Office of the Chief Executive

I’m extremely proud of our workforce for its volunteer spirit, especially as the holiday season approaches.

The annual holiday Stuff-the-Bus toy drive gets underway this weekend. Donations of new, unwrapped toys will be accepted at the TTC bus parked at the Walmart store located at 165 North Queen St. in Etobicoke. The drive will run this weekend and next.

The Recreation Council is leading a TTC-wide coat drive to help community partners deliver new coats to those who need them most this winter. The committee members also continue to collect cans of soup for the Veterans Association Food Bank until the end of this month.

The TTC/United Way campaign is closing soon. There’s still more ways to participate or donate what you can to this worthy cause if you haven’t already done so. Details of these and other events are listed below.

OPTO complete on Line 1
Last weekend (November 20), the TTC achieved another milestone in its modernization efforts. One-Person Train Operation (OPTO) became fully functional in the entirety of Line 1 Yonge-University. OPTO was already in use from Vaughan Metropolitan Centre to St George stations on a daily basis since November 2021 and has been in use on Line 4 since 2016.

This piece of work was completed less than two months after Automatic Train Control (ATC) signalling became operational along the entire length of Line 1. OPTO allows the train Operator to safely drive the train and operate the doors while monitoring screens from inside the front cab. On Line 1, four cameras are installed on each platform to provide the Operator a clear and consistent view of the entire length of the platform. Train Operators now carry a handheld radio in the event they need to leave the cab to provide customer assistance, when needed. Additional uniformed staff are available to assist customers at stations along the line.

Thank you to all those who worked to make this happen.

And finally, a big congratulations to the 2022 Grey Cup champions, Toronto Argonauts – their 18th championship title and their second Grey Cup in the last five years. And what a valiant performance by Canada in their first game against Belgium at the World Cup in Qatar. We look forward to seeing more excellent performances this year as Canada prepares to co-host the 2026 World Cup tournament. Best of luck versus Croatia on Sunday – our team has made the whole country proud!

Stay safe.

Richard J. Leary
Chief Executive Officer
November 25, 2022