Metrolinx memo reveals senior-level shakeup amid stalled Toronto transit projects

Metrolinx has made significant changes to its senior leadership team as the provincial transit agency struggles to get two light rail projects on track, a new memo obtained by CTV News Toronto shows.

CEO Phil Verster announced the departures of Karla Avis-Birch and Steven Levene in the email and thanked them for their service to the Crown corporation. Avis-Birch worked as Metrolinx’s chief planning officer and Levene worked as the chief operating officer (rapid transit), according to their respective LinkedIn profiles.

Verster said the changes were made in an effort to “evolve and adapt” in the face of an expanded mandate, which includes the Eglinton Crosstown LRT and Finch West LRT, two major transit project in Toronto that have yet to come online after years of delays and lawsuits.

“To do this, we must ensure that the right combinations of people, competencies, processes, and structures are in place,” he wrote.

As a result of the changes, Metrolinx will overhaul its planning and development (P & D) and operations (rapid transit) departments. Verster said P & D will be integrated into a number of other divisions, while the operations team would be split into two groups: one of which will be a new “asset management and maintenance division” led by chief engineer, Fay Pittman. The second operations group will be led by Phil Taberner, the vice president of new rail infrastructure, in an “acting capacity,” whose focus will be “getting the Eglinton and Finch West LRTs into service.”

In a statement to CP24, a spokesperson for Metrolinx said a restructuring in the management ranks such as this is “not unusual.”

“Metrolinx’s mandate and the complexity of our work has increased significantly over the past several years. As a result, there is a need for the organization to evolve and adapt to deliver on North America’s largest transit expansion,” the statement read.

Mayor Olivia Chow was asked about the changes at an unrelated news conference on Wednesday, and seemed to indicate that she was pleased with the development.

“It’s not up to me to comment on the inner workings of Metrolinx and the structure as to who does what…but it’s a good indication there’s some shakeup. But really, it’s up to the Minister of Transportation and the CEO of Metrolinx,” she said.

In a post to social media, Coun. Josh Matlow said he believes the C-suite reorganization is in direct response to the delayed projects.

“Metrolinx’s delays have impacted local residents, shuttered small businesses, wasted tax dollars & left us all without the transit we need to tackle congestion & get to work or school on time,” he wrote in a tweet. “Clearly heads are rolling because their vehicles haven’t been.”

With files from Siobhan Morris