Hello everyone,
The City of Winnipeg has released a preliminary 2022 budget.
There are two things we think you should know:
First, In 2021 City Council made a 6% cut in Transit’s operating budget due to COVID-19. The 2022 budget carries that cut forward, arguing that use has not yet rebounded. Transit service is already frustrating and undependable due to longterm underfunding of service, this cut made it worse. Waiting until pre-pandemic demand returns before restoring cuts is exactly backwards: people aren’t going to go back to Transit until their normal route service returns.
Second, in our opinion, the Downtown Corridor Study and Frequent Service Network are the two transformative elements of the Transit Master Plan and are among the lowest priced elements. They vastly improve the efficiency and frequency of service, but aren’t scheduled to begin design until 2025. We need those improvements immediately. They should be moved forward to 2022. The cost to the City of Winnipeg for the first year of spending on these items is $365K and $1.6M, respectively. That’s peanuts.
We need immediate action on reducing costs to road maintenance, reducing the carbon emissions of vehicles and improving transit service. Restoring transit’s budget and spending by only $1.9M is by far the best way to accomplish those goals.
If you are willing to speak before city council to express your hopes for the 2022 budget, please register! Your voice is so important, and helping Councillors understand that this is a vital issue could have incredible impact.
You can email cityclerks@winnipeg.ca by 4:30pm on Thursday December 9th to be registered to speak at the Friday December 10th budget meeting. You can speak either in person or via Zoom.
We’ll be there, and if you can’t make it please contact your City Councillor directly. We have an opportunity to reverse cuts and build a brighter future for Transit.
Thank you.
Kyle Owens
President