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Richard C. Ducharme P.Eng. (born 1948) has served as an administrator for several Canadian transit and transportation authorities, most recently as General Manager of Transportation for the City of Edmonton.
Ducharme graduated from the University of Waterloo as a civil engineer in 1972 and joined Ontario's Ministry of Transportation. He then moved on to GO Transit as a transit coordinator in 1976. He served in various roles and eventually became managing director in 1993. In 1999 he left GO Transit to join the Toronto Transit Commission as General Manager, replacing David Gunn who announced his retirement on October 7, 1998.
Ducharme initially had a better relationship with former TTC Chair Howard Moscoe and other politicians. However, after a wildcat strike staged by the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 113, Ducharme found out that there were talks between Moscoe and ATU President Bob Kinnear that bypassed TTC management. Ducharme stated that these discussions undermined his authority to negotiate with the union. He also criticized Moscoe for making Bombardier the sole supplier of new subway cars for the TTC, arguing that the lack of competition in the bidding process would cost the city $100 million. Moscoe claimed that he had a responsibility to intervene to prevent another strike, and that the Bombardier contract would keep jobs in Canada. Ducharme stated on June 6, 2006, that he would step down on November 30, 2006, but his departure was fast-tracked by Moscoe and the other TTC Commissioners after Ducharme made his criticism of Moscoe public.
Ducharme was replaced on June 10, 2006, on an interim basis by TTC General Manager of Operations Gary Webster.
On October 10, 2006, Ducharme started a new job in Edmonton, Alberta as General Manager of Transportation, overseeing the expansion of the city's roads and light-rail transit system. [1] [2] After only four months in the post, he announced his resignation on February 8, 2007, effective April 13, 2007. [3]
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Peel Region and York Region in Canada. It is the oldest and largest of the urban transit service providers in the Greater Toronto Area, with numerous connections to systems serving its surrounding municipalities.
The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) is a labor organization in the United States and Canada that represents employees in the public transit industry. Established in 1892 as the Amalgamated Association of Street Railway Employees of America, the union was centered primarily in the Eastern United States; today, ATU has over 200,000 members throughout the United States and Canada.
Adam Giambrone is a Canadian politician and transportation consultant. He was a Toronto City Councillor, representing the southern of two Davenport wards. Elected at 26, he remained the youngest member of Toronto council after re-election. He was president of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2001 to 2005. He was the 2008 recipient of Now Magazine's "Best City Politician" award.
Mark Grimes is the Toronto City Councillor for Etobicoke—Lakeshore.
Howard Moscoe is a former city councillor in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, representing Ward 15 in the western part of Eglinton-Lawrence. Among the most prominent and longest-serving councillors in the city, he is also known for an outspokenness which caused controversy at times. Moscoe is a member of the New Democratic Party. On August 31, 2010, after 31 years as an elected municipal politician, Moscoe announced his retirement from city council.
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Bombardier Transportation is a former Canadian rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, headquartered in Berlin, Germany.
David L. Gunn is a transportation system administrator who has headed several significant railroads and transit systems in North America. He was Director of Operations of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) from 1975-1979, General Manager and Chief Operations Officer of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) from 1979-1984, President of the New York City Transit Authority from 1984 to 1990, the General Manager at WMATA from 1991 to 1994, and Chief General Manager of the Toronto Transit Commission in Canada from 1995 to 1999. Gunn assumed the presidency of Amtrak on May 15, 2002, and held the position until political upheaval at the company in 2005. A dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada, Gunn retired to his family home on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. He is currently associated with the Free Congress Foundation and the board of the Strait Area Transit Cooperative transit service in rural Richmond County, among other roles.
Richard A. White is an American public transportation official who served as the CEO and General Manager of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority during 1996–2006. Prior to joining WMATA as CEO, he served as the general manager at Bay Area Rapid Transit in the San Francisco area. White also spent six years with the federal Urban Mass Transit Administration, which is now the Federal Transit Administration. White is from Massachusetts.
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David Raymond Miller is the North American director for the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, a former Mayor of Toronto and former president and CEO of WWF-Canada, the Canadian division of the international World Wildlife Fund.
Gary M. Webster is the former Chief General Manager of the Toronto Transit Commission in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Transit City was a plan for developing public transport in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was first proposed and announced on 16 March 2007 by then-Toronto Mayor David Miller and Chair of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) Adam Giambrone. The plan called for the construction of seven new light rail lines along the streets of seven priority transit corridors, which would have eventually been integrated with existing rapid transit, streetcar, and bus routes. Other transit improvements outlined in the plan included upgrading and extending the Scarborough RT line, implementing new bus rapid transit lines, and improving frequency and timing of 21 key bus routes. The plan integrated public transportation objectives outlined in the City of Toronto Official Plan, the TTC Ridership Growth Strategy and Miller's 2006 election platform.
Bob Kinnear is a union leader in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was the leader of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 from 2003 to 2017. Kinnear joined the TTC as a janitor in 1988 at age 18 and worked his way up as bus operator and subway guard/operator before becoming union head.
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Andy Byford is a British civic employee whose career has been defined by serving in chief positions in a number of top public transport corporations around the world.
Rick Leary is an American Canadian transit planner, and CEO of the Toronto Transit Commission.