Communities in the Yarmouth-Digby region have an opportunity to make more sustainable, active and accessible transportation choices through the latest round of the Nova Scotia Moves program.
Through Nova Scotia Moves, the province offers grants of up to $200,000 to groups supporting sustainable transportation at the local level, including municipalities, band councils, community benefit organizations and social enterprises.
Three successful applicants from the region were awarded grants in this round, totalling $172,200.
“Nova Scotia Moves provides support to community-based projects, and is helping achieve the goals of the province’s Sustainable Transportation Strategy,” said Energy Minister Charlie Parker. “I congratulate the applicants on a job well done. Our communities are benefitting from your innovative ideas and hard work.”
The Town of Yarmouth was awarded $140,000 for the Clements Avenue Multi-Use Trail and AT signage project, a key priority of the town’s active transportation plan. The Municipality of the District of Digby and Dalhousie University were jointly awarded $30,000 to study the impacts and potential of shifting the transportation system in Digby away from gas to electricity. The Town of Shelburne will receive $2,200 to produce a map of local active transportation assets.
“The Municipality of the District of Digby is striving to become a leader in renewable energy and associated technologies. We are pleased to partner with the Department of Energy, Dalhousie University, Fundy Tidal Inc. and AKA Group,” said Linda Gregory, warden, Municipality of the District of Digby. “This research will directly address the transportation sector in Digby’s vision of becoming the greenest county in Nova Scotia.”
Across the province, 37 successful applications were awarded funding during the latest round, totalling $1.4 million.
The program helps Nova Scotians drive less distance, move more actively and efficiently, use cleaner energy, access a wider range of sustainable transportation options and engage communities around sustainable transportation issues.
In the 2012-13 pilot round, the province awarded over $900,000 to projects developing ideas from active transportation routes to online information services. Twenty-eight grants were awarded and are now under way.
For more information, visit http://novascotia.ca/sustainabletransportation/.
Source: Release