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Free Press files<\/p>\n
A rapid transit bus pulls into Osborne Station.<\/p>\n
Other cities build. Winnipeg waits.<\/p>\n
Since the mayor and council were elected in October 2022, Winnipeg has had one of the weakest records among major Canadian cities for advancing rapid transit and securing federal cost-sharing. <\/p>\n
That record deserves scrutiny in this campaign.<\/p>\n
Timing is critical. The federal Canada Public Transit Fund will provide $25 billion over 10 years beginning in 2026-27. Based on population and ridership, Manitoba should target at least $900 million of that, chiefly for Winnipeg Transit. The $51-billion Build Communities Strong fund offers further funding opportunities for transit improvements.<\/p>\n
But federal money rewards cities with up-to-date transit plans and projects ready to advance. Applicants must submit a 10-year regional transit investment program for review. Delaying the Transit Master Plan update weakens Winnipeg\u2019s hand precisely as national competition for those infrastructure dollars intensifies.<\/p>\n
For years, city hall has said Winnipeg cannot solve its infrastructure deficits without more senior-government help. Now that record transit funding is on the table, the city has put off the planning required to maximize it. You cannot plead for funding and then hesitate when it is offered.<\/p>\n
While other Canadian cities recognize they cannot pave their way out of congestion simply by expanding roads, Winnipeg\u2019s leadership wants to take an opposite path. The city continues to chase senior-government funding for the Chief Peguis Trail extension and Route 90 widening \u2014 over $1 billion combined, with highly contested economic benefits \u2014 while only $5.8 million has been budgeted for preliminary design of the next phase of rapid transit.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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Roads matter. But Winnipeg already struggles to maintain the infrastructure it has. New road capacity tends to invite more driving through induced demand and with it more congestion, maintenance costs, taxes and pollution. Transportation produces nearly half of Winnipeg\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions and swapping gasoline and diesel vehicles for electric ones will not fix congestion or the high cost of building and maintaining more roads for car-dependent suburban and exurban development.<\/p>\n
Expanding transit service, especially rapid transit, is not a luxury for a growing city. It connects people to jobs, schools, health care and essential services. For many newcomers, students, seniors and lower-income households, it is the only practical alternative to the high cost of owning and operating a car. Good transit also supports downtown renewal, affordable housing and the province\u2019s new Path to Net Zero climate strategy.<\/p>\n
Few cities have a more compelling economic case for bus rapid transit than Winnipeg. We are home to New Flyer Industries, North America\u2019s leading transit bus manufacturer. Investing in BRT keeps capital circulating locally, supports advanced manufacturing jobs and showcases Winnipeg-built zero-emission buses, powered by clean Manitoba electricity.<\/p>\n
Current transit safety and service problems must be fixed. But Winnipeg also needs leaders who will refuse to let the city\u2019s rapid transit network fall even further behind the cities across Canada we compete with. This election, voters should ask every candidate a simple question: Will you make funding and building rapid transit a priority or keep Winnipeggers waiting?<\/p>\n
Ken Klassen is a Winnipeg engineering technologist and consultant specializing in sustainable homes, buildings, communities and energy policy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Winnipeg\u2019s civic election campaign has produced no shortage of promises to improve transit safety and fix problems with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":926354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-926353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=926353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/926354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=926353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=926353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=926353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}