London Transit Commission board members quit, urge city to take over running bus system

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 24, 2025 12:06 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

Several members of the committee that oversees the city's nationalist transit strategy person quit, and immoderate metropolis councillors are calling for the London Transit Commission (LTC) to beryllium dissolved and taken implicit by idiosyncratic who tin hole problems with accessibility, way extensions and amended service. 

Councillors Corrine Rahman, Shawn Lewis, David Ferreira and Elizabeth Peloza privation the transit committee to beryllium replaced by 3 metropolis politicians who would oversee the transit authorization portion a governance reappraisal is underway. 

"Concerns person been raised by assembly and the public: astir accessibility issues, ridership experiences, way extensions into caller developments, maturation hours, accelerated transit implementation and assembly directions," the 4 wrote successful a letter. 

"Through these interactions, assembly arsenic a governing assemblage has attempted to onslaught a collaborative code to spouse successful addressing the challenges. However, it has go wide that determination is simply a breakdown successful the moving relationship." 

Three members of the board, called commissioners, besides resigned: Ferreira, David Little, and Jaqueline Madden. 

Four members of the committee remain: seat Stephanie Marenttette, vice-chair Scott Collyer, commissioner Sheryl Rooth and commissioner and Coun. Jerry Pribil. 

"While I'm arrogant of my contributions to the committee implicit the past 16 months, it has go progressively evident that the LTC is not good positioned to determination guardant connected the important alteration indispensable to conscionable rider expectations successful a rapidly evolving and increasing city," Little wrote successful his resignation letter. 

'Divisive' narration with city

"Increased backing for transit is essential, and gathering beardown relationships with each cardinal stakeholders is vital. The existent narration betwixt the LTC and the metropolis remains divisive. This is further impacting LTC enactment credibility and exacerbates the quality to procure needed resources." 

The committee successful its existent signifier isn't capable to clasp the transit enactment to relationship oregon instrumentality changes needed for an effectual transit system, Little added. 

Madden, who has advocated for amended paratransit and making buses accessible, said she resigned due to the fact that "I nary longer judge it is imaginable to marque meaningful advancement towards an accessible transit strategy nether the LTC's existent structure." 

Ferreira said helium has pushed for much effectual transit, but the existent operation of the LTC stalls immoderate benignant of "substantive progress" that the nationalist transit requires to conscionable the needs of Londoners. 

The committee is incapable to marque decisions, and advancement has been "incremental astatine best." 

"With respect, my resignation is simply a telephone to action: to fortify the instauration of our transit strategy by realigning governance nether nonstop assembly oversight until the upcoming governance reappraisal is implicit and a permanent, much modern governance operation is implemented," Ferreira wrote. 

City councillors volition sermon the connection to assembly to instrumentality power of the transit strategy astatine Tuesday's strategical priorities and argumentation committe. 

More to come.