Mississauga, Ontario, June 23, 2008 - Today, Mayor Hazel McCallion, Wajid Khan, Member of Parliament for Mississauga–Streetsville, and Peter Fonseca, MPP for Mississauga East-Cooksville and Minister of Tourism, opened the City of Mississauga's new transit body shop to further the City's goal of improving transit and to prepare for the increase in ridership.
"We all know how important public transit is and with funding from the City, federal and provincial governments, we are doing everything we can to make improvements and show our commitment to ensuring our transit system meets the needs of our residents," said Mayor Hazel McCallion. "This new body shop is the first phase of our transit campus expansion plan. We are entering an era of tremendous change in transit, from an operations standpoint and growth in ridership."
The Mississauga Transit Campus Expansion project is funded by the Government of Canada through the federal Gas Tax Fund. A total of $76.8 million will have been invested in the project by its completion in 2010. The project addresses the expanded operational requirements related to the City's growing transit service by building a new body shop, a new bus storage garage for 120 buses, a new bus repair garage and renovating existing facilities at its Central Parkway West campus.
The Government of Canada also provided funding to the City in 2008 to grow Mississauga Transit's total bus fleet by seven buses per year and to help replace several of its older buses; all part of Mississauga Transit's five-year Transit Ridership Growth Strategy.
"The federal Gas Tax Fund, which was extended to 2014 and will become permanent beyond 2014 at $2 billion per year, allows municipalities to plan better and to meet their infrastructure needs, including support for public transit," said MP Khan. "This newly completed body shop is an example of partners working together for the benefit of our community. The Government of Canada is clearly committed to improving public infrastructure through our $33 billion Building Canada Plan."
Mississauga Transit's Ridership Growth Strategy, has set a target to increase ridership by 25 percent over five years. Since 2004, Ontario has provided $49 million in gas tax funding to Mississauga to support the strategy.
The Province has allocated $5.6 million to the City of Mississauga through the 2008 Ontario Bus Replacement Program. Also, the Province has provided $7.7 million toward the cost of replacing 35, 60-foot Mississauga Transit buses in 2007. As announced in the 2008 Provincial Budget, $18.7 million was provided to purchase 22 diesel-electric hybrid buses, $6 million for transit studies and $1.8 million for a pedestrian overpass at the Cooksville GO Station.
"Mississauga residents want transportation options that are not only better for the environment, but also quick and convenient," said Peter Fonseca, MPP for Mississauga East-Cooksville and Minister of Tourism. "We have invested $176 million over the last five years in public transit for Mississauga. And with our $17.5 billion MoveOntario 2020 plan, commuters will benefit even more."
The body shop is one of the new facilities being constructed under the multi-year Campus Expansion Project, which will transform Mississauga Transit's operational facilities at its Central Parkway Campus.
"The federal Gas Tax Fund and the Ontario Government's transit and infrastructure programs recognize that all three orders of government must work together to address the pressing need for infrastructure and transit investment in Ontario," said Doug Reycraft, President of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO). "Federal and provincial infrastructure funding is critical to the competitiveness, environmental sustainability and future prosperity of Ontario's communities."
Mississauga is Canada's sixth largest city with a population of more than 700,000. With well-established infrastructure and state of the art facilities, the City is considered to be an employer of choice, delivering quality municipal programs and services to its citizens. Mississauga is a dynamic, diverse, and progressive municipality, known for its economic strength and for being Canada's safest city.
For more information, visit www.infrastructure.gc.ca.
Catherine Monast
Team Leader Media/External Communications
Catherine.monast@mississauga.ca
905-615-3200-5046
TTY 905-896-5151
Infrastructure Canada
613-948-1148
