Item - 2024.EX17.2

The Executive Committee:

1. Received the presentation from the General Manager, Parks Forestry and Recreation for information.

The General Manager, Parks, Forestry and Recreation gave a presentation on Ferry Safety and Passenger Improvements.

Toronto’s ferries carry 1.4 million passengers each year. They help people access our beautiful island to enjoy the parks and beaches. Millions of Torontonians have memories of riding the ferries, excited to spend a day on the island, taking in the beautiful views of our waterfront and skyline from the water.

Unfortunately, we have seen a number of incidents that risk shaking people’s faith in our ferries. Over the past few years, the ferries have experienced hard dock incidents, power outages, maintenance delays and other challenges.

The City has taken action over the past year to ensure the safety of passengers and the good working order of our ferry system. These actions include hiring 70 deckhands to staff the ferries, and improving signage, pre-departure safety announcements, lighting and more.

Further, recognizing the need to provide reliable access to the islands, I introduced a motion to explore leasing more ferries. Leasing ferries can help us run frequent and reliable service while we wait for our new ferries to arrive.

Despite these commendable actions, we need to assure the public that our ferry system is safe, reliable and well-managed.

I am requesting City staff provide an update on enhanced safety measures on our public ferries.