Office of the Chief Executive

As a new school year begins, thousands of students will once again rely on the TTC to connect them to school, extracurricular activities, part-time jobs, and opportunities that help shape their futures.

Many will be navigating our transit system and roadways independently, with some making the journey for the first time. Their safety depends on all of us.

Every inspection, pre-service check, maintenance activity, customer interaction, and operational decision contributes to a safer transit system. By remaining vigilant and looking out for one another and our customers, we can help ensure every journey begins and ends safely.

I want to recognize a team that recently put that commitment into meaningful practice. At Mount Dennis Division, employees took a creative approach to engagement, designing a back-to-school safety display that highlighted the importance of safe practices as students prepare to return to classrooms across the city.

Their work is an excellent example of leadership in action and helps strengthen our safety culture.

This week, I visited our Uniforms Office and Transit Control Centre to connect with employees who play a critical role in delivering service. In speaking with Chief Transportation Officer Tamu Thomas and Sarfraz, Jade, Michael, and Gezeel with the Uniforms Office, I was impressed by their dedication and ability to think outside the box to solve problems and deliver exceptional support and service to our staff.

At Transit Control, I was equally impressed by the dedication and passion staff bring to their job each day. I was particularly encouraged to hear how lessons learned from recent major events like FIFA World Cup 2026™ and the Caribbean Carnival are being carried forward to strengthen service, improve co-ordination, and respond to emerging issues.

With the CNE underway and a busy fall season ahead, one message came through clearly: a focus on solutions. That willingness to challenge our thinking, build on what works, and learn from experience is at the heart of One TTC and helps ensure we continually improve the service we provide to our customers.

This focus on outcomes is demonstrated through the improvement in headway performance recently shown on our 511 and 509 streetcar routes, with headway adherence circa 80 per cent since the start of the CNE. This performance is the result of carrying forward lessons learned from FIFA, the addition of service, increased supervision on routes, and dedicated transit lanes.

I encourage you to share your ideas directly with me.

Fresh perspectives are essential to the TTC’s continued growth, and our summer students brought them in abundance over the past four months. I want to thank them for their hard work, enthusiasm, and contributions to teams across the organization. It has been a pleasure to welcome them to the TTC, and I wish them every success as they return to their studies.

Looking ahead to this weekend, I hope to see many of you and your families at the Line 5 Eglinton community celebration. Together, we will celebrate the employees whose dedication helped bring this project to life, the communities along the corridor, and the lasting impact the line will have for generations to come.

Thank you for your continued commitment to safety, teamwork, and continuous improvement. The challenges you solve and the care you bring to your work each day make a difference for our customers and help build an even stronger TTC.

With gratitude and resolve,

Mandeep S. Lali
​Chief Executive Officer
​August 28, 2026