TTC – Outstanding Public Transit Agency of the Year!

We did it! You did it!

It is my immense privilege to tell all of you that the TTC has been named Outstanding Public Transportation System for 2017 by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), recognizing the transformative change the TTC has undergone over the last five years.

CEO Video: TTC is #1 in North America!

This isn’t just the TTC saying so – this is our peers from transit systems across North America saying so. The TTC last won this award more than 30 years ago, in 1986.

Just five years ago we set out to change the TTC. We developed a five-year plan that put the customer at the centre of all that we do, from service planning to service delivery, including a new station management model, customer charter, fleet and infrastructure renewal, and how we manage our most important asset – you, our people. I said then that if we upped our game and pulled together, we could, once again, be number one in North America. And now we are!

I accept this award on behalf of those come to work every day, proudly and diligently delivering one of the most vital services a city of this size can rely on. After almost 100 years and 31 billion trips taken, the TTC has grown to become North America’s third largest transit system, after only New York and Mexico cities.

Below is the logo developed by our own in-house graphic designers, which will begin to appear on all of our vehicles.

We still have much work to do, of course. This honour, after all, is not bestowed on transit agencies for their perfection, but rather for their vision and measurable efforts to execute that vision. Over the last five years, we have achieved a great deal, including:

• A cleaner, more punctual and exponentially more responsive service.
• Unprecedented capital investment.
• Introduction of new vehicles – buses, streetcars and trains.
• PRESTO is now available in all subway stations and vehicles.
• Completion of the spectacular Leslie Barns.
• Delivery of a world-class transit plan in support of the 2015 Pan Am Games.
• A more accessible TTC with the addition of external announcements on buses, subways and streetcars and more fully accessible subway stations.
• One Person Train Operation on Line 4, improving the safety and reliability of the service.
• A reduction in the number of delay minutes across the subway network.
• A second subway platform at Union Station, reducing overcrowding and improving customer circulation.
• Increased service on more than 40 routes, operating all day, every day and 52 routes now operate every 10 minutes or better.
• Increased service on the Blue Night Network so that 99 per cent of Toronto residents now live within a 15-minute walk of overnight bus and streetcar service.
• Real-time travel information (next train times and other service information) is made available on Platform Video Screens.
• Implementation of a new wayfinding system that uses consistent symbols, colours and numbers to clearly communicate to the city’s diverse audience.
• Underwent a brand revitalization moving the brand from one of a utility to what it really is: a critical part of Torontonian’s everyday lives.
• Recognized as one of the Greater Toronto Area’s Top Employers.
• Over the coming months, and in the lead up to the annual APTA conference where the TTC will be officially recognized for its achievement, various events will mark this prestigious honour here in Toronto. Stay tuned!

Once again, congratulations one and all!

Andy Byford
Chief Executive Officer
June 26, 2017

The CEO Video can be viewed online, on TTC-TV screens and at TTCasts on the TTC intranet.