As the City of Ottawa released its proposed plan for the Ottawa LRT including a tunnel through the downtown core, the issue of funding has yet to be addressed. While the City of Ottawa has committed its share of the funding, the proposed plan is dependent on the Federal and Provincial governments each paying 1/3rd of the cost.
On March 17th, the City formally requested funding from both levels of government. The Federal Government has already committed $200 million towards the LRT Plan, however, this remains short of the 1/3rd requested by the City. Ontario’s Municipal Affaires Minister Jim Watson raised key concerns about the cost-effectiveness of the plan and the LRT’s ability to attract an appropriate level of ridership. Until these issues are addressed, the Minister has refused to commit funding towards the plan.
A third option not considered by the City of Ottawa is the involvement of the Private sector in financing the plan. In the event that Federal and Provincial funding is not secured, the city ought to explore an innovative third option that involves the private real estate developers similar to a plan proposed by Vancouver’s Translink.
