Ontario’s Premier Kathleen Wynne and Transport Minister Steven Del Duca announced a new funding instrument for transport projects across the province. Starting in 2019, Ontario will be increasing funding for local transit through an enhancement to the existing gas tax program, doubling the municipal share from 2 cents per litre to 4 cents by 2021. There will be no increase in the tax that people in Ontario pay on gasoline as a result of the enhancement to the program.
Cities and towns receiving the new funding are able to plan for and make major infrastructure upgrades, buy additional transit vehicles, add more routes, extend hours of service, implement fare strategies and improve accessibility.
Ontario recognizes that commuters need reliable transit options before revenue-generating measures such as road tolls are implemented. For example, the ongoing GO Regional Express Rail project will not be completed and in service before 2024. That is why the province is not supporting plans for municipal road tolls at this time. This new investment, along with Ontario’s CAD 31.5 billion (EUR 22.5 billion) transit and transport investment across the province, will support more buses in cities like Thunder Bay and Windsor, new LRT lines in Waterloo and Ottawa, and GO Regional Express Rail in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, including SmartTrack in Toronto.
“We’ve heard loud and clear from municipalities that they need more sustainable funding for public transit to keep up with the demand to provide more service. By modernizing Ontario’s gas tax program we are helping municipalities improve their local transit service so people can easily get where they need to be,” Transport minister said.
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