A report from the Department of Infrastructure says “private capital” is necessary to bring back public transportation. .According to Statistics Canada, the number of people using public transit across the country is still lower than before the pandemic. .According to Blacklock’s Reporter, this is causing operators to lose more than $46 million every month..“We heard the immense need for and the associated costs of major public transit projects cannot be met by governments on their own,” said the report. . IMAGE Private cash in public transit .“There was interest in exploring the role of alternative financing and public-private partnerships.”.The report Permanent, Integrated and Locally Responsive: New Foundations for Public Transit Funding in Canada summarized public comment on a 2021 cabinet pledge to federalize operating subsidies for municipal transit systems permanently. Cabinet has proposed a yearly $3 billion grant beginning in 2026..The Permanent report said “private capital” remains another option for operators. “Over the next months, the government will work closely with our transit partners on the path forward,” it said..According to a July 19 report from StatsCan, it was found that the money earned from bus fares across the country is $46.1 million less each month compared to before the pandemic. .The number of people using public transportation nationwide is 22% lower than before the pandemic..“The pandemic has dramatically reduced ridership,” the Canadian Urban Transit Association (UTA) wrote in a 2023 budget submission to the Commons Finance committee. .“Without adequate funding, public transit agencies will have no choice but to reduce service and operations.”.Marco D’Angelo, CEO of the UTA, testified on Nov. 23 at the Commons Transport committee that ongoing subsidies will be needed “until the economy recovers and ridership gets back to normal.”.He said operators such as the Toronto Transit Commission have taken as long as 18 years to recover from past declines..“Most agencies are expecting to find revenue shortfalls,” said D’Angelo. .“Our members cannot be forced to make service cuts. That will make a full economic recovery simply out of reach.”.Cabinet, from the outbreak of the pandemic, budgeted $2.35 billion in special transit grants under a Safe Restart Agreement, the first direct federal subsidy of transit fares..Funding was prompted by the threatened 2020 layoff of 1,500 drivers and conductors by one of Canada’s largest transit operators, the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority..On Feb. 17, 2022, the Cabinet agreed to give an additional $750 million, which the Department of Finance called a “one-time payment.”.Before, Parliament had said no to giving money directly to help pay for municipal bus rides..In 2005, a special fund called the Gas Tax Fund was created, but it only provided money for things such as building projects, not to cover the costs of buses when only a few people were riding them.
