Federal Minister of International Trade Stockwell Day will be in Metro Vancouver today to announce funding for a variety of new transit vehicles, including buses and SkyTrain cars, and to re-announce the addition of a third SeaBus vessel.
Federal money for the vehicles comes in part from the Gas Tax Fund, which is administered by the Union of British Columbia Municipalities.
On Wednesday, TransLink spokesman Drew Snider said some of the vehicles, such as a new $25-million SeaBus and some of the new buses, have already been announced or delivered.
For example, he said, 44 new buses that were paid for as part of the federal fund were recently allocated to North Vancouver routes.
Many of the buses provide increased accessibility for seniors and people with disabilities.
"It's a chance to give some acknowledgement to the fact that the federal government and the UBCM have been very instrumental in bringing these together," Snider said of today's event, which will take place at the SeaBus maintenance facility in North Vancouver.
Snider added that Day, who is also the minister responsible for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, will make additional new announcements discussing vehicles that will be added to the TransLink fleet in the coming few years as a result of new commitments from the federal fund.
Snider would not go into specifics about the new vehicles, but said the dollar figure for the entire announcement will be "big."
British Columbia can access $483 million through the Gas Tax Fund between 2007 and 2010, a federal government website says, and an additional $1 billion from 2010 to 2014.
This does not include money the province can access through the federal Building Canada Fund, which comprises $1 billion in funding for infrastructure projects in B.C.
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