TTC chief Rick Leary resigns

Transit CEO said he stayed on to finish contract talks

- BEN SPURR ,MAHDIS HABIBINIA

TTC CEO Rick Leary, who announced his resignation Thursday, started his career at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, and worked for York Region Transit before being hired as the TTC's chief service officer in 2014.

After a seven-year tenure in which he led the TTC through its darkest hour, narrowly avoided a transit strike and faced a workplace investigation by his own board, Rick Leary is resigning as head of Toronto’s transit agency.

He made the surprise announcement at a press conference at city hall Thursday, saying he told the TTC board that morning he was stepping down as CEO.

In a prepared speech, the 61-yearold Boston native said working at the TTC has been “the most rewarding experience in my four decades in public transit,” but after 10 years at the agency he wanted to explore new opportunities. He said he stayed on in order to see the TTC through high-stakes negotiations with its largest union for a new collective bargaining agreement.

After an 11th-hour deal reached earlier this month averted what would have been a crippling transit shut down, the TTC board approved the new contract with Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 on Thursday.

Leary thanked employees and his predecessors in the CEO role, and said “I hope that I’m leaving the organization in a better position to continue to succeed for years to come.” His resignation is effective Aug. 30.