A number of major capital projects will be put forth by Airdrie Transit for public funding dollars after City council approved a request to move forward with applications to the provincial GreenTRIP program and the federal Public Transit Infrastructure Fund (PTIF) at its June 20 meeting.
Airdrie received $16.5 million in GreenTrip funding in 2015 as well as $2.78 million in 2012. The current cycle is the final time municipalities can submit applications for funding under the program, according to MacIsaac.
“What will be remaining in this fund for the third and final call (for applications) is $130 million for municipalities within the Calgary region, not necessarily only those members of the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP),” he said.
MacIsaac said any leftover dollars will be made available to the City of Calgary.
Airdrie Transit has previously used received GreenTRIP funding for projects including expanding the service’s fleet – mostly on the regional Intercity Express (ICE) bus routes – and the south transit terminal.
Purchasing land and designing a transit facility has also been funded, in part, by the program, according to MacIsaac. Construction of the facility has not yet been approved by council but is expected to come forward for endorsement in 2017.
Some of the projects MacIsaac said would be included in the next application are continuing to increase the size of Airdrie Transit’s fleet, completion of Phase 2 of the south transit terminal project – the addition of approximately 100 parking stalls for park-and-ride – and investment in technology.
“For GreenTRIP year three, we are proposing a contribution of just under $5.6 million,” he said.
The new PTIF program accepts applications to fund capital projects, however, MacIsaac said there were some restrictions under the program on what is and isn’t eligible for funding. The program will fund up to 50 per cent of the total cost of projects and there is a total of $354,000 available to Airdrie.
“How they came to that $354,000 number is based on our ridership levels from 2014,” he said. “They look at Alberta’s total ridership and then divvied the pot out based on percentage of ridership from all municipalities that provide transit services. The City of Calgary and the City of Edmonton both received the largest allotment of funds (in Alberta) under PTIF.”
The deadline to apply is July 29 and applications must be endorsed by both City council and CRP.
According to MacIsaac, Airdrie Transit will include projects in its PTIF application including consulting fees for future expansion, rehabilitation of ICE buses purchased in 2010, rehabilitation of transit zone improvements (for example, installing concrete pads at transit stops) and installing on-board cameras.
Some members of City council voiced a concern about the requirement that CRP endorse Airdrie’s funding applications, particularly for the GreenTRIP program, while at the same time applying for funding itself to support a regional transit pilot project based out of Okotoks.
“I don’t think there’s a concern there,” Mayor Peter Brown said. “I know there’s a request for the pilot project buses – I can’t recall how many – but I don’t think they’re being supported in this (GreenTRIP) request.”
Council unanimously endorsed supporting Airdrie Transit’s application to both the GreenTRIP and PTIF programs.
“I’m really excited about this,” Brown said. “I remember when we started in 2010 with what our GreenTRIP submission was at that time. It really provides a community asset for a lot of people.”
