News

Ontario Providing Transit Funding for North Bay

Supporting Local Economic Recovery Efforts by Investing in Public Transit

NORTH BAY – Today, MPP Vic Fedeli announced $912,567 in funding to the city of North Bay through Ontario’s Gas Tax program. This year, the province is providing a total of $375 million in gas tax funding for 109 municipalities that deliver public transit to 144 communities across Ontario. The province will flow the funding as soon as possible in 2021.

“This is excellent news for North Bay,” said MPP Fedeli “Funding for public transit will help make it easier to get where you need to go while supporting economic recovery in our community.”

“Our government is committed to helping municipalities sustain and improve public transit throughout the province,” said Caroline Mulroney, Minister of Transportation. “Supporting transit systems is more important than ever as municipalities across Ontario struggle during the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding will help ensure people have access to safe, reliable transportation to get to work or pick up essential items like a prescription.”

Funding for the Gas Tax program is determined by the number of litres of gasoline sold in the province during the previous year. Municipalities supporting public transit services in their community receive two cents per litre of provincial gas tax revenue collected. This funding can be used to extend service hours, buy transit vehicles, add routes, improve accessibility or upgrade infrastructure.

QUICK FACTS

• In July 2020, the province announced up to $2 billion from the provincial and federal governments under the Safe Restart Agreement to support municipal transit systems with operating costs like vehicle maintenance and employee wages, revenue losses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and other costs like installing driver protection barriers.
• Ontario is developing regional plans that will help build a better transportation system across the province. The province has released draft regional transportation plans for Northern Ontario and southwestern Ontario, and planning is underway for the Greater Golden Horseshoe and eastern Ontario.