Andy Byford and Toronto Transit Commission

Toronto Transit Commission: 1. Abysmal, according to The Star. Byford has spent his brief tenure promising TTC riders and workers that if they just stick with him, he will deliver a transit renaissance within the next five years. But on March 12, signal problems between Bloor and Eglinton snarled the evening rush. And today, his anniversary, a frozen switch near Davisville is causing more than the usual delays on the Yonge subway. The platforms are backed up 12 deep with riders waiting to board at the notorious Bloor-Yonge bottleneck. To make matters worse, transit control takes a southbound train out of service, disgorging about 1,300 customers at Summerhill into the bitter cold and These are tough times for the Toronto Transit Commission and its millions of users. The service simply has not kept pace with growth in ridership, leaving many fuming at their bus, streetcar and subway stops. But the system's worst critic may be its own CEO, Andy Byford, a veteran of London's tube whose tough assignment is to get Toronto's trains to run on time. In a new Star Dispatches ebook, offered here in its entirety, our transportation reporter reckons with the man facing the multi-billion-dollar challenge. Can Andy Byford make public transit in Toronto efficient, punctual, and pleasant again? Two years from the day he was officially named CEO of the Toronto Transit Commission, Andy Byford admits it has been an abysmal week. Its like a blow to the heart that two days in a row we ve screwed up our customers, laments the British-born transit chief from his office above the Davisville subway station. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.