Province Announces HRM Sustainable Transportation Grant Recipients

The province is helping community groups create and support more transportation choices that are affordable, safe and convenient for Nova Scotians.

Communities, Culture and Heritage Minister Leonard Preyra, on behalf of Energy Minister Charlie Parker, today, Feb. 20, announced several community groups in the Halifax area will receive more than $275,000 in funding from the Nova Scotia Moves Sustainable Transportation Grant Program.

"We want to help people walk, bike, share vehicles and use public transit more often," said Mr. Preyra. "We're pleased that these organizations have stepped up to provide creative solutions to help make it easier for people in Halifax, and throughout the province, to access healthy, safe and accessible transportation choices."

The grants will support:

• Halifax Regional Municipality's project to design pedestrian and bicycle-friendly bridges and a level railway crossing, to help make pedestrian and bicycle access to downtown Halifax more accessible
• the Ecology Action Centre's Tiny Travel program to develop a toddler day-care travel planning program to help increase active transportation
• Dalhousie University's DalTRAC to implement a community-based Share the Road awareness campaign to be piloted in Halifax, Pictou County and the Municipality of the District of Chester
• HRM's Smartrip WORKShift pilot project to help encourage group commuting by helping businesses understand and adopt to make work more flexible and done off-site
• Ecology Action Centre's GoMaritimes plan to create an online system to give people easy access to ground travel information in Nova Scotia
• the Halifax Cycling Coalition's plan to build a network of bike-friendly businesses and support links between cycling and public transit
• CarShare Atlantic pilot of two specialized vans for people with disabilities

"Our goal is to improve the health of our communities and the environment by encouraging more people to walk, bike and use public transit," said Wayne Grozsko with the Ecology Action Centre. "The Nova Scotia Moves grant will help us launch two new innovative projects to advance that goal."

Nova Scotia's Sustainable Transportation Strategy aims to provide better transportation choices that promote healthy living and help protect and preserve the environment.