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OC Transpo’s new general manager will be Rick Leary, the former CEO of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC).
City manager Wendy Stephanson announced the new hire on Friday, saying that Leary’s first order of business is to draw up a plan to restore full service to Line 1 of the LRT, which has been running single-car trains since January due to an ongoing bearing issue.
Leary’s tenure heading OC Transpo begins right away. He told reporters that he began his assessment of the LRT problem on his first day. He said he recognizes the “urgency of the moment.”
“Riders are counting on us, not months from now or years from now, but today. They need a transit system they can depend on,” he said. “I understand those expectations and I take them very seriously.”
Leary headed the TTC from 2017 until 2024. He will take over OC Transpo from interim general manager Troy Charter, who took the helm after Renée Amilcar left to take another job last July.
Leary previously worked with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in the Boston area and was also general manager of York Region Transit before heading to TTC.
Leary responds to questions over tenure in Toronto
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said Ottawa’s transit system needs that kind of “strong experienced leadership.”
“We’re not bringing someone up from the minor leagues here,” Sutcliffe said. “He was a winner in the big leagues, so we’re lucky to have someone of his caliber running our transit system.”
WATCH | Leary defends time in Toronto:
New OC Transpo head addresses accusations of toxic workplace at TTC
Asked about allegations that he created a toxic workplace in his role as CEO of Toronto Transit Commission, OC Tranpo’s new general manager Rick Leary said there were “never any findings,” describing the environment as a “pressure cooker.” Leary said employees at OC Transpo will see that he finds public service very rewarding.
But Leary’s tenure in Toronto also faced controversy, with the Toronto Star reporting on a 2023 meeting behind closed doors where the TTC board reportedly agreed to investigate allegations of workplace misconduct against him.
That reporting was based on unnamed sources and CBC has not independently verified the claims, but Leary addressed the matter at Friday’s news conference in Ottawa.
“I don’t deny there were some accusations,” he said. “There were never any findings. When you’re in a job that long, I’ll say it was a pressure cooker.”
He also responded to a question over reporting by the Toronto Star on a supposedly tense relationship between him and TTC board chair and Toronto city councillor Jamaal Myers.
“The chair and I had a good relationship,” Leary said Friday. “You don’t always see eye to eye with people, but you have a good relationship and you talk through things.”
Bus reliability crisis also tops agenda
Leary will take over at a fraught time for OC Transpo, which ended last year with a $52-million budget deficit.
Aside from the bearing issue, the transit service is grappling with a bus reliability crisis. An aging bus fleet has left it unable to keep enough vehicles on the road, forcing it to cancel hundreds of trips.
“I’m fully focused on the task at hand,” said Leary. “That is restoring Line 1 to full service, ensuring a successful launch of the east extension and re-establishing bus reliability.”
He said the new electric buses that OC Transpo has begun receiving “are going to help tremendously,” but he said he has other ideas.
“I would like to have an assessment of the existing fleet, because I’m about state of good repair, continuing to maintain the existing fleet so it never falls into disrepair,” he said.
WATCH | Mayor Mark Sutcliffe explains the hire:
Mayor explains city rationale for hiring Rick Leary after past criticism
Asked why the city decided to hire former Toronto Transit Commission CEO Rick Leary as OC Transpo’s new general manager, Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said the city had an “opportunity to bring in a proven leader” who knows what it takes to run a complex system.