City report laments province’s declining Transit support

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This article was published 03/06/2020 (2095 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg would have received nearly $23 million more in provincial funding for its bus service operations over the past few years, had a cost-sharing agreement not been cancelled, according to a new city report.

The 50/50 Winnipeg Transit cost-sharing agreement between city hall and Broadway ended in late 2017. Had it continued, the city would have received about $1.8 million more in 2017, $5.3 million more in 2018, $7.1 million more in 2019, and $8.6 million more in 2020, the report states.

Coun. Matt Allard (St. Boniface) said the estimates show the impact of changing provincial support levels.

“It demonstrates how, every year, Transit delivery becomes that much more difficult,” the public works committee chairman said Wednesday.

Allard said he’s especially concerned as the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a 70 per cent reduction in Transit ridership, severely cutting revenues. The city has repeatedly called for the 50/50 agreement to be restored, for which Allard said he will continue to lobby.

Winnipeg Transit is worthy of provincial investment, since it’s seen as a key option to reduce the need for single-passenger vehicles and cut greenhouse gas emissions, Allard said. “Transit is one of the best ways to fight climate change.”

The province began paying half of Transit’s net operating costs, including those for rapid transit, in 2012. That changed in 2017, when the province froze support at the 2016 level of $40.1 million per year, the report says.

The city’s estimate assumes council would not have added a 25-cent bus fare increase in 2018. It also assumes Southwest Rapid Transitway costs would have been deemed eligible.

“Nearly every operating expense was eligible,” Laurie Fisher, Transit finance manager, writes in the report.

Fisher notes the province contributed to local Transit operating costs for decades before the 2012 agreement, with some funding provided since at least the 1970s.

In an emailed statement, Municipal Relations Minister Rochelle Squires said the previous transit funding agreement was not sustainable.

“Our government is a proud supporter of public transit and we continue to provide significant funding that is sustainable. The prior provincial funding agreement was open-ended and unsustainable,” said Squires.

The statement noted the city does have access to some provincial operating funds that could be used for Transit.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga