The city has another $2.25 million to offset Barrie Transit’s operating costs this year.
The province announced Thursday that it is providing $375 million through the gas-tax program to help 109 municipalities across Ontario operate and expand public transit. The funding will come as soon as possible, the province says.
Barrie’s $2.25-million share is already built into the 2021 transit budget, which has a net operating request of $13.5 million this year, an 0.8 per cent increase. City council begins its 2021 operating and capital budget talks on Monday, Jan. 18.
“Historically, council had made the decision to ultimately allocate it (the gas-tax money) to our operating budget to help with maintaining the services,” said Brent Forsyth, Barrie’s director of transit and parking strategy. “The funding received this year is especially needed to help the city recover from the impacts of the pandemic and to meet the demands of the ridership.”
At full lockdown Barrie Transit had as little as 25 per cent of its pre-COVID ridership, Forsyth said. It rose to about 50 per cent, he said, but has dipped again in the last few weeks.
“It will come back once the vaccine is out there a little more,” Forsyth said. “With return to school and the (Georgian) college…that’s really where we’ll see the ridership continue to come back up again, when we see more in-class learning.”
Since last August, all Barrie Transit buses have had protective, plexiglass shields to provide a safety barrier between riders and bus drivers. Masks are mandatory on public transit. Capacity on the buses has been limited and there’s physical distancing.
Forsyth said the gas-tax funding fluctuates from year to year, but not by great amounts.
“This annual funding is used to help offset the operating costs of the city’s transit system,” he said. “It allows the City of Barrie to provide an enhanced level of service through increased coverage, frequency and reliability.”
With all of Ontario only a day into a provincial stay-at-home order, the government says public transit is crucial.
“Supporting transit systems is more important than ever as municipalities across Ontario struggle during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney. “This (gas-tax) funding will help ensure people have access to safe, reliable transportation to get to work or pick up essential items like a prescription.”
“Ontario has placed immense value on public transit to help front-line workers get to and from work each day throughout the pandemic,” said Kelly Paleczny, of Ontario’s Public Transit Association. “This funding is crucial to communities across the province in the fight against COVID-19 and will play an important role in Ontario's economic recovery.”
Gas-tax program funding is determined by the number of litres of gasoline sold in the province during the previous year. Municipalities with public transit services receive two cents per litre of provincial gas-tax revenue collected. This funding can be used to extend service hours, buy transit vehicles, add routes, improve accessibility or upgrade infrastructure.
The Safe Restart Agreement, announced last July, had $2 billion in provincial and federal funding to support municipal transit systems with operating costs like vehicle maintenance and employee wages, revenue losses from the pandemic and related costs, such as installing driver protection barriers.
Barrie received $6.6 million in municipal funding and an additional $2.6 million for transit, for a total of almost $9.2 million.
The funding is to address priority 2020 COVID-19 operating costs and pressures. Any excess funding is to be put into a reserve to support COVID-19 operating costs and pressures that might occur this year.
Barrie got an extra $1.3 million in December, in general Safe Restart funding, and Forsyth expects another round of transit funding to be announced this month.
