The provincial and federal governments, as well as municipalities, have pledged a combined total exceeding $540 million to fund 89 new public transit projects in Alberta including Calgary’s Green Line LRT corridor.
The infrastructure funding was announced Saturday at a ceremony at the 6 Street Southwest LRT Station in downtown Calgary by MPs Kent Hehr (Minister of Veteran Affairs) and Amarjeet Soji (Minister of Infrastructure and Communities) and MLAs Brian Mason (Minister of Infrastructure and Minister of Transportation) and Joe Ceci (Minister of Finance).
According to AlbertaTransportation and Alberta Infrastructure, the funding for the 89 projects consists of:
- $132.9 million from the federal government for the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund
- $79.4 million for the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund from the Government of Alberta
- $156.5 million of funding for Alberta GreenTRIP from the Government of Alberta
- $58 million from local municipalities for GreenTrip
“Getting people where they need to go safely, quickly and comfortably is fundamental to economic growth and building an inclusive society,” said Kent Hehr, Minister of Veteran Affairs and MP for Calgary Centre. “I’m very pleased to see how these new projects will result in widespread benefits for Calgary transit users.”
Mayor Nenshi was pleased to see the three levels of government working together to assist the effort to improve public transportation in Calgary.
“Investments in public transit are some of the most important investments a government can make,” said Nenshi. “This early work on the Green Line LRT corridor helps us get even closer to building this important piece of public transit.”
According to Nenshi, the Green Line is set to receive $146 million in funding in a 'show of support' by the NDP government.
