New buses, smart fare cards and transit hubs coming to GOVA

The City of Greater Sudbury is moving into the next phase of its long term transit plan.

The first phase began in 2019 when the city rebranded its transit service as Gova, and remapped several of its routes to accommodate changing populations and ridership patterns across the city. 

Mayor Brian Bigger said Thursday phase two will focus on buying 53 new buses to replace the city's aging fleet.

"Obviously they'll need to be more efficient and better for the environment," Bigger said. 

The upgrades are possible due to three-tier funding from the federal, provincial and municipal governments, first announced in 2018, under the previous Ontario Liberal government. 

On Thursday, the federal government said it was giving the City of Greater Sudbury $39.7 million, while the Government of Ontario is contributes more than $33.1 million and the city pays more than $26.4 million.

The federal funds come from the federal Transit Infrastructure Stream (PTIS) of the Investing in Canada infrastructure plan.

In addition to the new fleet, the money will also help pay for two new transit hubs, as well as improvements at the downtown terminal.

"This is the construction of the major mobility hubs located at the New Sudbury Centre, downtown and the south end of the city," Bigger said. 

"Those hubs will be an important element as we move forward, as well as a very significant investment in the new priority corridors that we've set up along the three main connecting corridors."

The funds will also be used to bring smart card technology to city buses, which was also promised in 2018.