TTC CEO Andy Byford says he was not happy that two in-service TTC buses were rerouted to pick up Mayor Rob Ford’s high school football team.

On Thursday, passengers had to leave two TTC buses mid-route after designated police officers called in a TTC bus to pick up the Don Bosco Eagles from Father Henry Carr Catholic Secondary School in Etobicoke.

The regular school bus was not available.

The second bus was taken off its route and sent to the school after the first bus that was dispatched got lost.

“I am certainly not happy that fare paying customers were inconvenienced under these circumstances,” Byford said in an email to TTC commissioners Saturday.

“For the record: I had no idea that two buses were used nor that customers were inconvenienced.”

According to a statement issued by the TTC on Sunday, the commission receives such requests from the Toronto police and Toronto Fire about twice a week.

Although it typically sends shelter buses from terminal stations or bus garages to minimize the impact on passengers, “given the urgency of the police request, operations personnel at the TTC made the decision to utilize buses from nearby routes to meet the request as quickly as possible,” the statement said.

It added that at no time did Byford order the second bus or give direction to TTC staff, none of whom were aware of why the shelter bus was requested.

Following the incident, Byford tweeted that the commission regretted “that customers were inconvenienced, but these are operational calls TTC makes.”

In his email Saturday, Byford said, “The most unfortunate thing about this episode is the damage done to our reputation after more than a year of careful, painstaking steps to improve it. I am not happy about that.”

He added that he would review the policy and protocols surrounding shelter bus requests and would possibly make a bid to strengthen them.

“Rest assured that I am following this up with TPS and the Mayor's Office,” he said.