Andy Byford is in the business of getting people from point A to point B.

As Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Transit Commission, Byford is ultimately responsible for a fleet of about 700 subway cars, 247 streetcars and 1,800 buses - not to mention the 1.6 million people who hop aboard those vehicles each and every day.

With public transit again in the news, CP24.com recently sat down with the native of Plymouth, U.K., to talk about overcrowding on the Yonge subway line, the difficulty of being an apolitical voice in a very political arena and why he’s never owned a car.

CP24: So Finance Minister Jim Flaherty recently announced $660 million in federal funding to extend the Bloor-Danforth line into Scarborough. Are you ready to say that this thing is finally going to get built or are you taking a wait-and-see approach?

Andy Byford: We are not quite there yet. As the head of an organization that has been somewhat cash strapped over the years it is good to have some additional funding and it is good to see it come from the feds and have them sort of recognize the importance of transit in Toronto. But is it a done deal? No because there is still a bit of a funding gap that needs to be made up with property tax and that number I think is going to be more than city council had originally been talking about. Anyway, that will be made clear in the city manager’s report that goes to council on Oct. 8 and that will be decision time. Now, if I get the opportunity I am going to make two last points. Point one, if we are going to go down the route of the subway, and that requires more money than the $1.8 billion the original Metrolinx agreement allowed for, that must not be at the expense of the TTC’s state-of-good-repair budget and, point two, the need for a downtown relief line remains the priority for the TTC and will actually be made more urgent by the building of a subway to Scarborough because you will be attracting more people onto the subway.

CP24: I’m glad you brought up the downtown relief line. It’s something the TTC has identified as a major priority, but it doesn’t seem like there is any real momentum towards finding a way to fund it. How critical of a situation are we looking at in terms of overcrowding on the Yonge line?

Andy Byford: Since the day I got here I have argued the need for a downtown relief line. Anyone who uses the Yonge line, and I use it every day, knows that in the peak hours and increasingly in the off-peak (hours) it is getting busier and busier and that is just today. If you look at what is projected for 2031 with all these condos being built and people coming in from Vaughan region, it is only going to get busier. So what are we doing? One, we are rolling out the remainder of the rocket trains which carry about eight per cent more customers per train, and two, we are in the process over the next few years of upgrading the signalling from the existing 1954 system to a modern computer-based system that allows you to move trains safely and closer together. Those two items will buy us time, but ultimately I am convinced you need to have a downtown relief line that effectively takes traffic off the Bloor-Danforth line somewhere in the east, maybe Pape or Donlands (stations), goes down on an arc around King or Queen and then emerges at Dundas West (Station).

CP24: It seems to be a hard-sell politically. People don’t talk about the downtown relief line like they talk about bringing the subway to the outer suburbs. How do we sort of change the conversation?

Andy Byford: Well my view is that actually customers do talk about a relief line, albeit maybe not using that terminology. There is a definite need and I think people perceive the need for additional capacity to take the pressure off that critical north-south axis. Now I think there is always a temptation to allow politics to creep into transit planning and what we need to get to is data and evidence-based transit planning. We have to start seeing this system as a network and not lines on diagrams.

CP24: It is kind of a challenging position for you, being an apolitical civil servant in an increasingly political arena.

Andy Byford: It is a challenge, but I said when I got here that I would offer frank and fearless advice and I meant that. I speak to politicians on the left, the centre and the right and give them my input so they can make an informed decision. People say to me ‘Aren’t you worried about upsetting politicians given what happened to your predecessor?’ (Gary Webster was fired in 2011) But I am really not. I think maybe because I am not from here I am more sanguine about it. I guess the worst that could happen is that I get told my contract is terminated, my Visa is retracted and I have to go back to the U.K. As long as I do that knowing I did my job to the best of my ability it’s OK, you know. Sure, I am mindful of the pressures on politicians and try to see the big picture from their perspective but I am very clear that my job is to improve transit for Torontonians and drive up customer service and performance on this network. I am the advocate for customers and not politicians.

CP24: Yeah, you mentioned customer service and that’s really been one of your most repeated mantras since taking this job. Do you think customer service is getting better?

Andy Byford: Yeah, I think we have had some early success. There were certain things that immediately struck me when I got here that were able to be fixed quite quickly and in some cases with no more money. Classic example, there was garbage going up and down all day on the trains. Why? Because it was only cleaned up at night. That was ridiculous, so we moved some cleaners onto days and people have noticed a fundamental improvement in cleanliness. We have also targeted washrooms. They were disgusting and they have now been refurbished and are being cleaned more regularly. Metropasses are another thing. It was ridiculous that you couldn’t buy a Metropass other than at five or six stations and you can now buy one everywhere. I have really tried to instill in my staff a sense of renewed confidence. There was a sense that we couldn’t get any better than we were and I disagree with that. I want us to challenge mediocrity, I want us to lead by example and I want us to change our management culture which in some ways is archaic. It is a massive undertaking. We are trying to achieve in five years what some companies would take 10 to do and the jury is out on whether we have had success overall. People are saying to me that we are getting better but I want to accelerate that and I want to embed that so we don’t slip back.

CP24: I’d like to touch on the importance of public transit in general. It really is one of those things that touches all aspects of city life whether you use it or not. How vital is public transit infrastructure to the success of a city?

Andy Byford: It is essential. There are people out there who say the TTC doesn’t affect everyone, but I fundamentally disagree. If there was no TTC the streets would be gridlocked and people would be unable to get from point A to B. A well-functioning transit system benefits everyone. It benefits transit users, it benefits other road users and it benefits the economy of a city, which ultimately benefits everyone else.

CP24: How does the TTC stack up with other public transit systems?

Andy Byford: I would say it holds up pretty well. It is certainly not a world leader, but I think it can be. People who say it is a Third-World system have clearly never been to the Third World.

CP24: How are efforts to bring cellular service and Wi-Fi to the subway network coming along? Are we getting close to that becoming a reality?

Andy Byford: Well, by the end of this year we will trial Wi-Fi at St. George and Yonge-Bloor stations. I am very confident it should work, but the reason it is a trial is so we can see what the use is and also make sure the signal does not interfere with our critical systems like radio and signalling. We have a supplier on board that will pay us a hefty sum in order to have access to our network, so if it is successful we will roll out cell service and Wi-Fi service to all TTC stations over the next few years.

CP24: What’s your most travelled TTC route Andy?

Andy Byford: Well I travel Summerhill (Station) to Davisville (Station) everyday because I live at Sumerhill, but I can say with absolute confidence that I use the TTC everyday because I don’t own a car and I have never owned a car. Whenever I go to Pearson (International Airport) I take the Bloor-Danforth (line) to Kipling (Station) and then I take the 192 Airport Express. It is the best kept secret and deal in Toronto.

CP24: Last question. What is the one song you listen to that may surprise people?

Andy Byford: I really like ‘Empire State of Mind’ by Alicia Keys and Jay-Z. It is a great song.

Q and A is published every Saturday.

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