[URBAN NOTE] "Report sounds alarm on big TTC projects"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Ben Spurr reports on what could be a big problem for the TTC.

A review of the TTC’s procurement policies is raising red flags about the transit agency’s ability to manage expensive capital projects, detailing billions of dollars in cost overruns and oversight practices that fall below public-sector standards.

The report, which will be debated at Wednesday’s TTC board meeting, was authored by consulting firm KPMG. The company examined nine capital projects that the TTC launched over the past decade-and-a-half and had combined initial estimated costs of $5.1 billion. Of the nine, six incurred inflated expenses that together totalled $2.9 billion more than original estimates.

They included the Toronto York Spadina Subway Extension, whose cost soared over from $1.5 billion to $3.2 billion, and the Leslie Barns streetcar facility, whose price jumped from $345 million to $507 million. Three of four smaller-scale capital projects KPMG studied also saw budgets rise above initial projections.

The report, which council commissioned in March 2015, determined that the TTC is operating at a “low-standardized level of maturity” in the delivery of capital projects. That’s below KPMG’s benchmark for public-sector organizations. KPMG scored one TTC department as operating at an “informal” level, which means the consultant found that projects lacked documentation and standardized policies.