8/23/2010 7:54:08 PM

August 23, 2010

Mayor David Miller’s statement on the TTC Customer Service Panel report

“I want to thank Chair Steve O’Brien and his panel for dedicating the past six months to this incredibly important task. The job of speaking to and reading e-mails from thousands of Torontonians, TTC riders and employees was surely a challenging, but ultimately worthwhile, one.

“Public transit is the lifeblood of Toronto and with hundreds of thousands of daily rides being taken, customer service needs to be a priority.

“Over the past 15 years, the TTC has seen its funding from senior orders of government slashed while reliance on the property tax base and the fare box has increased. All during a period of growth for the City that has placed extra demands on the TTC.

“Over the past decade, the Commission has done an excellent job of expanding service for riders and growing the system to meet demand with limited resources. But frontline customer service has not improved at the same rate. We need to get the balance back so that we are providing both top-notch transit and customer services.

“This report finds that while the TTC is an excellent transit system, staffed by a dedicated and professional workforce, there is room for improvement. I remain confident that the TTC is run at a very high level, but I am pleased that the commission and management will be acting swiftly on the report's recommendations to ensure it gets even better.”