Latest news with #JamaalMyers
CTV News
18 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Mayor Olivia Chow and TTC Chair Jamaal Myers outline vision for improved transit in Toronto
Video Mayor Olivia Chow and TTC Chair Jamaal Myers share plans to improve Toronto transit with better reliability, accessibility, and rider experience.
CTV News
20 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
New York transit executive selected to be new head of TTC
A New York City transit executive has been tapped to take over as the head of the Toronto Transit Commission, Mayor Olivia Chow announced Thursday. Mandeep Lali, who was previously in charge of subway operations at New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), will replace former TTC CEO Rick Leary, who resigned last summer. 'Mr. Lali has over two decades of global experience in transit,' Chow said during Thursday's news conference in Scarborough. 'He deeply understands public transit in a big, busy city. Mandeep Lali's depth of experience managing the most complex subway system in the world is exactly what we need to get Toronto moving.' TTC Chair Jamaal Myers called the hiring process an 'extensive international search' that lasted nearly nine months. He noted that Lali has 'immense experience' in both the private and public sector and has held senior roles at 'two of the world's most iconic transit system.' In addition to his experience at the MTA, Myers said Lali spent 13 years in 'progressively senior roles' at Transport for London. 'What made Mandeep stand out among all of the outstanding candidates that we considered was his clarity of vision,' Myers said. 'When we asked him what his goal for the TTC was he said, without missing a beat, 'To make the TTC the most reliable transit system in north American.' As a lifelong ttc rider, this was music to my ears.' More details to come...
Toronto Star
3 days ago
- Business
- Toronto Star
It's time to tap out of ‘legacy fares': Sunday is the last day to use TTC tokens, tickets and day passes
Time to gather all your leftover TTC tokens, tickets and day passes — Sunday is the last day you can use them to ride local transit. After decades of service, the 'legacy fares' will no longer be accepted on the TTC after June 1. TTC will then begin exclusively accepting commuters' fares with a physical or digital Presto card, Presto ticket, cash and debit or credit card — including those stored in an Apple or Google Wallet. The transition away from tokens, tickets and day passes comes after the TTC delayed the contentious change, extending the deadline to use the fares by five months — from Dec. 31 to June 1. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW 'Our customers bought this in good faith,' TTC chair Jamaal Myers said at a December board meeting. 'They paid money for it … I think it's only fair and reasonable just to give customers the opportunity to spend the tickets that they paid for.' Gta TTC tickets and tokens will soon be history. Here's what they can tell us about the city's past After 70 years, the transit agency is retiring tickets and the dime-sized slugs as payment for fare. Gta TTC tickets and tokens will soon be history. Here's what they can tell us about the city's past After 70 years, the transit agency is retiring tickets and the dime-sized slugs as payment for fare. The TTC stopped selling the older fares at subway stations in 2019, as the number of customers using them declined. Less than one per cent of riders pay using tokens and tickets, the transit agency said. 'It's clear that most riders have embraced Presto tap-and-ride,' Myers said in an October news release. Here's what you need to know about the change. How can I pay my fare? As a result of this change, the TTC is shifting to exclusively modern fare payments. Riders can still use cash to pay for their fares in station boxes, or on buses and streetcars. Those paying with cash must get a paper transfer from the bus operator or machines on a streetcar and in a subway station for proof of payment. Toronto transit riders can also tap their debit or credit card, including those in their mobile wallet, on a PRESTO reader on a TTC vehicle or a fare gate to pay for their rides. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Less than one per cent of riders pay using tokens and tickets, the transit agency said. Andrew Francis Wallace/ Toronto Star file photo Presto cards and tickets are another way to pay a fare, with cards costing $4.00 at TTC stations or all Shoppers Drug Mart and Loblaws locations. Digital Presto cards can be loaded onto a mobile wallet for free. Complimentary Presto cards are available at select Toronto Public Library branches while supplies last. The cards are set to automatically deduct an adult fare. However, youths, post-secondary students and seniors can set their cards to deduct a specific fare by going to a Shoppers Drug Mart location or TTC's customer service centre and providing government-issued photo identification. When was it decided that the TTC would stop accepting 'legacy fares'? In September, the TTC board endorsed the Fare Compliance Action Plan, tabled in July, which included the recommendation to phase out the use of its 'legacy fares' at the end of 2024. Gta TTC tickets, tokens and day passes get reprieve: Controversial phaseout delayed until June Many riders were surprised by the transit commission's announcement in October that it intended to discontinue the fares as of Jan. 1. Gta TTC tickets, tokens and day passes get reprieve: Controversial phaseout delayed until June Many riders were surprised by the transit commission's announcement in October that it intended to discontinue the fares as of Jan. 1. After customers brought forth compl aints about the abrupt change, the board voted to give customers a reprieve to use any remaining TTC tickets, tokens or day passes they may have, from Dec 31 to June 1. Following the TTC stopping its sales of the older fares at subway stations in 2019, the transit agency said, third-party retailers also stopped selling TTC tickets in July 2022 and TTC tokens in March 2023. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW In 2015, the transit agency first announced it would start phasing out tickets and tokens to make way for the Presto card. At the time, the TTC said sales would cease in 2016 and said they would no accept tickets and tokens as fare past mid-2017. Can I get a refund for my unused fares? No refunds, exchange or credit from any unused TTC tickets, tokens or day passes will be available after they are discontinued. Riders also won't be able to transfer the value of old fares to Presto cards, since the two are separate payment systems. With files from Patty Winsa
CBC
14-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
TTC board votes in favour of renaming Dundas Station
The TTC's Dundas Station will get a new name now that the transit agency's board has approved a proposal from Toronto Metropolitan University. The station will be renamed TMU Station, the TTC board decided unanimously at a meeting on Wednesday. The decision comes after Toronto city council voted in December 2023 to rename Yonge-Dundas Square to Sankofa Square over Henry Dundas's connections to the the trans-Atlantic slave trade. According to the proposal from the university, the TTC and TMU will enter into a "partnership framework" that includes the renaming of the station. Both organizations, as part of the partnership, will create an innovation hub to be known as the Transit Innovation Yard, with the intention of improving transit innovation in Canada. Coun. Jamaal Myers, chair of the TTC board, said the collaboration is significant for the TTC because it means the transit agency has a new research partner that will help it focus on problems and address them in a meaningful way. "To be clear, the TTC is not taking any position on Henry Dundas," Myers told reporters after the decision. "We are solely responding to the request that was brought forward to us from council. Neither is TMU taking any position on Henry Dundas. This is really about moving forward and creating an exciting partnership. And this was passed unanimously." The cost of the renaming has yet to be determined, but TMU will foot the bill by paying for the "hard costs," according to the TTC. TMU will also pay for research done as part of the partnership. The TTC did not say when exactly the station would be renamed. Mohamed Lachemi, president of TMU, told reporters that the decision to work with the TTC is important to the university and its community because it gives the university an opportunity to serve the city. He said it is an honour to have the station named after the university. "We do have many challenges and many issues and I think this is a great day to start a strategic partnership between the TTC and TMU to tackle problems, use the expertise that we have and find solutions," Lachemi said. A report from the TTC's chief strategy and customer experience officer Josh Colle, which was presented to the board, says: "The area around Dundas Station has changed dramatically with the rapid growth of TMU, and the TTC station has become fully integrated with the TMU campus and student life. "A change in the station name reflects the evolution of both the local neighbourhood and university, while aligning with the TTC practice of naming stations after public sector institutions and customer destinations, such as York University, Museum, Queen's Park, and Osgoode." Colle, in an interview later, said the new deal not only benefits the TTC and TMU but also customer experience. "There's a great interest from researchers to look at tackling some of the biggest problems that pain riders — bunching and gapping, safety and security, some of the flow of vehicles on our busy streets," Colle said. Dundas Street and other similarly named landmarks are named after Henry Dundas, a Scottish politician active from the 1770s to the early 1800s, when the British Parliament was debating slavery abolition motions.
CTV News
14-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Dundas Station to be renamed TMU Station: TTC board
The Toronto Transit Commission has approved the renaming of Dundas Station to TMU Station, in which the university will pay for all costs. A name change is coming for a popular subway station in downtown Toronto after the TTC board approved the decision at its monthly meeting on Wednesday. A report before the board proposed that Dundas Station, at Yonge and Dundas streets, be renamed 'TMU Station,' to reflect 'the evolution of both the local neighbourhood and [Toronto Metropolitan University].' In the report, the TTC's Chief Strategy and Customer Experience Officer also said the name change will align Dundas Station with the transit system's current practice of naming stations after institutions and destinations, citing York, Museum, Queen's Park, and Osgoode stations as examples. 'The area around Dundas Station has changed dramatically with the rapid growth of TMU, and the TTC station has become fully integrated with the TMU campus and student life,' it reads. On Wednesday, the TTC board agreed to move forward with the renaming decision, which will see the university covering the full cost of the change. 'No taxpayer money will be spent on the renaming,' TTC Board Chair Jamaal Myers said to reporters on Wednesday. 'All costs associated with the renaming of Dundas Station to TMU Station will be borne by Toronto Metropolitan University.' The approved proposal also includes a partnership between TMU and the TTC to create an 'innovation hub' aimed at developing and trialing solutions to TTC service problems. 'This is a win-win situation for both TTC and TMU,' said TMU President Mohamed Lachemi at Toronto City Hall on Wednesday. 'We do have a lot of expertise, a lot of research teams that are actually working in the field, and we want to make sure that those facilities and expertise we have are used to serve our city and the TTC.' 'It's recognizing that travel patterns have changed, how you deliver transit has changed, and now we have a research partner who can actually help us focus on these issues and address them in a meaningful way rather than trying to figure it out as we go,' added Myers. 'They actually have the innovation and the muscle, and we have the platform in order to test these solutions out in the real world.' In late 2023, Toronto City Council approved renaming Yonge-Dundas Square to Sankofa Square after numerous studies of academic research found that Henry Dundas – the square's namesake – was involved in delaying the abolition of the Transatlantic slave trade. The Jane/Dundas Public Library was renamed the Daniel G. Hill Branch as part of those efforts, and the Dundas West Station is also on the list of 'Dundas-linked city assets' waiting for a name change. 'To be clear, the TTC is not taking any position on Henry Dundas,' said Myers. 'We are solely responding to a request that was brought forward to us from council. Neither is TMU taking any position on Henry Dundas… Some of this is just timing. We wanted to time this with the work that was happening on Line 6.' The report called the station renaming 'time-sensitive' and 'unique,' pointing to the upcoming roll-out of 'customer information changes' for the new Line 6 Finch West LRT route, saying that the renaming could be aligned with those changes to save on costs.
