TTC marks Global Accessibility Awareness Day and celebrates ACAT’s 30th anniversary

I’d like to extend my congratulations to the TTC’s Advisory Committee on Accessible Transit (ACAT). Yesterday, ACAT marked its 30th anniversary. It was also Global Accessibility Awareness Day.

A large part of the TTC becoming a truly diverse and inclusive system is also ensuring we are a diverse and inclusive employer. This year, we will be launching an updated demographic survey to get a better understanding of how many of our employees identify as having a disability. We will also be hiring an accessibility consultant for the Diversity team and commencing an audit of our worksites for inclusive and accessible design as well as removing barriers for persons with disabilities.

I want to acknowledge the important role that ACAT has played in helping the TTC move forward in this area. Since 1992, ACAT members have represented the needs and concerns of persons with disabilities and seniors who use public transit provided by the TTC, and have provided advice to the TTC Board and TTC staff for the provision of accessible public transit. Over the past 30 years, ACAT has played a major role in helping the TTC work towards our goal of a transit system without barriers. We look forward to continuing to work together to make transit more accessible for the entire city.

On behalf of the entire TTC, I’d like to thank and congratulate ACAT’s Chair Jonathan Marriot, Vice Chairs Debbie Gillespie and Anita Dressler, and its members, past and present, for their dedication.

ModernTO: Improving your work experience
At the Board meeting on Wednesday (May 18), Commissioners received an overview of the City’s ModernTO Workplace Modernization Program and how it will affect us at the TTC. ModernTO is ultimately about improving your work experience and making sure you are given the best possible environment, technology and flexibility to thrive.

As part of ModernTO, the TTC will also be evolving its processes to align with more inclusive and flexible workspaces and practices. This includes drastically reducing paper use and storage, and transitioning to online work and information through the digitization of the TTC’s workspaces. It will also mean finding new ways for us to collaborate and work with one another.

The ModernTO initiative plans to consolidate approximately 15,000 City, Agency and Corporation staff from 52 work locations down to 15 office locations. ModernTO would result in the TTC relocating about 2,200 staff and consultants from nine leased buildings and one owned office building into two City-owned buildings: North York Civic Centre and Metro Hall. The relocation of TTC employees will be a phased one and will be based on expiring leases. For example, relocation from the McBrien Building would coincide with the completion of Metro Hall renovations, estimated toward the end of 2027.

Throughout this entire process, we are working closely with the City on this initiative and we will report any developments to all employees as they become available. To read more about this initiative, I would encourage you to read the Corporate Notice that was issued earlier this week on ModernTO.

May’s Board meeting, and previous meetings, can be viewed on the Official TTC YouTube Channel. Please see below for more highlights of Commission decisions approved on May 18.

Supports for those affected by the recent shootings
Like many of you, I am shocked and deeply saddened by the shooting at Tops Supermarket in Buffalo last week. It has become clear that the shooter was motivated by racism and hate. Acts of violence such as this one are meant to incite terror and a long-term consequence for the impacted community is a sense of ongoing fear in their everyday lives.

As an organization we stand with groups experiencing hate and discrimination, and I encourage you to reach out to the Human Rights and Investigations Department should you experience any such incidents in the workplace.

Please know that the Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) by Lifeworks, along with other supports are available to you and your family. EFAP provides confidential counselling services and self-guided resources for employees and family members, 24 hours a day. To get in touch with EFAP, please call 1-800-572-0039 or access these supports on the MyEAP App or online at workhealthlife.com.

I want to underscore that any incidents of violence motivated by racism are unacceptable. The TTC opposes all forms of hate and discrimination and we are committed to actively fighting not only anti-Black racism, but all forms of racism.

Events like the one in Buffalo are a reminder of the importance of spending time with the people that matter most to us. Whatever your plans are for the Victoria Day long weekend, I hope you will have the opportunity to get spend some time with friends and family.

Stay safe.

Richard J. Leary
Chief Executive Officer
May 20, 2022

TTC Board Highlights

TTC Board Meeting May 18, 2022

In memory of the late Kathleen Llewellyn-Thomas
TTC Chair Jaye Robinson began May’s Board meeting with a solemn tribute to Kathleen Llewellyn-Thomas, Chief Strategy and Customer Officer, calling her a dedicated and passionate public servant. Kathleen Llewellyn-Thomas died on May 2 at age 64.

TTC staff presentation: Advancing Analytics
The TTC Board received a presentation from Wendy Reuter, Head of Research and Analytics, on how the TTC uses the vast spectrum of data it collects to improve its operations and the customer experience. Data ranges from route-by-route insights to ridership levels and Presto card use to safety and innovation analysis as well as the introduction of an Analytics Centre of Excellence. An update on the work of the Advancing Analytics working group was provided in the Hot Topics section of May’s CEO’s Report.

ModernTO Workplace Modernization Program Update
The TTC Board received for information an overview report on the implementation of the City’s ModernTO Workplace Modernization Program as it affects the TTC. The City’s ModernTO Workplace Modernization Program, initiated in 2019, is designed to consolidate approximately 15,000 City, Agency and Corporation staff from 52 locations into 15 primary office locations, reducing the overall City floor area by 33 per cent. The consolidation will incorporate a revised modernized office environment and culture with fewer offices, no assigned offices or workstations, and an overall mobility ratio of one desk for every 1.7 people. This ratio will result in people working in the office approximately 60 per cent of the work week, with the remaining 40 per cent from home. 

ModernTO involves the relocation of approximately 2,200 TTC staff and consultants from nine leased buildings and one owned office building into two City-owned buildings: North York Civic Centre and Metro Hall. Relocation of staff will be phased based on the expiry of leases. Relocation from the owned office building (1900 Yonge St.) will be timed with the building readiness of Metro Hall renovation, estimated at Q4 2027.

The TTC’s current annual costs, including leases, maintenance and utilities associated with the office space that will be consolidated through the ModernTO initiative is approximately $14.2 million.

TTC Board establishes Human Resources Committee
Board members voted unanimously in favour of establishing a Human Resources Committee for the balance of the term, which will include the Chair, Vice-Chair and one Councillor member to be appointed by the Chair. Committees of the Board can be established by the TTC Board at any time to provide advice or decision making on behalf of the Board. The Board has only one other committee, which is the Audit and Risk Management Committee.

Procurement Authorization for Bloor-Yonge Capacity Improvements
Commissioners approved the award of a contract worth $22.5 million, inclusive of all taxes, to AECOM Canada Ltd. for Owner’s Engineer Consultant Services. The work defined in this Request for Proposal (RFP) is to support the continued development and implementation of the Bloor-Yonge Capacity Improvements Project (BYCI) over a 10-year period.

The BYCI project has completed 30 per cent design and Stage Gate 3 deliverables, including the project preliminary design baselines and the selection of Progressive Design-Build (PDB) as the recommended project delivery strategy, which was approved by the Board on December 8, 2021. To support the PDB delivery strategy, the TTC requires the services of an engineering consulting firm to act in the role of Owner’s Engineer.

Bloor-Yonge Station is a key pre-condition for further network expansion planned by the Province/Metrolinx, and has been identified as a priority project by the City of Toronto, Province of Ontario and Government of Canada.

York Mills Station/Metrolinx bus terminal licence agreement
Commissioners approved a report authorizing TTC staff to request the City of Toronto to negotiate and enter into a 10-year licence agreement with Metrolinx, with an option for a further 10-year extension, on the TTC’s behalf, for the continued use of the bus terminal at York Mills Station by GO Transit.

The licence agreement has an initial term of 10 years, terminating on April 4, 2032, with a renewal option for an additional 10-year period, resulting in a cumulative term of 20 years, expiring in 2042. Either party will have the right to terminate the licence with six months notice.

Microsoft Cloud Subscriptions 2022 Update
The TTC Board approved an amendment to the TTC’s Enterprise Subscription Agreement contract for the supply of Microsoft Cloud subscriptions to Microsoft Canada (Microsoft), increasing the total contract value by $3.5 million to $9.4 million, inclusive of HST. The amendment will cover anticipated expenditures to the end of the contract term on January 31, 2024.

Additional contract authority was required to upgrade existing annual Microsoft 365 subscriptions in 2023 in order to continue the planned rollout of Microsoft 365. Microsoft 365 serves as a cornerstone for enabling employee mobility and workspace options envisioned by the City’s ModernTO program.

Next meeting of the TTC Board
The schedule of regular Board meetings in 2022 is condensed as a result of the municipal election on October 24. The next scheduled TTC Board Meeting will be on Thursday, June 23.

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