

Chris Fox and Codi Wilson, CP24.com





The TTC board adopted a report Tuesday that contained nine recommendations aimed at improving transit service.

The report, titled "Opportunities to Improve Transit Service in Toronto," put forth initiatives such as the introduction of express bus service on 20 key routes, increased bus and streetcar frequency every 10 minutes during peak-hours and the expansion of overnight service where needed.

"I'm obviously very pleased that the board has supported in principle the recommendations that we put forward in this staff report," said Andy Byford, the TTC's chief executive officer. "There is lots of expansion of transit happening in the future but my point throughout has been that we can’t expect customers to wait seven to 10 years to achieve improvements... The whole point of this report was to identify things that could and should, in our professional opinion, be done right now."

The report still has to be approved by city council which will meet next week on Aug. 25.

Mayor Rob Ford, who is running for re-election in October, vowed to implement many of the proposals contained in the report. Speaking from his campaign headquarters in Etobicoke Tuesday morning, Ford said he would set aside $30 million annually towards some of the recommendations.

Ford said the money will come from annual savings he hopes to achieve through streamlining management within the civil service, implementing a common procurement and purchasing strategy and developing a joint labour relations and collective bargaining strategy.

“We need to build a better subway system but these major projects take time and people say ‘Rob, what are you going to do now?’ Well this is what I am going to do now,” Ford said. “Today I am committing to fund these service improvements in my next term of office.”

The TTC report also called for the introduction of a two-hour window in which riders could use transfers and all-door boarding on streetcar routes to help reduce delays, but Ford told reporters that he does not support either of those ideas.

“I don’t buy this two hours stuff,” Ford said of the time-based transfer, which would allow riders to hop on and off any TTC vehicle. “For $3, you can go from Kipling out to Scarborough. You will not find a cheaper way of getting around the city.”

The total package of improvements is expected to need about $288 million in capital funding, in addition to $69 million in operating costs, over the next five years if approved.

Byford said he was "pleased" to see the mayor make a commitment to funding the TTC.

“I saw the mayor’s press conference and I was pleased to hear him… say that he is prepared to put money into TTC improvements because that says to me that he recognizes the value that the TTC brings," Byford said.

Ford previously said he would improve transit without hiring additional operators but Byford said that expanding services would require additional drivers and mechanics.

The report, which was released on the weekend, has been positively received by all the leading mayoral candidates with the exception of John Tory who told CP24 that it would be “less than responsible” for members of city council to vote on it as early as next week, given the absence of a plan on how to fund it.

“John is claiming that he has not had enough time to evaluate a short 17-page report and if John had any experience at city hall he would know that these reports drop five days before it is dealt with,” Ford said on Tuesday. “Clearly he lacks the conviction to make the tough choices.”

TTC board chair Coun. Maria Augimeri said the report will not be dealt with at next week's council meeting, adding that it likely won't come up again until the budget deliberations in March.

Tory told CP24 Tuesday that there are parts of the report that he does support.

“I always said, and the commission has agreed now, that it needed a proper consideration on the financial side as to how we are going to pay for it and so it is going to go over to the budget process which is exactly where it belongs," Tory said.

"I think the real point here is that (Ford) is making up a budget on the back of a napkin. He suddenly came up with $30 million dollars for this yesterday without even thinking of what else it might be put to."

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