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BC  

Mayors' Caucus requests safe restart funding pertaining to transit be extended

Need more transit funding

Mayors from across the province are urging the federal government to extend the the safe restart agreement as it pertains to transit funding.

The BC Urban Mayors' Caucus released a statement Wednesday calling on the government to extend the "critical transportation funding," specifically for BC Transit, TransLink and BC Ferries.

The feds provided $2.1 billion in funding to the province in December of 2020 as a way to help those sectors of the economy rebound from the impacts of COVID-19.

The three agencies received more than $1 billion in federal and provincial funding as a result.

“For our cities to remain competitive in a post-pandemic economy we must keep building transit-friendly communities and invest consistently in high quality transportation that reduces road congestion and greenhouse gas emission, keeps our goods moving efficiently on limited road space and offers an affordable transportation mode to all residents,” said Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran, co-chair of the caucus.

The caucus, which represents 13 municipalities and more than 55 per cent of the province's population, say investing in transportation has never been more important for economic recovery.

“Strong transportation networks are pivotal to our communities’ health, resilience, and economic recovery post-pandemic,” said Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps, caucus co-chair.

“We know that reliable public transit and transportation is a backbone to business and workforce revitalization, education and training enabling students to get to class, provides connections to new housing options and gives access for residents of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to community and health services.”

Transportation is one of the four strategic pillars identified by the mayors' caucus.



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