ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½

And he knows what he’s here to do: “reliable service, more effective service (and) safety,” he repeatedly stated.

Lali sat down for a wide-ranging 30-minute interview with the Star just two weeks into taking the helm of the TTC. He’s been handed the keys to Canada’s largest transit system, a $2.81-billion budget and a mandate to rapidly improve a transit agency that millions rely on amid ever-worsening congestion on the roads.

Born and raised in the U.K., Lali worked as an electrician, joined the London Underground, moved on to work at an international elevator company before heading over to join New York’s MTA.

Throughout the interview Lali is soft-spoken and calm. His suit is perfectly pressed, his tie is tied impeccably and his hair is coiffed just enough to look effortless.

Having moved his entire life to ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, Lali’s office is sparse, just bits and bobs left by the office’s occupants over the years. Only one decoration is his: a plaque awarded to him by the MTA, which he glowingly talks about, crediting the operational team he was part of at the New York transit organization.

Lali plays his personality close to the vest. He’s previously declined to say his age, though his salt-and-pepper hair gives some of that away. He’s previously said he won’t own a car and will take the TTC to work. But, when asked what neighbourhood he’s commuting from, he succinctly answered, “I live in the city.”

Favourite area of ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ so far? “Near the beach,” he said, with the caveat that the answer may change after his first ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ winter.

Lali is the first permanent CEO in nearly a year since his predecessor, Rick Leary, left amid allegations of a toxic workplace environment. Leary, who was CEO from 2017 to 2024, repeatedly denied the allegations. In the interim, Greg Percy served as a temporary CEO before Lali was hired.

Before Leary, the seventh floor office at Davisville Station was occupied by Andy Byford, also British, who led the TTC from 2012 to 2017 and earned the TTC an American Public Transportation Association’s award for Outstanding Transit System in his final year.

“I don’t know either of those (people), but I’m sure they had their moments,” Lali said when asked how he compared to Leary and Byford. “I keep coming back to what my mandate is. In terms of style, I’m a people-first oriented leader.”

“We’ve got 18,000 staff that work tirelessly to move operations,” he said. “How do we harness that to get more? And be more effective with respect to safety, reliability and cleanliness.”

Despite being so new to the job, Lali said he’s already been recognized in public. 

“It was very nice, actually,” he said. “They’re not shy to give feedback, and I welcome it ... because it’s areas that we need to improve on and will improve upon.”

Taking the TTC daily will mean Lali can experience the highs and lows of being a TTC rider for himself, he explained. It will also mean he can strategize on how to address those shortcomings.

“There have been delays which I have experienced,” he said. “There have been some incidents where I’ve experienced (something) which we shouldn’t experience.”

He hasn’t had a standout delay or frustrating experience, and Lali is careful to say he’s never felt unsafe on the TTC.

“I have encountered someone that was loud, but not unsafe,” he said, pointing to special constables, TTC fare inspectors (recently, and hilariously, renamed) and community safety officers that patrol the city’s transit system.

, also known as “slow zones,” have plagued the TTC’s ability to run quick and efficient service, drawing the ire of many riders. The subway system currently has 28 zones where speed is reduced to 10 to 25 km/h and the agency has previously said the system would never reach zero slow zones. 

Lali said other systems, like New York and London where he’s worked, also have reduced speed zones. Going back to his mandate, again, Lali said slow zones fall into his mission to improve reliability.

“We do have speed zones ... as do other systems around the world as well. But we will get better at it.”

Lali, when pressed if the system will always have slow zones, said, “That’s a difficult question because I’ve been here, how many days now? You know better than I, because you knew I was coming here before I did.”

(The Star, in May, was first to report that Lali had been chosen by the TTC board as the agency’s new CEO.)

Having worked at some of the world’s premier transit agencies, Lali said “it’s not a competition” when asked what the TTC does better than the MTA or the London Underground.

“You can’t just compare A, B and C from a simplistic level, it’s more dynamic than that,” he said, explaining how each city has a unique transit system based on its early transit infrastructure and engineering foundations.

With those caveats though, Lali praised the TTC’s investment into electric “green” buses, which he said will soon rival London’s fleet.

His message to riders when they are facing delays or feeling frustrated with the TTC was simple: “We’re on a journey and we’re getting better. It’s incremental,” Lali said. 

“My mandate, we will follow through upon. And in the coming months, (riders) will see the difference in terms of how we’re improving as an organization.”