At the TTC Board meeting on December 3, Chair Jamaal Myers proposed a motion to extend the validity of legacy fares (tickets, tokens, day passes) to June 1, 2025 for the “conventional” system, and to December 31, 2025 for WheelTrans. This was adopted by the Board.
After the meeting, in a press interview, Myers was asked “Why June 1”?
He answered that June 1 was the earliest possible opening date for Line 5 Eglinton Crosstown and Line 6 Finch. Those lines have no fare collection support for the old fare media.
This puts Metrolinx in a bind: either they announce an earlier date, something they have been loathe to do for months, or they acknowledge that we will not ride these trains until late Spring, maybe. If Doug Ford holds an election as expected, there will be no ribbon cutting for him to tout his great works.
Updated Dec. 4/24 at 6:10pm: In today’s Star, Myers qualified his statement:
TTC chair Jamaal Myers told the Star on Wednesday that the TTC is preparing to operate the Eglinton Crosstown and Finch West LRTs using an internal target date of early June next year — though he was careful to note that he does not speak for Metrolinx, the provincial agency in charge of constructing both beleaguered light-rail lines.
Myer added that the June target date was set separate from Metrolinx’s construction timeline, and was solely for the TTC’s internal preparations to take over operations once the LRT is ready.
He said TTC staff are using June 1 as a target date to train the LRT drivers and it includes a 30-day “revenue service demonstration,” which will see trains run along the full track of the LRT. The internal target dates were partly created for financial planning purposes and are not specific to the LRT.
Steve Munro 
I’ll believe it when I see it.
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I wonder if this was an attempt by the TTC to kick things down the road and use Line 5 as an excuse to do nothing.
Steve: The original proposal was the end of January, but it was changed in response to requests to give users (notably agencies with stocks of old media) time to use them up.
I suspect that there will be an early election and that it will be called just after Line 5 opens.
Having said that I can see it opening before June 1st.
Maybe it’s just me but I’m finding the TTC Chair and TTC priorities a little pie in the sky since Olivia Chow was elected.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m an NDP’r but ever since Olivia Chow was elected I’ve wondered who gives her policy advice.
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Not sure but Adam Colle the TTC chair is Mike Colle’s son and he’s the deputy mayor.
Steve: The TTC Chair is Councillor Jamaal Myers. Mike Colle’s son Josh used to be TTC Chair, then was a consultant after he left City Hall, and is now back as TTC Chief Strategy & Customer Experience Officer. Mike Colle is one of the ceremonial Deputy Mayors, but the real Deputy is Councillor Ausma Malik.
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Is it possible that Finch West and Eglinton open around the same time?? Politically, a double opening would look pretty good before an election.
Steve: It’s possible, although the scale of changes to the bus network doing both at once would be daunting.
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Steve’s said having the two late lines open near same time – “It’s possible, although the scale of changes to the bus network doing both at once would be daunting..” I’m pretty sure that the Ford Cons would not have any problem in overloading the TTC to make it look bad for more piratization, and what’s a few billion anyways and so what if those folks are missing on service, they can Take The Car, and it’s more reason to rip out bike lanes that are on top of subways because that’s what’s making congestion not the SOVs, nor the transit projects.
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I wonder how the TTC board still manages to recruit the lazy, incompetent, and stupid people that don’t know what they’re talking about every few years.
Chow and her board has been the most disappointing for transit in Toronto. She does not check policies for herself and repeatedly allows herself to be bamboozled by crooks like Leary through omitting facts and skewing data… (I.e “return” to pre-pandemic service levels).
Jamaal doesn’t seem too bright either judging by this statement that jumps the gun and completely ignores the recent board meeting/announcement by Metrolinx.
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Does the TTC expect the Finch LRT lawsuit will end before March? Or expect Queen’s Park to intervene and force arbitration? Because if it doesn’t I don’t see how Finch LRT will open as early as June 2025.
Steve: I think that date is just a placeholder for budget planning. Anything about the lawsuit(s) is up to Metrolinx, not the TTC.
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Steve advises her pro-bono. Olivia Chow was going to make Steve sort of like a transit csar with a six figure salary but she was really pissed when Steve openly endorsed her biggest rival Matlow.
Steve: I do not advise Mayor Chow other than whatever she gleans from reading my blog, and I certainly won’t be a transit czar. As for endorsing Matlow, that’s water under the bridge.
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Although June 1 may be the earliest possible date for a full opening of the Eglinton LRT, I wonder if it’s possible to have an earlier soft opening. The TTC might be able to run service only on some days or at reduced frequency or perhaps only the above ground parts east of the Science Centre. This way, they can have a ribbon cutting and a start of service without overly taxing the TTC. For example, Ottawa just announced weekend-only service for their new LRT with the full ramp-up in service taking at least a month (if not significantly longer).
Steve: I wouldn’t count on this. TTC has to operate a month of full non-revenue service before the line opens, and there is almost certainly contract language that prevents handover for revenue service until the line really is “ready”. If Metrolinx had wanted a soft opening, they should have provided for this in the contract. There is also a discrepancy between TTC and Metrolinx who have talked about a two-month trial period.
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I wonder how much Ottawa’s terrible experiences with their Confederation line are playing into all the delays?
From a rider’s point of view, a system that should be safe and reliable enough might be preferable to no system at all, i.e. being stuck on buses on Eglinton.
But it’s also possible that from a management point of view, avoiding the horrible publicity that Ottawa got, i.e. covering their butts, is a more attractive choice than taking heat over issues found in operation. The line is grossly late already, so that bad news is already factored in and depreciated.
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June 1/2025 is a Sunday, makes sense to open the Eglinton LRT on a weekend, provides a better day to readjust all the connecting bus routes. Also, it ushers in summer route schedules. Maybe the give away will be the timing of the month long “full schedule” test runs.
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Steve:
How do you know that Olivia Chow reads your blog?
Steve: Several people in the Mayor’s office read my blog, and I am sure that excerpts are passed on to the Mayor as needed.
What did you mean by water under the bridge? Did you mean that your endorsement of Matlow was a waste?
Steve: No. But it’s in the past. We have to get on with making the city work better, and Matlow is part of that even if he isn’t Mayor.
I heard that impressed by Donald Trump’s political comeback, John Tory is planning to run again in 2026. Who would you support in a fight between these two TITANS: Chow and Tory?
Steve: John Tory has cocked up so much in Toronto, it’s no contest. We will be digging out of the damage he has done to transit for years both by his poor choice of projects to back, and his support for former CEO Rick Leary as he sacrificed transit quality on the altar of low taxes.
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