they’re accompanying has an official TTC photo ID. Last year the facility processed roughly 50,000 post-secondary and 6,000 support IDs.

Raymond Dell’Aera, chair of the TTC Advisory Committee on Accessible Transit, said the closure of the photo shop could have a “significant” and “unfair” impact on riders with disabilities.

“If they’re not able to get that card, they have to pay two fares when they go everywhere” with a support person, Dell’Aera said.

Provincial legislation makes it illegal for a transit agency to charge higher fares to customers with disabilities.

In an email, TTC spokesperson Stuart Green stressed the closure was temporary. Customers requiring the IDs can still submit applications to the TTC’s Davisville customer service centre, and some administrative work to process the ID cards is still proceeding.

“Processing time is generally four to six weeks anyway,” Green said.

“If there are concerns about fares having to be paid due to delays in receiving the card while the office is closed, we can assess those on an individual basis. To date, no complaints.”

During the closure, the TTC is advising that riders using post-secondary passes carry school IDs or proof of enrolment.

Emails show that Lou Cairo, who operates Trans ID, wrote to the TTC on February 5, three weeks before the contract end date, asking whether the agency intended to extend it. A week later David Marshall, purchasing manager for the TTC, offered Trans ID an extension under the contract’s existing terms.

Cairo responded on February 15, and asked for a 37-per-cent increase to the contract price, which he said was justified by new provincial minimum wage legislation, as well as other rising costs.

On February 27, a day before the contract was set to expire, Marshall asked Trans ID to keep providing the photo service past the expiry date so that the two parties could reach an agreement.

Cairo agreed to work 10 days past the contract date, but said he couldn’t open the facility after that time without a written agreement. The deadline came and went with no agreement, and Cairo shut down the office.

Cairo told the Star he had expected the TTC to negotiate with him over the contract value, but the agency was “totally disorganized” and seemed uninterested in working out a new deal.

“I don’t think it was handled properly, or efficiently, in a fair manner,” he said.

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Green, the TTC spokesperson, didn’t agree with that assessment.

“We began discussions with the vendor on February 5 and had numerous conversations regarding the dramatic price increase that had been proposed. Those discussions continued until the time he ceased operations,” Green said.

A message posted to the TTC website advises customers the photo facility will reopen in the first week of April, which has already passed. Green said the agency is seeking vendors and expects to have secured one in the “next couple of weeks.”