Cities ask parties to pledge transit help after pandemic eats into ridership revenues

OTTAWA — Canada’s municipal leaders are asking federal parties for promises to pump more money into local transit systems to combat pandemic-induced declines in revenues.

Ridership dropped precipitously last year when public health officials ordered all non-essential workers to stay home, depriving municipal coffers of the money needed to run and maintain buses, subways and light-rail systems.

Halifax Mayor Mike Savage notes his city was losing between $2 million and $4 million a month.

Savage and other leaders with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities are asking federal parties to commit themselves to providing multi-year funding for cities to close the budgetary gap if any are elected to govern.