Year in review 2016
January 3: Subway service started at 8 a.m. on Sundays, one hour earlier than the traditional 9 a.m. Sunday start time.
January 3: Five new express bus routes announced to start operating in March, making it easier and quicker for TTC customers to get to where they need to go, including the 185 Don Mills, 199 Finch Rocket, 188 Kipling South Rocket, 24E Victoria Park Express and 186 Wilson Rocket.
February 4: The TTC unveiled its 2016 Customer Charter containing 35 time-bound commitments to increase accessibility, and improved service reliability and customer service. It was the TTC’s fourth charter announcement.
February 25: Marks the 50th anniversary of the official opening of the Bloor-Danforth Subway, from Keele to Woodbine. Formal ceremonies 50 years ago saw Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson and Ontario Premier John P. Robarts in attendance at Yonge Station.
March 10: Main Street Station became the first station in the subway system to get modern, paddle-style gates when the main entrance was equipped with eight bi-directional fare gates, six of which were PRESTO-enabled.
April 7: Federal Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Amarjeet Sohi, toured Harvey Shop to announce the first phase of federal funding to upgrade and improve public transit systems across Canada. The dollars would be allocated on the basis of ridership to support the largest systems that have not been able to fund essential state-of-good-repair projects.
May 6: Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, pledged up to $840 million in public transit funding for Toronto during a visit to Greenwood Shop.
May 28: TTC Chair Josh Colle and Beaches-East York MPP Arthur Potts officially opened Leslie Barns as part of TTC’s Doors Open event. The new carhouse features a green roof, state-of-the-art streetcar simulator training room and a substation and a storm water management pond.
May 30: Toronto Rockets trains replaced T-1 trains in revenue service on Line 4 Sheppard.
June 6: Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca; Spadina-Fort York MP Adam Vaughan, York Region Chairman/CEO Wayne Emmerson and TTC Chair Josh Colle marked the completion of track installation for the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension underground at Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station.
June 19: The TTC introduced the 514 Cherry streetcar into revenue service, providing congestion relief to the nearly 65,500 daily riders along King Street – the TTC’s busiest surface route. The new 514 service connects Cherry Street and the West Don Lands area in the east to Dufferin Street and the Liberty Village area in the west.
July 20: Russell Divisional Clerk Tom Kaskiw was congratulated on 50 years of service with the TTC. Kaskiw started his career as a Parcel Express Clerk at Gray Coach Lines in 1966, just five months after the Bloor-Danforth Subway opened for service.
August 23: Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Toronto Mayor John Tory visited St Clair West Station to jointly announce hundreds of millions of new dollars for the TTC’s capital program through Phase 1 of the long-term Public Transit Infrastructure Fund (PTIF).
September 19: The TTC held its ninth annual Public Forum on Accessible Transit. TTC staff provided the public with an update on accessibility initiatives across the system and an overview of the Wheel-Trans 10-Year Strategy. CEO Andy Byford re-committed the TTC to continue to put accessibility at the heart of all decision-making.
September 28: The TTC Board approved the TTC’s Stations Transformation Program. As part of the Five-Year Corporate Plan to modernize the TTC, the transformation plan will see the overhaul of station design and role as the TTC nears the full implementation of PRESTO. It will also include the introduction of a multi-functional, customer-focused and mobile Customer Service Agent role in place of the Station Collector role, starting mid-2017.
October 9: The first train with one crew member entered revenue service on Line 4 Sheppard, officially starting One-Person Train Operation (OPTO). With OPTO technology, Subway Operators drive the train and operate its doors from the lead cab, with a Subway Guard no longer be onboard. CEO Andy Byford and Acting COO Mike Palmer provided a technical briefing and ride for the media from Don Mills Stations on Oct. 3.
November 1: The TTC paid tribute Honest Ed’s, long-time neighbour and Toronto landmark, by decorating Bathurst Station with iconic bright red signs and decals in an show of celebration of the cultural impact the Mirvish family has had on the city. Deputy CEO Chris Upfold, David Mirvish, Mayor John Tory and TTC Chair Josh Colle pay tribute to the late Ed Mirvish and the store, which closes in 2016.
November 4: The TTC announced that it was named winner of the Best Diversity Program, a national award for outstanding achievement in diversity, awarded by Canadian HR Reporter and Thomson Reuters Canada Limited. In 2015, the TTC renewed its commitment to diversity and inclusion by centralizing and expanding the role of its Diversity and Human Rights Department to clearly define a strategy to achieve diversity and inclusion goals across the organization.
November 14: The We Move You poster/video campaign in the subway came to life at Union Station as nine dancers from the National Ballet of Canada conducted a demonstration for subway riders. National Ballet artistic director Karen Kain and CEO Andy Byford hosted the event.
November 28: Toronto Mayor John Tory, TTC Chair Josh Colle and Budget Chair Gary Crawford toured the future York University Station and restated the case for tolls as tools to fund transit and transportation infrastructure. A road toll on the city’s two busiest highways, as first proposed by the Mayor during his speech to the Toronto Region Board of Trade on Nov. 24, would boost capital investment for essential transit and transportation infrastructure.
November 28: The Customer Communications Department introduced a range of creative, transit-themed merchandise to the TTC’s online store, ttcshop.ca.
December: Ossington Station became the TTC’s 35th accessible station with its two elevators entering service. The TTC now has a total of 88 elevators in service. The Easier Access Phase 3 Project will make all remaining subway/rt stations accessible by 2025.
December 22: The entire TTC network is PRESTO ready, with at least one entrance at every subway station with PRESTO, and all buses, streetcars and Wheel-Trans buses.
December 31/January 1, 2017: For the fourth consecutive year, the TTC will be offering free New Year’s Eve rides courtesy of Corby Spirit and Wine.