CEO POWER BREAKFAST BY SARAH B. HOOD Phil Verster of Metrolinx shares his insight on building Toronto’s growing transit infrastructure Ticket to ride METROLINX IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CONSTRUCTION clients in the province. Since releasing its comprehensive transportation plan in 2008, dubbed The Big Move, Ontario’s regional transportation agency has renovated 29 stations, built an additional eight, extended its network by 70 kilo- metres, and launched initiatives like UP Express and the PRESTO Card. Metrolinx is also responsible for the long-running Union Station upgrades, the GO Bus Terminal on Bay Street, the Don Yard expansion, the 25-station Eglinton Crosstown LRT line as well as the 11-kilometre Finch West LRT – and that’s only its Toronto-area projects. On November 29, the crown agency’s president and CEO Phil Verster was in the spotlightattheCEOPowerBreakfastorgan- izedbyTCAandConstructConnect.Verster took the opportunity to emphasize the extensive nature of the agency’s mandate to address the province’s growing transportation needs and voiced his determination to strengthen its relation- ship with the city’s construction industry. Metrolinx, said Verster, needs to focus on effective communication and act as a business rather than a bureaucracy – themes that were repeated throughout the session. Stacy Lopez, director of digital marketing operations with Construct- Connect, introduced the session, which took the form of a panel discussion with TCA president John Mollenhauer and ConstructConnect president Mark Casaletto. To start, Verster brought the audi- ence up to speed on the tremendous strides the agency has made in over the past year or so. “In September last year, we delivered 99 million seat miles in service every week [and] the projection was to grow the service by two to three per cent every year,” he said. After examining the figures, however, Verster told his team they could possibly move to a 20 per cent increase annually. “In September a year later, we [had] 122 million seat miles – that’s just over 20 per cent. Next year, we’ll have a further 15 per cent.” Progress was also made in capital work volume. “A year ago, we were struggling to deliver… [and] this year is about 50 per cent higher. Metrolinx has delivered just over $4 billion of capital work this year. Our target for transit in the Greater Golden Horseshoe is about $5 billion per year for the next 10 to 20 years.” KEYRELATIONSHIP The Metrolinx CEO outlined numerous ways in which he believes the relation- ship between the agency and the city’s 12 | Builders' Digest Quarter 4 2018