$900M Calgary Transit expansion approved by city council

City council has approved a major expansion of Calgary Transit worth almost $900million fordedicated busways and express bus routes that could spread across the city over the next seven years.

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"Today's a big day, one ofprobably the most important days since I've been mayor," said MayorNaheedNenshi.

Council previously voted to use money from a tax hike over 10 years to kick-start funding for a new dedicatedbusway thatwill stretch from north Calgary to the city's deep southeast.

Todayit approved that route, as well as otherupgradesand bus rapid transit (BRT) routes forthe city.

Chris Jordan with Calgary Transit says improvements on some of the lines will alsospeed up trips for commuters.

"Like the CentreStreet transit-only lanes through McKnightBoulevard, onekilometre of transit-only lanes that get the buses moving faster through a congested area, and we'll be looking at targeted improvements like that on all of these corridors where we do own the land and we can move ahead fast," he said.

However, building out this plan will require the federal and provincial governments to come through with $400 millionand there's no guarantee that money is coming.