Ontario Provides More Money for Public Transit in Ottawa
Province tops up gas tax funding to make up for lower gas sales
Ottawa – The Ontario government is providing more money to support the expansion and improvement of public transit services in Ottawa. The funding is part of the province’s gas tax program which will allocate more than $379.5 million to help 107 municipalities operate and improve local transit. The funding for Ottawa is $37,804,511.
Funding for the gas tax program is determined by the number of litres of gasoline sold in the province during the previous year. Municipalities that support public transit services in their community receive two cents per litre of provincial gas tax revenue collected.
To make up for reduced gas sales due to ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s gas tax program includes supplemental funding of $80 million to help ensure municipalities can continue to support their transit systems.
“Public transit is a key driver of economic growth in Ontario, helping people get to where they need to go, whether it is to work, school, or run errands,” said Caroline Mulroney, Minister of Transportation. “As more people return to public transit, our government is providing municipalities with the funding they need to accommodate growing ridership, while ensuring they can continue to deliver safe and reliable transit service for people in their communities.”
Gas tax funding can be used to extend service hours, buy transit vehicles, add routes, improve accessibility or upgrade local infrastructure.
QUOTES
“Our government is supporting the City of Ottawa with nearly $38 million of funding to improve bus transit by adding more routes or extending services. Given the tremendous growth in the west end of our City, I will be connecting with our local city councillors to draw their attention to this significant financial support and to ask that they do what they can to improve bus transit services to Kanata residents and businesses.”
-Dr. Merrilee Fullerton, MPP for Kanata-Carleton
“Many of our suburban and rural residents in Ottawa are returning to their workplaces in person after nearly three years of working from home. This investment in public transit made by our government will help ensure that workers, students and all residents have access to an improved system serving all parts of Ottawa.”
-Goldie Ghamari, MPP for Carleton
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QUICK FACTS
MEDIA CONTACTS
Office of Dr. Merrilee Fullerton, MPP
Kanata—Carleton
Merrilee.Fullerton@pc.ola.org
613-599-3000
Office of Goldie Ghamari, MPP
Carleton
Goldie.Ghamari@pc.ola.org
613-838-4425