11 major active transportation initiatives complete thanks to funding from Canada’s Public Transit Infrastructure Fund (PTIF)

Waterloo Region – Grand River Transit (GRT) in collaboration with the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener, and Waterloo have completed 11 major active transportation initiatives thanks to $5 million total in federal and municipal project funding through Canada’s Public Transit Infrastructure Fund (PTIF).

 “Investing in modern and integrated networks of multi-use trails and pathways that connect to public transit are essential to building healthy and sustainable communities for all Canadians to live, work, and raise their families in,” said the Honourable Bardish Chagger, Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth, and Member of Parliament for Waterloo. “The completion of these active transportation projects in Waterloo Region is great news for our residents, that will provide them with more options for getting around in safer, greener, and more affordable ways.”

“Investments that support active transportation are key to supporting sustainable transportation and keeping our region moving as our population grows,” says Regional Councillor Tom Galloway. “The completion of these projects makes it easier for residents to combine active transportation and transit to get where they need to go.”

Active transportation projects completed through the PTIF range from the design and construction of new shared-use trails connecting to ION stations (Mill, Laurier-Waterloo, Research and Technology), to the largest expansion of bike parking in GRT’s history (new bike shelters and more than 100 new bike racks installed throughout GRT’s network).  A map summarizing all of the completed major active transportation projects can be found at grt.ca/PTIF

Canada’s Public Transit Infrastructure Fund provides cost-shared funding to help accelerate municipal investments in transit systems. Since funding was announced four years ago, GRT’s PTIF projects have also included the purchase of new buses to modernize and expand the transit services fleet, new stations and passenger facilities improvements, and the introduction of new transit technologies. These projects were vital in providing seamless integration of transit and active transportation infrastructure for the launch of ION light rail transit and GRT’s bus network redesign in 2019 – a key initiative of GRT’s New Directions plan.

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