Influx of federal transit cash headed toward Brampton
LRT at Brampton City Hall
Staff photo by Rob Beintema
Brampton residents tour an LRT display outside of City Hall Wednesday (June 17).
Peter Criscione
The City of Brampton stands to gain more than $32 million from Ottawa for key transit upgrades, including cash for 20 new buses and the expansion of an outdated transit facility.
But what some councillors really want to know is whether any of that federal cash could be used to find an alternate route for the Hurontario Light Rail Transit (LRT) line.
“I don’t know the answer to that question,” said Sue Connor, executive director of Brampton Transit responding to regional Coun. Elaine Moore during Wednesday’s (Oct. 5) community services meeting. Moore asked if any of the federal funding coming Brampton’s way for infrastructure could be used to cover environmental assessments (EA) and other studies for the Hurontario Street LRT north of Steeles Avenue.
Council voted to stop the $1.6 billion LRT line short of entering the city’s heritage district, last year. Council
has since been looking for an alternate route that avoids the downtown and has directed staff to study options, including drafting technical and environmental assessments.
“I don’t believe those EA’s would meet the timelines required for these projects,” said Connor, noting the money available under the federal program must be used by the end of next year. Brampton can’t draft required studies in time for them to qualify for funding, however, Connor noted a second round of cash is expected at which point the city can review its options for LRT funding.
Moore countered that EAs tend to be crafted in phases and asked transit officials to at least look at the possibility of directing government funds to the LRT.
The federal government announced $1.49 billion for transportation infrastructure across the province, with much of the money going to help boost transit systems in large urban centres.
Brampton made the list of recipients and a report put to community services committee members Wednesday lists six projects the $32,536,428 could be used for.
Brampton would be required to match the funding dollar for dollar. The city has until Oct. 18, to formally apply.
Brampton’s list of eligible projects includes three articulated Züm buses, an automated vehicle monitoring system, and a new Züm rapid bus line on Airport Road, new bus shelters and the expansion of the Sandalwood Parkway transit facility.
Wednesday’s report got glowing reviews from Mayor Linda Jeffrey and council members.
“This is big for our municipality,” said Regional Coun. Gael Miles. “For many, many years, infrastructure dollars for municipalities had dried up and we are seeing a real a commitment to our municipality from our federal and provincial government partners.”
The announcement comes as city leaders sit down to debate next year’s budget. Brampton is projecting a 4.9 per cent tax levy increase on the city portion of the budget. That levy includes a 2 per cent dedicated tax for infrastructure upkeep.
Even with the influx of government funding for transit, the staff report notes Brampton’s operating costs will increase close to $2 million as new and improved systems are introduced.
The three new articulated buses Brampton identified for funding would increase operation costs by $697,000. The city would also have to come up with another $100,000 for upgrades to the Sandalwood facility and close to $700,000 to run a new Züm line on Airport Road.