Norman Miller, MPP for Parry Sound-Muskoka, announced today that Phase 1 of Huntsville’s Ridership Growth Plan is being nominated under the Public Transit stream of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP). If approved by the federal government, Ontario would contribute $122,487 towards the estimated $367,500 cost of the project.
“Public transit is very limited in our area so this project is important because it will allow people who don’t have a car or can’t drive increased access to transit in Huntsville,” said Miller. “This will help both residents and local businesses whose employees need transit to get to work.”
Huntsville’s Ridership Growth Plan is intended to expand the service and cut the travel time in order to make it practical for people to use transit to get to and from work.
“Our transit Ridership Growth Plan in Huntsville is about making our community more accessible for all citizens. These changes will improve the efficiency and frequency of our system while expanding the service area,” said Huntsville Mayor Scott Aitchison. “The support of the Province of Ontario for this project is great news for our environment, our community and accessibility.”
This is one of 134 transit projects outside of the GTHA that have been nominated by the province. The projects are now with the federal government for final funding decisions.
“These initiatives promise to make a real difference in people’s lives,” said Minister of Infrastructure Laurie Scott. “Now it’s up to the federal government to approve them.”
The ICIP is a $30 billion, 10-year infrastructure program cost-shared between federal, provincial and municipal governments. Ontario’s share per project will be up to 33.33 per cent or about $10.2 billion.
Funding is allocated to transit projects based on the municipality’s share of total transit ridership in Ontario as per the 2015 Canadian Urban Transit Association Fact Book. This allocations-based funding model was set by the federal government.
These projects are from the first intake of ICIP applications from municipalities outside the GTHA. Some project applications from this intake are still under consideration by the province.
Related: Planned Huntsville Transit expansion put on hold due to higher than expected cost
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