In his first official statement as TTC CEO, Andy Byford talked the title change, customer service and speaking his mind without fear — but he wouldn’t talk subways.

When asked if he would support Mayor Rob Ford’s underground-only vision for transit expansion in Toronto, Byford side-stepped the specifics.

“What I will be doing is offering frank and fearless advice to the mayor’s office, to the chair and to the commission and pretty much to whoever asks it,” he said. “My job as a transit professional is to know my facts. Obviously I have opinions based upon experience but I will certainly be apolitical in that.”

And what are those opinions?

Byford said the subway versus LRT debate is a matter of public policy, which is therefore a matter for council and the commission to set.

TTC Chair Karen Stintz interjected that council will be discussing the issue at the highly-anticipated March 21 council meeting. It is then that council will issue its definitive verdict on what kind of transit is going to be built along Sheppard Ave.

Byford, who was officially awarded the CEO position Monday, is inheriting one of the most politically toxic and contentious files in Toronto. Byford’s predecessor, Gary Webster, was dismissed without cause by Ford’s allies on the commission for not supporting the mayor’s subway agenda. In retaliation, council voted to dissolve the commission and replace those councillors.

Byford said the decision to change the head TTC title from general manager to CEO was a meant as a symbolic gesture to show customers the organization is serious about modernizing and moving away from a system seen as “old-fashioned,” “overly bureaucratic” and “introspective.”

Byford promised to continue “the relentless roll out of customer-service improvements. Some of which we’ve already seen. It’s my intention to accelerate that and to do my damndest to take Toronto and its transit system forward.”

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