The Bus Rapid Transit system that was approved by Saskatoon City Council in 2019 has the green light to move forward, as funding has been secured for all three components of the project.

Last year, the federal government allocated $21.4 million for the construction of the first rapid transit line, the green line.

Now, Saskatoon’s Transit Director Mike Moellenbeck says the federal and provincial governments are investing $183 million more to build the blue and red lines.

The blue line will service areas south from Lawson Heights to Hunter Road, while the red line will run east and west from Boychuck Drive to Betts Avenue.

General Manager of Transportation Terry Schmidt says a timeline of the project will be available next month.

“We’ll be reporting here to the Governance and Priorities Committee providing an update on the BRT project status. So, there will be more details coming forward in the next two weeks on project status, what work has been completed to date, the schedule for completion and a planned service launch date.”

Mayor Charlie Clark says the BRT project was approved with an aim to mitigate overcrowding on buses and allow for easier transport of the city’s growing population.

“We have just tipped over a population of 300,000 people. This is the stage of a city where you need to have more modern, efficient transit. You need ti make sure that we can move people more quickly and efficiently through the city, and we’re seeing a demand and the pressure on our transit system right now.”

The announcement was made in the bus garage this morning at Saskatoon’s Civic Operations Centre.