$78 million in transit funding allocated for Kingston

It was a big day for Kingston Transit as politicians from all three levels of government made their grand entrance into the Kingston Transit garage in buses to make a special funding announcement on Friday.

MPP Mark Gerretsen took the lead, announcing the federal government’s portion of transit funding for Kingston and the Islands.

“The City of Kingston will receive over a 12-year period, $43 million,” Gerretsen said.

Area MP Sophie Kiwala announced the provincial funding, $35 million “to build new urban transit networks.”

Bay of Quinte will receive over $16 million and Hastings, Lennox and Addington will receive over $2 million towards transit infrastructure.

The funding is part of the “Building Ontario Up” program, which guarantees $30 billion towards infrastructure projects in Ontario over the next decade.

READ MORE: Kingston Transit to receive $77M from Ottawa and Queen’s Park to expand services over next decade

Funding priorities include public transit, green infrastructure, community, culture and recreation, and rural and northern community infrastructure.

“More buses, to have more express routes, to be delivering people from place to place in a more efficient and timely manner is remarkable, and I’m thrilled to see it continue” Gerretsen said.

READ MORE: $106 million earmarked for Guelph transit projects

The City of Kingston particularly welcomes the funding, after seeing a 33 per cent growth in ridership over the past five years.

“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve been able to do with transit in our community, how far we’ve come,” mayor Bryan Paterson said.

With the additional funding, the city hopes to provide improved transit services and take further steps towards its “smart city” vision.