Funding for a new indoor transit station with public washrooms and bike racks was announced Thursday, along with money for four new buses.

Mayor Dan Curtis, Yukon MP Larry Bagnell and Community Services Minister John Streicker held a joint press conference in city council chambers to announce the projects and others. They will largely be covered with funding coming from Ottawa and the Yukon government.

Of the money unveiled, $2.2 million is earmarked for the new 40-foot, fully-accessible buses, with $1.65 million coming from the federal government and $550,000 from the Yukon.

A further $975,000 was announced for construction of the transit facility as part of the city’s new services building, with $675,000 coming from Ottawa, $225,000 from the Yukon government and $225,000 from the city.

The mayor explained the new station or hub will be located approximately where the current 1950s-era fire hall sits next to city hall.

It’s being incorporated into the design of the new services building that will be located on the fire hall site, and will be attached to city hall.

Curtis said the hub will provide transit patrons with a warm and comfortable waiting area.

It will be complete with washrooms and TV screens that will be outfitted with an application to keep riders apprised of the transit schedule.

He hopes the hub will also provide indoor access to the rest of the new building.

The city’s transit story is one of success, Curtis said. It started with the vision of city councils before he was elected seven years ago,

He said ridership has grown in the last few years from more than 500,000 annually to 708,000 last year.

The new hub is a continuation of improving the service and enticing more residents to use the buses, he suggested.

The retrofit and renovation to city hall and construction of the new services building is budgeted at $15 million, now $16 million with the addition of the new hub as part of the services building.

Curtis said he expects the new structure will be occupied before this council’s term in office ends in October 2021.

“If you want people to use transit, you have to make it easy for them,” Bagnell said. “You have to facilitate it.”

He said the hub will provide a warm and comfortable waiting area. It will be complete with bike racks, so that if you ride down to work and don’t feel like riding back up to home, there will be a place to park your bike until your bus arrives.

Helping to improve transit services by providing funding for new buses and the station fits with the federal goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Bagnell said.

The fire hall is being relocated to the site across the street from the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre. Construction is underway.

Streicker, a former city councillor, applauded the city’s success in achieving a substantial increase in ridership in just three years.

Investing in transit, he told the small audience, is a way to make sure the city is accessible and certainly more sustainable.

“Over the years, we’ve seen sustained growth in the number of people who use public transit,” Streicker said in a statement.

“Any external funding we receive helps us improve the buses we use and the roads we drive on every day.

“We thank the federal and territorial governments for their continued support as we strive to enhance the way people travel within the city.”

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