Government allocates $100 million for Active Transportation
New active transportation funding will allow the BC Government to connect community cycling networks across the province.
The British Columbia government announced its Budget 2023 on February 28, and there is exciting news for people who use active transportation. The government has committed to significantly increasing funding for the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI) active transportation capital projects, totalling $100 million new funding over the next three years. This investment is in addition to the $24 million per year that the province distributes among the municipalities across the province as part of the B.C. Active Transportation Infrastructure Grants Program (BCATIG).
This new $100 million investment is the Province’s largest single funding commitment to active transportation. It will go towards building new regionally and provincially significant bike lanes, improving pedestrian crossings, and creating safer spaces for people who use active transportation in British Columbia. It is a crucial step towards creating an equitable, sustainable and accessible transportation system that benefits all road users in the province.
Most communities lack safe, connected and accessible walking and cycling routes, discouraging people from choosing active transportation options, so the new funding is welcome.
As we begin the consultation process for the 2024 provincial budget, we will work closely with the government and highlight the need to continually increase its critical investments in active transportation infrastructure across British Columbia. If funding could be increased to at least $100 million/year, it would enable our municipalities to make vital improvements to truly transform our province. To put this in perspective, $100 million is less than the cost of widening just four km of Highway 1 in the Fraser Valley.
Increased funding will result in more vibrant, healthy, and sustainable communities by reducing vehicle kilometres travelled, and will help reach the CleanBC goal to double the percentage of trips taken by active transportation by 2030.
“On behalf of the cycling and vulnerable road user communities across the province, I would like to express our gratitude for the recent announcement of $100 million going towards active transportation in the province of British Columbia.” said Mike Koski, Executive Director of the B.C. Cycling Coalition. “By prioritizing active transportation infrastructure, the government is taking a significant step towards building a more livable, sustainable, and equitable province for all residents.”