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Thursday, November 29, 2012

November 29, 2012

PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT HELPING MANITOBANS BECOME MORE INDEPENDENT THROUGH EXPANDING HANDI-TRANSIT FUNDING: LEMIEUX


Manitoba communities will benefit from enhanced funding for handi-transit services to help improve the quality of life for residents, through the expansion of the Regional Incentive Grant under the Mobility Disadvantaged Transportation Program (MDTP), Local Government Minister Ron Lemieux announced today.
“Providing Manitobans who have mobility issues with access to transportation helps maintain their quality of life and allows them to remain independent,” said Lemieux.  “We are pleased to expand this successful program, giving more communities the funds required to deliver handi-transit services.”
Four new Manitoba communities – Carman, Morden, The Pas and Lac du Bonnet – will now be eligible for this funding, bringing the total number of eligible regional handi-transit service providers to nine.
“Support for handi-transit services benefits residents and their communities, and we are pleased to see the expansion of these grants to assist even more communities,” said Doug Dobrowolski, president, Association of Manitoba Municipalities.
The province currently provides more than $1 million in annual operating and capital support for handi-transit services to 69 communities across Manitoba through the MDTP, which was introduced in 2011, Lemieux said.
Working with the Association of Manitoba Municipalities and individual municipalities over the past year, the province has revised the eligibility criteria to provide support to more communities that operate regional handi-transit services.
Regional incentive grants provide additional funds to encourage local handi-transit service providers to collaborate with other communities to maintain and expand the delivery of regional handi-transit services.
The Regional Incentive Grant program is available to handi-transit service providers who meet all of the following criteria:
  • provide a regional handi-transit service to two or more communities, 
  • serve a minimum combined population base of 5,000, and
  • receive a minimum 20 per cent of operating revenue from participating municipalities.
Funds for these grants are provided through the Building Manitoba Fund, which invests the equivalent of one percentage point of the provincial sales tax in transit and infrastructure projects that benefit Manitoba’s municipalities, the minister said.
“It’s important to build on the efforts of the many municipalities that already work hard to find ways of extending programs and services in their communities,” said Lemieux.  “We will work closely with the municipalities to help them partner with neighbouring municipalities and expand their options and opportunities to the benefit of everyone.”
For information on the Building Manitoba Fund and the Regional Incentive Grant Program, go to www.gov.mb.ca/ia/index.html.
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