Public transit gets $12.7M boost from feds and province in Brampton and Peel Region

New electric buses, specialty vehicles and charging stations are coming to Brampton Transit’s fleet thanks to a funding boost of over $12 million from Ottawa and Queen’s Park.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was in Brampton for the second time in recent weeks to announce an influx of funds to the city’s public transit system which has seen ridership spike approximately 40 per cent since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Between the city, the feds and the province, the combined $17.4 million will go toward the city’s transit electrification efforts, including 15 made-in-Canada buses, new fare payment systems, two new electric TransHelp buses, new charging stations, and 23 new accessible buses to replace existing specialized transit vehicles.

Ottawa is pledging $6.97 million for the upgrades with the province pitching in another $5.8 million and the remaining $4.7 coming from the city.

Freeland said the funds will further the city’s public transit push and is a commitment “to making life better and easier for the people that live in this growing and vibrant community.”

Brampton Deputy Mayor Harkirat Singh said the funding will help the city address Brampton Transit’s “extraordinary growth” as well as support public transit connections across the region in Mississauga and Caledon.

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The city aims to purchase 10 more electric buses in 2025 and has cut a deal with the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) for $400 million to purchase 450 zero-emission buses over the next five years.

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Brampton Transit accounts for around 70 per cent of all of the city’s GHG emissions, and the transition to zero-emission buses in Brampton is expected to cut some 115 tonnes of CO2 emissions per bus every year – the equivalent of removing approximately 12,000 cars from Brampton roads.

The province made transit projects in Brampton a priority in its latest budget, including the Hazel McCallion LRT expansion into the city’s downtown.

The city has been pushing the feds for funding on the nearly $3 billion project, and while Freeland stopped short committing any funds to the LRT said the government is “always happy to keep on talking about ways that we can support public transit” in Brampton.

A report to Brampton City Council in April showed it would cost nearly $9 billion to decarbonize the entire Brampton Transit fleet.

Experts have recommended the city adopts a mixed-fleet option of electric and hydrogen buses that would cut Brampton Transit’s emissions to just a fraction and meet the city’s Brampton 2040 Vision goal of reducing GHGs to 40% of 2016 levels by 2040.