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Ministry of Transportation

McGuinty Government Gives Municipal Transit Another Boost

Sharing Gas Tax Helps Municipalities Deliver Greener Transportation Options

ST. CATHARINES, ON, Dec. 17 /CNW/ - The McGuinty government is providing $314 million in gas tax funding to 108 municipalities to help get more people out of their cars and onto public transit, Transportation Minister Jim Bradley announced today. "Our government has given municipalities a percentage of gas tax revenues to improve service and accessibility every year since 2004," said Bradley. "Over that time, ridership has increased by 68 million passenger trips, and further increases are f~recasted.'~

< < Provincial gas tax funding has delivered results for municipalities:

- St. Catharines purchased 15 new buses, including seven new fuel efficient hybrid diesel-electric buses, making transit a greener option for commuters.

- Greater Sudbury is improving transit service and customer convenience by purchasing six new buses, installing electronic fareboxes, adding new routes and more service to Laurentian University. In the coming year, real-time route information will help riders plan their trips.

- Mississauga added buses and 74,000 new service hours, providing more transportation choices for residents. > >

To date, the McGuinty government has provided over $1 billion in gas tax funding to municipalities. These crucial investments support sustainable growth and help build modern infrastructure across the province. I1Sustainedfunding is necessary to improving and expanding public transit systems across the provin~e,'~said Michael Roschlau, President and CEO of the Canadian Urban Transit Association. "The provincial gas tax program enables municipalities to make the sorts of improvements that encourage more transit ridership and reduces traffic congestion." "Transit is the antidote to gridlock," Bradley said. "Sharing a portion of the provincial gas tax helps municipalities deliver greener, healthier transportation options to their residents and improves Ontario's economic competitiveness."

< < Funding from the gas tax program is in addition to the governmentls other commitments to strengthen Ontario's public transit, which include: , Canada - News Page 2 of 7 - MoveOntario 2020, a $17.5-billion public transit investment - the largest build of its kind in Canadian history. This 12-year plan will help replace 300 million car trips per year

- An additional $830 million provided for strategic transit projects in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area through the 2006 MoveOntario initiative. This investment will help ease congestion, improve air quality and create jobs across the province

- Greater Toronto Transportation Authority, operating as - created to develop a seamless and sustainable regional transportation system for residents and businesses within the and Hamilton

- The Presto card - an integrated fare collection system that will eventually enable commuters to travel on public transit from Durham to Hamilton using a single transit card

- The High Occupancy Vehicle Lane Network plan - a 25-year project to add HOV and commuter bus lanes to the 400-series highways and the Greater Golden Horseshoe that will ease congestion and offer faster, more reliable commute times to carpoolers and transit users and

- ReNew Ontario - the government's infrastructure investment plan. In ReNew Ontario's first five years, the government will have invested $11.4 billion in public transit, highways, borders and other transportation.

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--www . mto . aov . on.ca

Backgrounder ......

BREAKDOWN OF PROVINCIAL GAS TAX FUNDING PER MUNICIPALITY 2007/2008 > >

The McGuinty government has launched the fourth year of its provincial gas tax program, giving $314 million into public transit from October 2007 to September 2008. The program provides two cents of the tax revenues from every litre of gasoline sold in Ontario to municipalities for public transit. The province has developed an equitable system to distribute gas tax funding. This funding formula meets the needs of large municipalities with established transit systems and smaller municipalities with different transit demands. The formula is based on a ratio of 70 per cent ridership and 30 per cent population. This means that 70 per cent of the projected 2007/08 allocation ($220 million) will be distributed to municipalities on the basis of their transit ridership levels and 30 per cent ($94 million) will be distributed on the basis of their population.

Municipality Gas Tax Allocation ...... Barrie $1,892,771 ...... Backgrounder Document d'information Ministry of Transportation Ministere des Transports

December 17,2007

BMAKDOWN OF PROVINCIAL GAS TAX FUNDING PER MUNICIPALITY 200712008

The McGuinty government has launched the fourth year of its provincial gas tax program, giving $3 14 million into public transit from October 2007 to September 2008. The program provides two cents of the tax revenues from every litre of gasoline sold in Ontario to municipalities for public transit.

The province has developed an equitable system to distribute gas tax funding. This funding formula meets the needs of large municipalities with established transit systems and smaller municipalities with different transit demands.

The formula is based on a ratio of 70 per cent ridership and 30 per cent population. This means that 70 per cent of the projected 2007108 allocation ($220 million) will be distributed to municipalities on the basis of their transit ridership levels and 30 per cent ($94 million) will be distributed on the basis of their population.

Gas Tax Allocation Barrie $1,892,771 Belleville $707.803 Blind River $17,025 Brampton $6,843,401 Brantford $1,236,065

Chapleau $19,712 Chatham-Kent $829.971 Clarence-Rockland $248,086 Cobowg $1 85,949 Cochrane $27,994 Collingwood $164,265 Cornwall $550,214 Dryden $7 1,762 Durham Region $7,186,949 Dysart $12,143 Elliot Lake $141,550 1 Espanola / $13,497 I Fort Erie 1 $172,707 I Fort Frances Greenstone $15,487 Guelph $2,625,440 Halton Hills $151,790 Hamilton $1 1,209,240 Hanover $370,234 Hearst $34,45 1 Huntsville $57,753 Ingersoll $66,28 1 Kapuskasing $45,334 Kawartha Lakes $656,729 Kenora $153,058 Kingston $1,969,117 Lanark County $176,246 LaSalle $33,164 Leamington $157,75 1 London $8,951,377 Loyalist Township $154,095 Machin $10,567 Meaford $49,193 Midland $133,585 Milton $3 17,859 Mississauga $1 5,477,828 Niagara Falls $1,141,019 Niagara Region $620,085 North Bay $1,195,138 North Huron $70,862 I ~orthPerth j $20;425 Oakville $2,292,327 Orangeville $215,286 Orillia $352,178

Ottawa $35.948.701, , Owen Sound $268,369 Peel $681,339 Pembroke $118.922 Perth East $42,6 16 Peterborough City $1,444,272 Peterborough County $58,844 Point Edward $25.262 Port Colbome $101,792 $148,273 Port Hope.A, Town Prince Edward County $37,500 Ouinte. West $21 5,493 Renfrew 1 $182;988 Samia $915,438 Sault Ste Marie $1.171.137 ( Schneber 1 $24,508 St Catharines $2,494,14 1 St Marvs $74.622 St Thomas $428,013 Stratford $455,440 Sudbury (Greater) $2,753,279 Temiskaming Shores $99,203 Thorold $249,993

Thunder Bav $1,898,649, , Timmins $639,081 Toronto $161,225,413 Trent Hills $47,699 Waterloo Region $8,538,324 Wawa (was Michipicoten) $30,293

West Perth (was Mitchell) $42,953 Windsor $3.75 1,272 1 Woodstock 1 $391,224 / York Region / $13,486,460

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Contact: Bob Nichols Ministry of Transportation 41 6-32 7-1158

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