Toronto Transit Commission - Strategic Planning Committee
The full agenda, as filed
All 4 items in the clerk’s order. Each carries the city’s own words: the staff recommendation, what the body decided, and its status. Nothing below is written by us.
TTS2.1adopted
Overview of TTC Service Standards
This report provides an overview of the TTC's service standards along with a proposed approach to review and update the standards. The purpose of the service standards is to ensure public transit is accessible, efficient, and cost effective. These standards guide all aspects of service planning through network design standards, quality of service standards and performance targets. TTC Service Standards document can be reviewed here .
The Strategic Planning Committee: 1. Endorsed the proposed workplan to undertake a review of TTC Service Standards, which includes the following tasks: a. Background review b. Review of existing standards c. Public and Stakeholder consultation d. Revised Service Standard development e. Final report to TTC Board
Staff recommendation as filed
It is recommended that the Strategic Planning Committee: 1. Endorse the proposed workplan to undertake a review of TTC Service Standards, which includes the following tasks: a. Background review b. Review of existing standards c. Public and Stakeholder consultation d. Revised Service Standard development e. Final report to TTC Board
TTS2.2amended
2026-2028 Ridership Growth Strategy: 2026 Budget Considerations
This report provides a follow-up to the Framework for Ridership Growth ( TTS1.3 ), responding to the Strategic Planning Committee's direction to advance ridership growth initiatives aligned with the endorsed guiding principles. The report outlines progress made since the July 2025 meeting, including refinement of guiding principles and Planning Advisory Group engagement. Revised guiding principles emphasize putting customers first, delivering efficient and reliable service, and driving results through transparency and accountability. In alignment with the guiding principles, six recommended ridership growth initiatives have been developed for implementation in 2026, each designed to support TTC's long-term financial sustainability. Staff are seeking direction from the Committee to include these recommended initiatives in the TTC's 2026 Operating and Capital Budget submission for consideration by the Board and City Council. While this report focuses on the immediate priorities for 2026, there are many further enhancements to service quality, infrastructure modernization, and customer experience that have been identified for future years. TTC staff will report back on the final 2026-2028 Ridership Growth Strategy to the Strategic Planning Committee in 2026 following approval of the 2026 Operating and Capital Budgets.
The Strategic Planning Committee: 1. Requested staff to identify opportunities and available funding for the following interim priority ridership growth initiatives in planning for operating and capital budget submissions over the term of the 2026-2028 Ridership Growth Strategy: Replace monthly passes with fare capping. Implement the TTC Wayfinding Strategy (pending Board approval). Support increased ridership from change in work from home policies. Improve service reliability. Implement outstanding 2024 / 2025 Annual Network Plan proposals. Meet Service Standards for crowding, express network routes, and the 10-minute network. 2. Requested staff to report back to the Strategic Planning Committee following the approval of the 2026 Operating and Capital Budgets and adoption of the 2026 City Budget with a final 2026-2028 Ridership Growth Strategy that includes consideration of how the aforementioned interim priority ridership growth initiatives are prioritized within other initiatives identified during the strategy's development. 3. Requested staff to report back as part of the 2026-2028 Ridership Growth Strategy with additional information on: the potential options for structuring a fare capping system and the anticipated impacts that different structures have on ridership growth; and an analysis of relevant existing PRESTO data that is available to the TTC as part of forecasting the impact of fare capping on ridership. 4. Directed TTC staff to conduct a strategic review of existing offerings and report back to the Strategic Planning Committee with costs to better inform the 2026 TTC Budget and balancing exercises.
Staff recommendation as filed
It is recommended that the Strategic Planning Committee: 1. Endorse the following ridership growth initiatives for 2026 and recommend that staff include budget requests to implement them in the TTC's 2026 Operating and Capital Budget submission: a. Replace monthly passes with fare capping. b. Implement Year 1 of the TTC Wayfinding Strategy (pending Board approval). c. Support increased ridership from change in work from home policies. d. Improve service reliability. e. Implement outstanding 2024 / 2025 Annual Network Plan proposals. f. Meet Service Standards for crowding, express network routes, and the 10-minute network. 2. Request staff to report back to the Strategic Planning Committee following the approval of the 2026 Operating and Capital Budgets with a final 2026-2028 Ridership Growth Strategy.
TTS2.3adopted
Effectively managing the accumulated state of good repair (SOGR) backlog is a critical strategic objective for the TTC to ensure that existing assets can support transit service delivery and achieve service outcomes. Attracting new riders and retaining customer's confidence in the system requires sustained investment in the base network's assets. This is foundational and a pre-requisite to plans to expand and increase network capacity to capture new ridership long-term. Significant progress was made during the 2025 budget process where incremental investments effectively reduced the projected SOGR backlog by 50% over the years 2025 to 2034. However, the unfunded portion of the TTC's 15 Year Capital Investment Plan (CIP) continues to be significant over the next 15 years, reflecting the constraints imposed by current funding availability and affordability. TTC's Unfunded State-of-Good-Repair - $11.9B over 15 Years ($791M Annual) With updates made for 2025, the 2025-2039 Capital Investment Plan, has identified capital investment needs that now total $53.4 billion over the next 15 years, of which $37.0 billion is unfunded. Of the total unfunded need, approximately $11.9 billion is related to health & safety, legislative, and SOGR requirements. Addressing state-of good-repair is essential for service reliability, which is why the TTC continues to place the highest priority on meeting health and safety, legislative and state-of-good-repair needs first. However, the scale of SOGR investment still required is crowding out opportunity to advance needed capacity enhancement investments to keep up with population growth and capture more ridership long term. This does not suggest that CIP requirements associated with growth and aspirational initiatives, such as Platform Edge Doors, are not important, but rather are dependent on the base system being maintained to achieve benefits of investment. Immediate State-of-Good-Repair Priorities Requiring Funding in next 5 Years Over the next 5 years, approximately $2.2 billion of Health, Safety, Legislative and SOGR needs are unfunded. As an integrated network, each mode has immediate SOGR priority needs included in this unfunded amount. These include, but are not limited to: $1.22 billion for conventional and Wheel-Trans bus fleet replacements, associated infrastructure and bus hoists to address immediate five-year needs at minimum; $208.7 million for critical subway systems (signals, electrical and communications) and equipment (escalators, elevators, ventilation and subway pumps/backflow preventers) $210.5 million for facility renewal programs including roofing rehabilitation, HVAC replacements, overhead doors, safety systems and infrastructure renewal projects; and; $84.6 million for streetcar track replacement in the first five years. The 2026 Budget Process The TTC's CIP is a rolling plan reviewed annually to incorporate new requirements based on asset condition assessment, revised estimates based on project design maturity, and economic factors. The above are immediate examples identified within the currently approved CIP. The annual budget process is underway and information from recent asset condition assessments indicate additional SOGR needs in streetcar overhead, subway track, and integrating facility improvements to accomplish net zero requirements are likely to be introduced in the next iteration of the CIP. Priority focus on state-of-good-repair will continue to dominate prioritization of new funding made available to the TTC. Timely investment in state-of-good-repair is essential to maintain asset reliability and avoid costly, inefficient extensions of asset life. The result, however, does mean that longer term capacity improvement programs continue to be partially funded or unfunded, in the context of the TTC's current fiscal framework. Given the scale of capital needs over the next 15 years, sustained, predictable, and multi-level government funding is critical to closing the funding gap and ensuring long-term system sustainability that can keep pace with growth. The information in this report will be used to guide future recommendations to the Board on any additional funding made available to the TTC by the City or other orders of government as part of the 2026 budget process.
The Strategic Planning Committee: 1. Endorsed the state-of good-repair unfunded capital requirements as outlined in Attachment 2, as the first priority for investment utilizing new funding made available to the TTC by any order of government. 2. Forwarded this report to members of the TTC Board, City Council, Government of Canada, and Province of Ontario to provide insight into the immediate critical capital priorities for the TTC.
Staff recommendation as filed
It is recommended that the Strategic Planning Committee: 1. Endorse the state-of good-repair unfunded capital requirements as outlined in Attachment 2, as the first priority for investment utilizing new funding made available to the TTC by any order of government. 2. Forward this report to members of the TTC Board, City Council, Government of Canada, and Province of Ontario to provide insight into the immediate critical capital priorities for the TTC.
TTS2.4received
Presentation: 2026 TTC Budget Update and Outlook
A presentation will be provided to the September 4th, 2025 Strategic Planning Committee meeting outlining key trends for expenditures, revenues in and opportunities for sustainable growth. This includes a recap of performance to date in 2025 and a forecast into 2026.
The Strategic Planning Committee received this report for information.