VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The prime minister has announced the federal government is committing one-third of the cost of a multi-billion dollar public transit project for Toronto, but we still don’t know if the federal government will be funding Metro Vancouver’s transit plan.
The $2.6-billion for Toronto’s SmartTrack plan will come from a public transit fund mentioned in the latest budget, even though a formal application for funding hasn’t been made. Stephen Harper says the funding will be there when the application is made.
“By adding capacity on a 53km, all electric, regional express rail running from Mississauga through the middle of Toronto all the way to Markham, it would take the pressure off other lines. Twenty-two proposed stations interchanging with other lines and with bus routes would also greatly expand access.”
So what about us?
All of the items in the Metro Vancouver mayors’ plan, including light rail in Surrey and rapid transit along Vancouver’s Broadway corridor, need federal funding. The provincial government has committed to fund one third. The second would come from an increase in sales tax being decided by the transportation plebiscite. The last third would come from the federal government.
Simon Fraser University City Program Director Gord Price thinks federal funding for our projects can also be found in this public transit fund proposed in April’s federal budget.
“I don’t think actually the Conservatives did get enough credit on this one. To say that there is now going to be transit-dedicated funding, year after year, indeed increasing, and available to cities across the country, well that is a really good news story. Here, we can begin to see the roll out, in Toronto’s case for plans that they’ve had in place for some time now.”
Nothing announced by the Conservatives is guaranteed with a federal election around the corner, but Price is confident the money will come.
“There are flags after all on SkyTrain cars in British Columbia and that’s because the feds have been there regardless of the party to support this kind of thing, but it’s always been ad hoc. It has been project by project,” adds Price.
Vancouver Mayor Reacts
With a Broadway Subway on the wishlist here in Vancouver and Surrey looking to add rapid transit of its own, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson is taking this federal investment in Toronto as a sign we could see that sort of cash injected in Metro Vancouver.
“It’s good to see clarification from the federal government that it’s 33 percent, one-third of major projects, and the $1-billion threshold, which puts the two projects in Metro Vancouver in the hunt.”
Robertson points out before we go asking for the feds to cough up their third of the dough, we need to pony up ourselves. The results of the transit plebiscite are expected at the end of the month.