Staff Report #3
May 29, 2024
To All Commissioners
Re: Draft 2023 Annual Report
Recommendation
That the Commission:
- APPROVE the Draft 2023 Annual Report, attached as Enclosure I; and
- DIRECT the administration forward the approved 2023 Annual Report to Municipal Council for its review and consideration.
Background
The Draft 2023 Annual Report, as set out in Enclosure I, is being presented for Commission review and approval. Subsequent to Commission approval, the final Annual Report will be presented to Municipal Council via the Civic Works Committee for their review and consideration.
The London Transit Business Plan sets the direction respecting the development of London Transit as an organization and the services it delivers. The Business Plan process, as depicted below serves as the basis for accountability and transparency.
In the 2019-2023 Business Plan, London Transit is defined by its vision to be the valued and trusted mobility choice for Londoners. The vision is supported by the mission statement which is Moving Londoners – progressively, reliably and affordably. The vision and mission are supported by five strategic outcomes:
- An integrated, affordable and valued mobility choice
- An engaged, diverse and respectful workplace
- Demonstrated fiscal accountability
- Being open, transparent and understood
- Effective utilization of infrastructure
Consistent with the Business Planning Process, each year an annual report is completed and shared publicly. The report provides an overview of how the LTC performed against each of the strategic outcomes identified in the Business Plan.
2023 Results
2023 brought with it a societal shift that went from ongoing but waning concern about the pandemic in 2022 to the expectation that the pandemic was over and things should return to “normal” immediately. While the elimination of pandemic-related restrictions and reduction in supply chain and labour market issues assisted service providers in ramping up service levels, progress toward this return was slower than customer expectations.
The most significant initiative on the 2023 work program was to complete the implementation of the outstanding service hour improvements that had been planned for 2021 and 2022 as resources permitted, with the ultimate goal of having all outstanding service improvements implemented by the end of the year. By December of 2023, the conventional service had seen all but 6,000 hours of the outstanding service implemented and the specialized service had reached fully-budgeted daily service hours.
In addition to the focus on service, significant resources were directed toward the preparation of the multi-year operating and capital budgets covering the period 2024 through 2027. In light of the significant shifts and disruptions experienced over the period of the previous multi-year budget, administration utilized a zero-based budgeting approach in order to ensure that appropriate budget was applied to all service areas required to meet the scheduled service levels established in 2023. In addition to the work on the multi-year budget, work began on the 2024-2027 Business Plan and supporting service plans, which will be based on the approved operating and capital budget programs covering the same period.
In 2023, administration was asked to establish a new manner of reporting progress toward each initiative included in the Annual Report and as such, this report has utilized a colour-coded assessment with red indicating little to no progress, orange indicating work is underway and green indicating that progress on the objective has met the expectations of the annual work plan. The table below provides an overall assessment of each of the Strategic Outcomes with a brief commentary.
2023 Strategic Outcome Assessment Summary
| Strategic Outcome | Assessment | Comments |
| An integrated, affordable and valued mobility choice | red | The planned implementation of outstanding service hours on the conventional service was not achieved in 2023. The specialized service hours were met as of December 2023, later than planned. In both cases, delays were the result of limited resource availability (vehicles) due to supply chain issues. |
| Demonstrated fiscal accountability | green | Notwithstanding significant price escalation on key budget items including fuel and bus prices, budgets were managed within the Commission’s resources. |
| Being open, transparent and understood | yellow | The lack of understanding demonstrated by all stakeholder groups through the multi-year budget deliberation process indicates that greater effort needs to be directed toward this objective going forward. |
| Effective utilization of infrastructure | green | Capital programs continued as planned through 2023 noting delays in bus delivery required older buses to be maintained longer than anticipated in order to continue to meet service requirements. |
| An engaged, diverse and respectful workplace | yellow | While committee work was re-established in 2023 following the pandemic period, progress on initiatives was delayed due to ongoing resource issues. |
While 2023 saw progress on all strategic objectives, delayed implementation of service improvements coupled with increased demand for services resulted in declined customer satisfaction and missed performance targets on a number of key initiatives. The 2024 service plans for both the conventional and specialized services have been approved consistent with approval of the growth hours in the multi-year budget. Growth hours in 2024 are being targeted at the most problematic areas of service, with increased running times and frequencies being added to the conventional service and increased service hours at the highest demand times being added to the specialized service.
The 2024-2027 Business Plan and supporting service plans will draw on the results of this report and attempt to balance available resources on the issues that matter most to all stakeholders in efforts to improve overall satisfaction levels.
Enclosure
Recommended by:
Mike Gregor, Director of Finance
Katie Burns, Director of Planning
Joanne Galloway, Director of Human Resources
Craig Morneau, Director of Fleet & Facilities
Shawn Wilson, Director of Operations
Concurred in by:
Kelly S. Paleczny, General Manager