City Councillors temporarily takeover London Transit amid ‘crisis’

Seven members of city council will temporarily step-in to lead London Transit after a decision to vacate the seats held by four remaining commissioners.

In March, council received three resignations from members of the London Transit Commission (LTC) — Coun. David Ferreira, David Little, and Jacqueline Madden, who expressed frustration with the “dynamics of decision-making” and divisiveness.

“This is not an organization that’s in crisis. Yes, there are three members of the board that have resigned, but the organization is not in crisis,” argued Coun. Jerry Pribil who was the other council representative on the LTC.

Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis disagreed, “I think this is an organization in crisis, not just the three board member resignations, but I recall during this term of council receiving a report card from LTC that said everything was great - and we said, no, it’s not.”

Lewis listed a number of concerns about communications and performance including the slow rollout of online booking for paratransit rides, and a failure to apply for assessment growth funding to improve bus service.

Councillor Skylar Franke suggested the interim board should still include some members of the public, “I believe that we should have two additional voices, one being a commissioner with some experience, as well as a member of the paratransit community.”

However, council voted 10-5 to vacate the LTC seats and exclusively appoint council members to an interim commission.

“This is about stabilizing the service that we bring. It’s about listening to our riders. It’s about bringing accountability in-house,” said Ferreira.

A governance and operations audit is being conducted at London Transit, the results of which will inform council’s next steps.

When seven council members volunteered to sit on the temporary commission, the size was expanded from five to seven seats.

The seven member interim LTC:

• Mayor Josh Morgan
• Budget Chair and Councillor Elizabeth Peloza
• Councillor Sam Trosow
• Councillor Corrine Rahman
• Councillor Steve Lehman
• Councillor Anna Hopkins
• Councillor Skylar Franke