Winnipeg rapid transit corridors may be ineligible for federal funds

Winnipeg's bus corridors may not be eligible for $80 million worth of federal funds earmarked for transit projects in Manitoba over the next three years.

The City of Winnipeg is in the process of completing the Southwest Transitway, the city's first rapid-transit corridor, which currently runs from downtown to Jubilee Avenue. The city has started construction on an extension to the University of Manitoba that comes with a total price tag of $587 million, including drainage work and the widening of the Pembina Highway underpass at Jubilee Avenue.

The next transit corridor on the city's priority list is the East Transitway, which would connect downtown to Transcona. The project is in the early stages of planning.

Earlier this year, the Trudeau government pledged to make $80 million available for Manitoba transit projects. On Tuesday, Winnipeg Transit director Dave Wardrop told council's public works committee the city's transit corridors may not be eligible for that money, along with $80 million worth of matching provincial transit funds, under the criteria laid out by the Trudeau government.

In order to be eligible, it appears the projects in question must be completed by 2018, Wardrop said. Right now, the East Transitway does not have a route, let alone a tentative start date. The Southwest Transitway might be completed by 2020.

Nonetheless, Wardrop said it would be premature to rule out federal funding for transitways altogether. The City of Winnipeg is waiting to hear from Ottawa about whether components of the Southwest Transitway or East Transitway, including bike-and-pedestrian corridors, could be deemed eligible.

Winnipeg Transit is also exploring whether federal funding can be applied to city bus purchases. On Tuesday, council's public works committee voted to hold off on a $16-million purchase of 30 new buses for one month to allow Transit to discern whether bus purchases are eligible.