Despite call for cuts, TTC must 'retain and protect service levels,' Coun. Colle says

The Toronto Transit Commission's chair says that despite Mayor John Tory's call for a 2.6 per cent cut to the TTC's budget, the transit service must "retain and protect service levels."

• Mayor says TTC 'will do better' on air conditioning after hot subway ride

• Transit infrastructure money won't derail Tory's call for TTC 'efficiencies'

Chair Josh Colle says that the TTC shouldn't cut any of the improvements it has made to service over the past couple of years. Instead, Colle believes some money can be saved by consolidating the head office and through asset management.

The only problem is that Colle says those things take time.

"Sometimes you just can't get blood from a stone," said Colle on Metro Morning Wednesday. "We don't want to cut anything that would make that King car, or if you're waiting on the Vaughan bus, any worse."

Tory responded to Colle's comments about the challenges of meeting a 2.6 per cent budget cut later Wednesday morning.

"They've been asked simply to submit a list of things they could do to reach that target," said Tory at Kipling Station.

Tory said that doesn't mean that city council is actually going to accept or implement all of the recommendations.

"We will look at submitted lists and then will make decisions," said Tory. "Let's make decisions based on the priorities we all have."

The mayor says that could mean using the money saved from one efficiency to fix something else on the service like the air conditioning on subway cars.

Tory said it doesn't make sense to cut service he's worked to put millions in funding toward over the past few years.