Albertans will get to have their say on future transit in the province.
The provincial government is kick-starting consultation to get feedback from people living in urban and rural communities to guide the creation of a new transit strategy and guidelines for future funding.
The province has launched an online survey and stakeholder workbooks targeted at urban and rural communities.
The feedback will guide the creation of a new transit strategy and guidelines for future funding.
The announcement comes following the release of the third and final round of provincial funding from the $2 billion GreenTRIP transit fund last month. There is $415 million remaining in the fund, with $130 million for projects in the Calgary Regional Partnership area and $285 remaining for rural municipalities.
Okotoks Mayor Bill Robertson, who is also chairman of the Calgary Regional Partnership, said ongoing provincial funding for transit is critical for transit to succeed.
“We need to have a provincially financially supplemented system that encourages municipalities to get into transit and get into a more sustainable means of travel on a regular basis,” he said.
Robertson said transit is the way of the future. While it will never replace the private automobile, he said transit gives people a choice.
It will also make a difference in bringing down greenhouse gas emissions, Robertson added.
According to Statistics Canada, 11 per cent of the 1.8 million Albertans who commute to work took transit in 2011. As well, transit ridership across the province rose by 22.5 per cent between 2006 and 2011.
Alberta’s transportation minister said investing in transportation will benefit Albertans and it’s time to create a provincial transit plan.
“An improved transit system will encourage more commuters to choose transit, reducing congestion in our cities and helping us meet our climate change goals,” said Brian Mason. “Improved rural bus service will provide Albertans living in smaller communities with reliable access to essential services in larger centres, like health care facilities.”
Robertson said the Province should prioritize funding for regional systems that take in more than one small municipality.
“A system that serves all as opposed to each of those individual municipalities setting up their own,” he said. “If the Province had policies that would reward or incent regionally in order to get those grant dollars.”
Robertson noted it’s a process the Province is taking as it pays for a commuter transit pilot project connecting Okotoks, Black Diamond, Turner Valley and High River to the south Calgary LRT.
He said GreenTRIP dollars aren’t sought for the two-year project because the Province is already footing the one million dollar bill for the two-year pilot project from other sources. If it’s successful, Robertson said provincial funding will be needed to get local transit service rolling permanently.
“It’s a two-year pilot using other provincial money at this point at the end of that we would then decide and I don’t see any reason why not that this transit pilot would then develop into a regional transit system,” said Robertson during a press conference in downtown Calgary. “We would then be using or applying for GreenTRIP money at that time.”
Robertson admitted it’s uncertain whether there would be any GreenTRIP funding left more than two years from now when the pilot project is complete.
He said the pilot project is in track to launch in the fall.
The Province is paying $500,000 for each of the two years to cover the costs of the pilot project. Any additional costs would be covered by the four towns involved.
