Communities that support public transit in Windsor-Essex are getting a boost from the Ontario government.
The province is providing a total of $375-million in gas tax funding to help 109 Ontario municipalities operate and expand public transportation. The announcement was made Thursday by Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney.
"Our government is committed to helping municipalities sustain and improve public transit throughout the province," said Mulroney. "Supporting transit systems is more important than ever as municipalities across Ontario struggle during the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding will help ensure people have access to safe, reliable transportation to get to work or pick up essential items like a prescription."
Over $5.1-million of the funding goes to Windsor-Essex municipalities that have public transit in some form. The amount received by Windsor-Essex communities is as follows, to be distributed as soon as possible.
- Windsor - $4,546,653
- LaSalle - $286,250
- Leamington/Kingsville - $231,587
- Tecumseh - $73,220
The 109 communities receiving funding have public transit systems that serve a total of 144 Ontario municipalities, accounting for 92 per cent of the population.
With COVID-19 affecting public transit and ridership, systems like Transit Windsor benefit from the gas tax revenue. According to figures released by the city of Windsor on Thursday, ridership declined from over 40,600 people in late November, to over 20,300 in the first week of the new year. Ridership is down 77 per cent from pre-pandemic totals.
BlackburnNewsWindsor.com has reached out to Transit Windsor for reaction on the gas tax funding, but have not yet heard back.