Trudeau outlines details of $30B, 10-year fund for public transit

Applications opened Wednesday for two streams in the federal government's new $30-billion public transit fund, even though the money won't start flowing for another two years, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

The Canada Public Transit Fund has been in the works for months and was promised in the recent federal budget. More details were shared when Trudeau made a visit to a subway yard in Toronto on Wednesday.

The program is intended to be permanent, although it is currently funded for only 10 years.

"We're stepping up with the kind of predictable, long-term transit funding that means our partners, like the City of Toronto and [Mayor]Olivia Chow, can plan for not just the next couple of years, but for the next decade and beyond," Trudeau said.

That money will be divided into three categories: baseline funding for existing infrastructure, metro-region agreements for Canada's biggest cities and funding for specific things like rural communities, Indigenous communities and active transportation.

The Liberals say this will complement the Housing Accelerator Fund by tying housing money to projects that are near public transit hubs.

The plan includes eliminating mandatory minimum parking requirements for new construction and allowing high-density housing projects near transit.

While the money isn't set to flow until 2026, cities can start planning now, with applications open for the baseline funding and metro agreements.

Housing Minister Sean Fraser said in an interview Wednesday that it's important for public infrastructure like transit to be built in a way that will be resilient to the effects of severe weather events.

Major roadways in Toronto, where Trudeau met with Chow, were hit by a flash flood on Tuesday. Parts of the city saw a month's worth of rain in a single day, beating a previous record set in 1941.

While some drivers were forced to abandon their vehicles on flooded streets, transit systems also saw surges of water.

"If you think something is expensive to build the right way, try building it twice," Fraser said.

"We need to work very closely with municipal officials, with provincial officials, and make available the best information we have to ensure the systems that we invest money into are built in a way that will deliver the greatest return on that investment over time and that includes consideration of the impact of severe weather events on the infrastructure that we build today."

A coalition of environmental groups and transit advocates called the announcement toothless on Wednesday, saying the federal government announced a program that focuses only on physical infrastructure and doesn't actually fund transit service.

"A lack of public transit operating funding means buses don't show up on time, riders spend more time waiting and fares continue to climb faster than inflation," Nate Wallace, Environmental Defence's clean transportation program manager, said in a news release.

"It will result in continued growth of transit vehicle fleets that cities can't actually afford to put into service."

Shelagh Pizey-Allen, the executive director of TTC Riders, said it would be better if funding was available immediately, and if it could be used to make transit service more frequent rather than more expansive.

The Canadian Urban Transit Association welcomed the launch, saying in a statement that it has long championed the need for permanent federal transit funding.

The group highlighted the baseline and program funding, saying that will help with fleet replacement and maintenance, while also reducing congestion and promoting regional and economic growth.