WATCH ABOVE: More than six months after becoming TTC chair, Josh Colle hasn’t yet emerged from the shadows of Mayor John Tory and CEO Andy Byford. Mark McAllister reports.
TORONTO – The TTC has announced a service increase on 52 streetcar and bus routes throughout the city.
Riders can expect service at least every 10 minutes, from 6 a.m. through to 1 a.m.
TTC Chair Josh Colle said some routes have already increased their service, but the rest will be rolled out over the next few months with full implementation expected by the fall.
He said people who travel outside of peak times are most likely to notice the difference.
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“A lot of this is addressing the off-peak hours,” said Colle, adding that off-peak times is where the TTC is seeing the most growth.
The uptick in service is expected to cost $11 million annually, but an expected increase of $4 million in fares due to the increased service should help balance the cost.
“The key thing here is they are right across the city,” said Chris Upfold, TTC’s chief customer officer. He called it a “turn-up-and-go” service that creates a good grid of high-frequency service.
Colle said that staffing of vehicles for the new routes is one of the obstacles to the service increase, adding that the TTC is on a hiring push right now.
WATCH ABOVE: 52 TTC routes will operate at 10 minutes or better: Josh Colle
A lack of service vehicles remains an issue, said Colle. He said TTC officials plan to travel to Bombardier’s Thunder Bay plant later this month to stress how important it is their orders are filled quickly, and correctly.
Last month it was revealed that shoddy manufacturing by Bombardier had led to a further delay of delivery of TTC streetcars. Late last year design and engineering challenges, coupled with a strike at the Thunder Bay plant were blamed for delays.
“We’ve tried, I would say, everything within out legal toolbox to press upon how important this is,” said Colle. “I think this sends a strong message to Bombardier, how serious we are, when we show up on their doorstep.”
The TTC ordered 204 new vehicles from Bombardier in 2009 at a cost of $1.25 billion, expected to be on the streets by 2019. So far only a handful are on the streets of Toronto.
The announcement comes one week after all four subway lines were suspended for more than an hour during the morning commute.
In January, the transit agency released its third charter, with 38 promises to riders, including keeping transit running on time and a pledge to be more accessible, modern and cleaner.
With files from Valerie Laillet and David Shum
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