Dr. Josipa Petrunic, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Canadian Urban Transit Research & Innovation Consortium, released the following statement related to the Ontario Government’s provincial budget:
The Ontario Government must stay focused on supporting the health of Ontarians through a third wave of COVID-19 with Budget 2021, and as vaccinations ramp up, they must also commit to use this people-first approach to guide the province’s economic recovery.
The important work of rebuilding must start early and include targeted investments in public transit infrastructure to support Ontarians with job creation, a cleaner environment and more inclusive communities. CUTRIC was pleased to see the provincial government make significant investments in building Ontario’s innovation ecosystem in Budget 2021, which will support the province’s economic recovery and continue to establish Ontario as a national leader in innovative technology.
Canada’s comeback from COVID-19 will require cooperation across all levels of government with industry partners, including our members in the low carbon mobility supply chain. Our transit agencies are already advancing their electrification projects as Ontarians return to transit and are ready to build back better with more investments in low carbon mobility, zero emissions transit, and innovation initiatives.
I want to thank frontline transit workers for their heroic work through the most restrictive lockdown measures. Public transit continues to move essential workers to the frontlines, while keeping our communities connected. Ontario’s path to recovery must include continued support for transit systems and workers, while also investing in measures to build greener and cleaner transit systems that will better our future.
Now is the time for bold leadership, and the provincial budget is one of many steps we need to take together to lay the groundwork to build back a stronger and more resilient province. Our members across transit agencies, advanced manufacturers, utilities, government agencies, academics and not-for-profits, look forward to getting to work on our many ongoing and new low carbon projects to the benefit of millions in our cities.
About CUTRIC
CUTRIC is a non-profit innovation consortium with a vision to make Canada a global leader in low-carbon smart mobility. Through industry-led collaborative research and large-scale technology integration trials, CUTRIC is working to achieve this goal by focusing on technology development, integration and standardization of low-carbon propulsion systems and smart vehicle systems, data-driven analytics in mobility, and cybersecurity in transportation.
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