“I wanted to live near a subway station so I could travel with our customers”: Meet the TTC’s new CEO, Mandeep Lali
The incoming leader of the beleaguered transit agency talks gridlock and growing pains
You moved to Toronto without ever having visited to run the biggest and busiest transit network in Canada. How go the early days? I officially started in June, and I’m enjoying it! I had read about Canadians being welcoming, and it’s proved correct.
Where are you living? And how’s the commute? I’m right downtown, close to subway and streetcar stations. The commute to my office at Yonge and Davisville is only about 25 minutes when taking the TTC.
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Not to nitpick, but we call those streetcar stops. When you started, you pledged not to use a car. Have you caved? No, and it’s working fine. It’s been fun to just jump on the bus and find out how long it’s going to take me to get someplace.
Well, there’s the elephant in the room. Torontonians are frequently outraged with the TTC, and when things go wrong, it’s you they’ll blame. Did you know what you were getting into? I chose to live near a subway station so I could meet our customers and travel with them. Already, I’ve seen the passion our riders have for good transit. There’s been a lot of work done with respect to improving the TTC’s safety and reliability by adding special constables and customer service agents. But there’s more to be done.
What specifically about the job appealed to you? The fact that Toronto built the Eglinton Crosstown and the Finch West LRT was a key factor in my decision. It’s a rare opportunity to be part of the opening of new lines. And I now have 18,000 staff to help me unlock that potential. Toronto is also the most diverse city in the world, which is something I crave.
Everyone wants the TTC to be better. So what’s the plan? First, a key aspect of leadership is listening and learning. How does this organization move forward, collectively, and with the money we need to build a city for the future? That plan is being worked through.
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Fair. But it sounds like there may not be a plan. I can’t listen to all of my employees by tomorrow. I need to quantify what improvements are achievable and then work toward them. I could dictate, “Go do X, Y and Z,” but that wouldn’t be fair to the organization. So there is a plan, and it will pay dividends when we begin to actualize it. Incremental change isn’t about fixing one small item. It takes time.
What are some concrete examples of “incremental change”? We have to be cognizant of our budget, which means combating fare evasion and looking for efficiencies. We’re going to be looking at innovations like AI and machine learning to find better ways to communicate with our customers about what’s happening in the network at any given moment and why it’s happening.
Fare evasion and inefficiencies represent a drop in the TTC’s budget bucket. Would you agree that the reason the system underdelivers is because Queen’s Park and Ottawa underfund it? There’s no question that more subsidies would improve our service. We can’t assume that they’re coming, though, so we need to do better with what we do have.
The TTC has said that it needs to increase ridership for financial health. But, when ridership was high pre-pandemic, the system was dangerously over-capacity, especially at Bloor-Yonge. Who wants to go back to that? We need to start with the basics: a system that runs on schedule. After we achieve world-class reliability, that itself will serve as an advertisement encouraging riders to come back.
Back in the day, you trained as an electrician. How do those blue-collar roots inform your leadership style today? I took an unconventional path. Before I went to university for engineering, I studied as an electrician because I wanted to do something different every day. I really enjoyed fixing things and solving problems. When I was an apprentice, I built relationships with my mentors. That’s when I realized how important it is for leaders to listen.
What’s your favourite fun fact about Toronto transit? The London Underground opened on January 10, 1863, but Toronto had an operational transit service in 1849. It was private and used horse-buses, but nevertheless: Toronto came first.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Anthony Milton is a freelance journalist based in Toronto specializing in long-form magazine writing. He previously worked as an assistant editor at Toronto Life, where he launched the Front Row newsletter. He regularly contributes all sorts of stories to the magazine, including deep dives on sports, business and housing as well as short-form commentary on our ever-changing city, from its obsession with cherry blossoms to its maddening NIMBYism. His work has also appeared in Maclean’s, Ricochet, TVO, the Trillium and more.
