CEO's Report: October commentary

This month’s CEO’s Report shows real and measurable progress in the performance of the TTC. Across several of the measures that matter most to our customers, service is becoming more reliable, ridership remains strong, and improvements being made operationally are translating into better journeys.

That progress is particularly evident on the subway.

Delivering more reliable service
​Subway on-time performance reached 95.5% in August, well above our 90% target and the highest performance since August 2021. Performance was strong across all three subway lines: Line 1 reached 93.9%, Line 2 reached 95.0%, and Line 4 reached 98.5%.

The performance customers experience during the busiest parts of the day is even stronger. Combined AM and PM peak-period performance reached 97.3%, including 99.8% on Line 4 during the morning peak. This combined peak performance is the highest since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Those results did not happen by accident. They reflect the sustained work of employees across Operations, Transportation, Infrastructure, and other parts of the TTC to identify the causes of delay, strengthen day-to-day operating discipline, and improve how we manage service. We are now applying those lessons more broadly across the network.

Streetcar on-time performance provides an important indication that this approach is working. Streetcar on-time performance reached 73% in August, an improvement of 15 percentage points compared with a year ago, and the best performance since January 2024.

That progress is also being supported by our partnership with the City of Toronto. Transit Signal Priority and the deployment of Traffic Agents at key intersections are helping streetcars move more efficiently through some of Toronto’s busiest corridors, reducing delays, and improving travel times for our customers.

Combined with the operational improvements we are making within the TTC, this demonstrates what can be achieved when we address both how we operate service and the conditions in which that service operates.

This is the standard we need to continue building on: identifying what works, applying it consistently across modes, and relentlessly focusing on the quality and reliability of the service our customers experience every day.

Investing in reliability
​We also know that operating performance alone does not tell the entire story. Sustaining these improvements requires us to address the condition of the infrastructure that supports reliable service every day.

Reduced Speed Zones (RSZs) remain one of the clearest examples of the challenge created by aging infrastructure and the TTC’s state-of-good-repair needs. RSZs are imposed where necessary so trains can operate safely while track defects are addressed.

As the system ages, planned subway closures are also becoming an increasingly important part of how we deliver the state-of-good-repair work required to maintain and improve reliability. We recognize that closures inconvenience customers, but they provide our crews with the uninterrupted access needed to undertake significant track, signal, and infrastructure work more safely and cost-effectively than can be accomplished during the limited overnight maintenance window.

Our focus is therefore not simply on managing RSZs or responding to infrastructure issues as they emerge. It is on getting ahead of them. That means optimizing the use of planned closures, accelerating critical repairs and renewals, improving how work is co-ordinated, and maximizing the amount of state-of-good-repair work completed during each closure.

This is an important trade-off we need to be transparent about with our customers: some short-term disruption is increasingly necessary to deliver a safer, more reliable system over the long term. As our infrastructure renewal needs grow, planned closures will be an increasingly important tool in protecting the strong service performance we are working so hard to achieve. It also reinforces why sustained state-of-good-repair investment is so important. Reliable service tomorrow depends on investing in the assets beneath the service today.

That was a central message during our meetings with federal government officials in Ottawa this month. Maintaining and modernizing existing transit infrastructure is essential to reliable journeys, a productive economy, and Toronto’s continued growth. Federal investment, including through the Canada Public Transit Fund, is critical to that work.

Our message to governments and funding partners is straightforward: Toronto needs both transit expansion and sustained investment in the existing system millions of customers depend on.

Building a safer, more accessible system
​Our work to improve the customer experience extends beyond service reliability.

The completion of Easier Access work at Spadina Station means 65 of the TTC’s 70 subway stations are now fully accessible, with construction continuing at College, Museum, Islington, King, and Old Mill stations.

We are also strengthening how we work with the Toronto Police Service. Beginning this month, 48 additional Neighbourhood Community Officers are being deployed across the transit network, while TTC Special Constables are now stationed in the TPS operations centre. This closer integration will improve real-time information sharing, situational awareness, and operational co-ordination.

Making transit more affordable
​We are also focused on providing better value for customers.

Fare capping, introduced across the TTC in September, is already delivering significant savings. In its first month, customers saved $1.8 million, with almost 60,000 riders receiving approximately 595,000 free trips after reaching the monthly 47-trip cap.

That is exactly what fare modernization should accomplish: making transit simpler and more affordable while ensuring customers automatically receive the best available value without having to decide in advance which fare product to purchase.

Building momentum
​Customers are responding to the service we provide. Revenue rides reached 31.86 million in August, 3.1% higher than a year earlier, while subway boardings were up 4% and streetcar boardings up 15% year-over-year. September weekday demand then increased another 9% from August as people returned to school and work.

There are still areas where we need to improve. Bus and streetcar on-time performance remain below our 90% target, and customers continue to tell us that personal safety needs greater attention. The purpose of this report is not simply to identify whether an indicator is green, amber, or red. It is to be transparent about where the TTC is succeeding, where the continued focus is needed, and what we are doing about it.

The results this month show encouraging momentum. Our responsibility now is to sustain it. That means continuing to improve service every day, applying successful operating practices across the network, accelerating the work required to address infrastructure constraints, and making the case for the long-term investment needed to give Toronto the transit system it deserves, all while driving the business transformation.

Mandeep S. Lali
Chief Executive Officer
October 2026

Published in the CEO’s Report for October, which offers a rotating review of service delivery performance across the TTC's transit modes. The current edition highlights overall key performance indicators (KPIs) through the end of August 2026.