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Latest Transit Toronto News

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Read the daily “on schedule” posts to find news and other information that affects your daily commute. You’ll learn about public meetings, special events and construction projects that affect transit services today.




In the news: Wednesday, February 22, 2012



Greater Toronto and Golden Horseshoe area media report on public transit issues today.

Greater Toronto Area
Elsewhere in the Greater Golden Horseshoe



Toronto Transit Commission agrees to end contract
of Chief General Manager Gary Webster



After meeting for more than two hours “in camera” (meaning, privately), the Toronto Transit Commission today approved a motion to end the contract of the TTC’s Chief General Manager Gary Webster.

The commission approved the motion in a close vote during a special meeting, with five commissioners in favour and four opposing the motion.

Councillors Vince Crisanti, Frank Di Giorgio, Norm Kelly, Denzil Minnan-Wong and Cesar Palacio supported the motion. TTC chair, Councillor Karen Stintz and the vice-chair, Councillor Peter Milczyn opposed the motion, as did fellow commissioners, Councillors Maria Augimieri and John Parker.

Webster’s termination comes into effect immediately. The TTC’s chief operating officer, Andy Byford will replace Webster on an interim basis.

We’ll be writing more about this action over the next several days. (As a former City of Toronto employee, I’m much too angry to write objectively about this issue right now). In the meantime, here’s what some of the local media are reporting:




In the news: Tuesday, February 21, 2012



Greater Toronto area media report on public transit issues today.

  • CBC News Toronto report, “TTC chief Webster faces possible firing today”, here.
  • Citytv News Toronto report, “TTC GM may be fired at Toronto Transit meeting”, here.
  • CP24 report, “TTC chief’s job expected to be on the line today”, here.
  • CTV News Toronto report, “Ford allies could axe TTC GM [today]”, here.
  • Ford for Toronto post, “Down with Webster: Ford to spend half-million dollars because transit GM disagrees with him”, here.
  • Global News Toronto report, “‘Personnel matters’ on the agenda at [today]’s special TTC meeting”, here.
  • Globe and Mail article, “Toronto transit chair to commissioners: What’s next?”, here.
  • National Post article, “Information booth: Subway cars’ loyal service rewarded with cutting torch”, here.
  • Newstalk 1010 report, “New petition to save subways”, here.
  • Newstalk 1010 report, “Gary Webster to Meet With TTC Board”, here.
  • OpenFile Toronto post, “What’s really at stake at Council’s special TTC meeting today”, here.
  • Toronto Star article, “With TTC head Gary Webster likely to be sacked, Karen Stintz asks why now?”, here.
  • Toronto Star column, “Ford looking for a TTC lackey”, here.
  • Toronto Star column, “Mayor Ford making a mess of the TTC”, here.
  • Toronto Star column, “The Fixer: Missing tiles, barricaded entrance paint an unflattering picture at TTC’s Museum Station”, here.
  • Toronto Star article, “TTC reunites lost items with patrons”, here.
  • Toronto Sun column, “TTC riders want change”, here.
  • Toronto Sun article, “TTC’s Webster faces axe [today], here.



In the news: Family Day, Monday, February 20, 2012



Greater Toronto and Golden Horseshoe area media report on public transit issues today.

Greater Toronto Area
  • 680 All News Radio post, “Emergency TTC meeting could leave several senior transit managers jobless”, here.
  • National Post article, “Planners struggle to fix Toronto’s ‘third-world’ bus station”, here.
  • Newstalk 1010 report, “Scarborough city councillor changing transit debate”, here.
  • Torontoist post, “Historicist: Test Drive a Metropass”, here.
  • Toronto Star article, “TTC transit chief Gary Webster may not be the only one to lose his job: DiGiorgio”, here.
  • Toronto Sun column, “Changes needed at the TTC”, here.
  • Toronto Sun article, “Roll no more”, here.
Elsewhere in the Greater Golden Horseshoe



Introducing... DRT Pulse



During a recent meeting, Durham Region’s Transit Executive Committee approved the public’s choice to name Durham Region Transit’s new bus rapid transit service “DRT Pulse”.BRT_Pulse_Comp_Web.jpg

The Region plans to operate the new DRT Pulse rapid transit service from the University of Toronto’s Scarborough Campus on Military Trail to the Durham Consolidated Courthouse in downtown Oshawa. It expects to start service in July 2013 with:

  • bus rapid transit (or “BRT”, for short) buses operating in mixed traffic;
  • 7½-minute service during rush hours;
  • 26 new buses dedicated to the BRT service.

The full system, which the Region intends to complete by 2016, will have passenger amenities, intelligent transportation systems, improvements to six major intersections along the Highway 2 corridor, two maintenance and storage facilities and a new transit control centre.

DRT will apply the new DRT Pulse brand and graphic elements to the new dedicated BRT fleet, associated infrastructure and promotional material to identify the enhanced service.




TTC revamping all public washrooms in subway stations



The TTC is in the process of revamping all public washrooms in its stations so that the facilities are modern, efficient and clean — instead of the smelly, dank, dreary caverns that most of them have been for many years.

The bad news is that each washroom will be closed for about six weeks, while contractors tear them completely apart and install new tiling, sinks, toilets, hand driers and other amenities.

The Toronto Star’s “The Fixer”, reporter Jack Lakey, recently investigated the closing of washrooms at Kipling Station, which the TTC is currently renovating.

He interviewed the TTC’s Chief Infomation Officer, Chris Upfold, who told Lakey that the work at each station is extensive. He explained that the floors are 30 years old and have an aroma that can’t be scrubbed away, while the toilets and urinals are also outdated and much harder to clean than modern fixtures.

Lakey writes that the new washrooms “‘will be cleaned every 90 minutes so we can maintain them in this good state,’ Upfold said, adding that some janitors from TTC offices will be redeployed to keep up with the new cleaning regimen.”


The renovation program started at Finch Station, which the TTC closed in December and reopened in early February.

Currently, work is proceeding at Kipling Station. The TTC closed the washrooms there Monday, January 16 and expects to reopen them Friday, March 16.

Coming up:

  • Bloor - Yonge Station. Closes: Monday, February 27. Reopens: Friday, March 30.
  • Don Mills Station. Closes: Monday, March 26. Reopens: Friday, May 18.
  • Downsview Station. Closes: Monday, April 16. Reopens: Friday, June 8.
  • Kennedy Station. Closes: Tuesday, February 21. Reopens: Friday, April 6.
  • Sheppard - Yonge Station. Closes: Monday, June 11. Reopens: Friday, June 29.
  • Warden Station. Closes: Monday, April 30. Reopens: Friday, June 15.
  • Wilson Station. Closes: Sunday, April 8. Reopens: Friday, May 18.



New ticket kiosk and more parking at Square One Terminal,
starting February 21



Starting Tuesday, February 21, GO Transit is opening a new temporary ticket kiosk on the southwest corner of Centre View Drive and Station Gate Road at Square One GO Bus Terminal. It will be open Mondays to Fridays from 5:30 until 11:30 a.m.

Also starting that day, GO passengers have access to 66 more parking spaces beside the terminal in the westernmost part of the Playdium parking lot.




In the news: Sunday, February 19, 2012



Greater Toronto and Golden Horseshoe area media report on public transit issues today.

Greater Toronto Area
Elsewhere in the Greater Golden Horseshoe



Metrolinx Working on Mockup of Eglinton LRT Vehicle Design



lrt-mockup-01.jpg

While debate rages on over whether the City of Toronto should bury Eglinton and fund a Sheppard subway (somehow) or bring it partly back to the surface and route the savings to LRTs on Sheppard East and Finch West (or some variant in between), Metrolinx and Bombardier have been working together building a very early mockup of the proposed LRT vehicle design, for possible use on the Eglinton-Crosstown LRT. This mockup, which is being built at GO Transit’s Halton Hills garage, in Milton, is a very early design mockup which likely won’t be shown to the public. The features installed here will be assessed, and changes will likely be made before the LRT reaches the prototype phase.

A number of images were snapped and submitted anonymously to us here at Transit Toronto, and we have taken the liberty of posting these on our Toronto LRT Vehicle web page here.




Gordon Street construction means detours
for GO, Guelph Transit buses, starting February 21



The City of Guelph is closing

  • Gordon Street between Vaughan Street and Heritage Drive

this week, during a project to connect the services at #1440 Gordon Street.

GO Transit is detouring buses operating along the 29 Guelph / Mississauga and 48 Guelph / York U routes and Guelph Transit is detouring buses operating along the 5 South Gordon and 21 Hanlon Industrial routes, while the road is closed.




Welcome to Transit Toronto

Welcome to Transit Toronto, a fan-run web site dedicated to public transit in the Greater Toronto Area. This is the main page of the web site, where the latest news items are listed. The content of the web site, including route histories, vehicle descriptions, et cetera, is grouped in various "divisions" which can be accessed by clicking on the relevant title in the menu bar near the top of this page.

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