Three Bay of Quinte municipalities are splitting almost $1 million in Provincial Government funding as part of Ontario’s Safe Restart Agreement.
The money is being used across the province to help cities and towns continue to deliver critical transit services, despite drops in ridership due to COVID-19.
In this most recent batch of funding, Belleville is getting just over $871,000, Quinte West gets a little more than $87,500 and Prince Edward County gets just under $9,000.
Belleville Mayor Mitch Panciuk tells Quinte News the money has made a big difference in continuing to operate what the city sees as an “essential service”.
“So many people rely on it to get to the grocery store, or medical appointments, or the bank, or to get to work. This funding helps us to make up for a loss in revenue because of ridership going down, so it’s been really important to keep our transit operations going and we’re really grateful to the Province of Ontario.”
The money, which comes from a $2 billion provincial and federal fund, is handed out based on a ridership-based formula.
Through all three phases so far, Belleville has been given almost $3 million, Quinte West more than $328,000 and Prince Edward County almost $70,000.
