By Staff
January 15th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Years ago: A citizen telling city staff and former Mayor Rick Golding how unhappy he was about transit service.
Today, Member of Parliament Adam Van Koeverden, alongside Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, announced nearly $14 million in funding for Burlington’s public transit infrastructure through the Baseline Funding stream of the Canada Public Transit Fund (CPTF).
This funding, which will be delivered over 10 years from 2026 until 2036, will help advance key improvements to Burlington’s public transit system.
Mayor Meed Ward during a Council meeting.
The city aims to grow Burlington Transit’s annual ridership to meet the needs of the growing local population, and providing predictable funding will help with long-term planning. Funding will also contribute toward upgrading, replacing, or modernizing current public transit and active transportation infrastructure.
Baseline funding is conditional on the City of Burlington submitting a capital plan, and the subsequent signing of a funding agreement.
The Canada Public Transit Fund is the largest public transit investment in Canadian history. It is designed to meet the unique needs of communities of all sizes, from large metropolitan areas to mid-size and smaller communities, including rural, remote, northern and Indigenous communities.
The CPTF will deliver stable funding for municipalities and transit agencies, providing them with the resources they need to plan and implement key public transit projects that will meet their needs for decades.
L-R: Hassaan Basit, City of Burlington CAO; Jacqueline Johnson, City of Burlington, Commissioner, Community Services; Catherine Baldelli, Director, Burlington Transit; City of Burlington Ward 1 Councillor Kelvin Galbraith; City of Burlington Deputy Mayor of Environment and Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan; Adam Van Koeverden, Member of Parliament for Milton; City of Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward; Gary Carr, Halton Region Chair; City of Burlington Ward 6 Councillor Angelo Bentivegna; City of Burlington Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte
Councillor Paul Sharman: Not this time.
While there are many who are not all that keen on increasing transit, including ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman, Mayor Meed Ward deserves credit for her consistent effort to make transit work in the city.
The next step is for the city to sharpen its pencils and create a capital plan that the federal government will accept.
Burlington got this funding because the city has shown that it understands that public transit is a solution – not an expense.
Hopefully, a faint hope, the city will go to the public early in this process asking what they think is needed and not do a survey once decisions have been made.
The Liberals know they wont be in power soon so might as well make spending announcements to save as many seats as they can. The “solution” to over the top deficit spending for taxpayers is to toss them out.
Looks like an expense to me. If its not an expense then the COB budget expense line items will not be going up either, because there are no longer expenses in Burlington just solutions. Put another way Burlingtons solutions will be increased by 7.51% in 2025
Here we go again. 14 million dollars over 10 years is roughly one 40 passenger electric bus per year. This is dependent on the city providing a capital plan that is agreeable to the Federal government. So how much to we have to spend of our money to get theirs? As my dad would say, “always look at what appears to be a gift horse in the mouth.” The statement ” Burlington got this funding because the city has shown that it understands that public transit is a solution -not an expense”
needs investigating. What solution? Congestion and gridlock will continue. Not an expense. Check the Burlington city budget for Transit in 2026. Millions of dollars as an expense to provide the current service and more for the future.
I agree with your analysis of this focus and expense of electric buses. The only time I ever see a number of people on the bus is when a couple of the high schools on the bus route are let out. The City’s approach to transportation is not based on the reality of the needs of the residents of the community–most are time poor and so are going to use the most time efficient method of transportation for shopping, recreation, and work–and that is the automobile. The City is expecting massive population growth with almost zero improvement in the transportation infrastructure; most of these new residents will have a car–almost necessary to get shopping and recreation done in a timely manner. This is simply a prescription for congestion.
Boy, do I ever agree with Caren and Graham. What a bloody waste of taxpayers bucks.
What a joke this is!! Near empty Buses running around all over Burlington with 2 or possibly 3 passengers per bus if you’re lucky in their seats. What a waste of tax payer dollars re Bus driver salaries, fuel, excess emissions etc. Driver salaries + benefits + Omers Pension etc.
No wonder our Property Taxes are out of control!!!
Totally not needed or necessary.
Wonderful.We get new shiny buses running around empty.Where is the data that supports this use of our money?