Time to create a TTC transit museum, councillor says

Joe Mihevc wants to showcase the agency's heritage during its 100th anniversary. But critics say the transit agency needs to focus on service and expansion.

Thestar.com
Feb. 15, 2017
By Ben Spurr

TTC customers riding outdated streetcars may sometimes feel like they’re stuck in a transit museum, but one city councillor is reviving the idea of creating an official one.

Councillor Joe Mihevc, who sits on the TTC board, has added an item to next Tuesday’s board meeting requesting that the agency look into creating a “TTC transit museum”.

“If you look at the big transportation authorities globally, they all have transportation museums,” Mihevc said in an interview. He argued that showcasing the TTC’s heritage would help the public connect with the city’s history and develop “an appreciation and a love for public transit.”

“I think it helps build our brand, and building a good public transit brand helps frankly, at the end of the day, in making the TTC bigger and better.”

Mihevc’s motion calls for the board to create a committee made up of commission staff and other interested parties to explore the feasibility of the project. The group would report back within a year. Mihevc’s goal is to have the institution set up in time for the TTC’s 100th anniversary in 2021.

Mihevc’s motion states that the endeavour should be “modest” and “of little or no cost to the TTC.” He suggested that the manufacturers of older vehicles could donate them, and the museum could be staffed by volunteers.

Chris Prentice, president of the Canadian Transit Heritage Foundation, called the idea of a TTC museum “fantastic” and “long overdue.” He said his organization would be willing to assist in gathering artifacts to stock it.

Not everyone is a fan of the proposal, however. Deputy Mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong, who also sits on the TTC board, said he won’t support it.

“We have far more important things to deal with,” he said. “I think the riding public believes that we should focus our attention on service and improving and expanding our transit service rather than dealing with a nonpriority (like a museum).”

Councillor and TTC chair Josh Colle also expressed skepticism. “My obvious concern is that with the current financial pressures we are facing I would be worried about anything that would shift staff attention or scarce dollars away from transit service,” he said. Colle said he hadn’t decided yet how he would vote.

If the proposal were to go ahead, the TTC would have little trouble finding artifacts. The agency maintains three historic streetcars in working condition, and also owns two 30- to 40-year old buses that are being preserved.

According to agency spokesperson Stuart Green, there is also “a variety of uniforms and memorabilia in storage at various locations but nothing is formally catalogued.” Other artifacts like maps, photos, and film footage have been housed at the Toronto Archives since the 1990s.

Transit museums can be significant attractions for some cities. More than 150,000 people a year visit the New York Transit Museum, which is housed in a decommissioned subway station in Brooklyn. The London Transport Museum, which houses 450,000 artifacts spanning three centuries, attracts close to 400,000 annual visitors.

The idea of a Toronto transit museum has been floated before. In 2010, the board endorsed a $5.5-million plan to create a “transit visitor centre” on the ground floor of a proposed new TTC headquarters at Yonge St. and York Mills Rd. It fell through when the transit agency’s relocation plans were scuttled.