Announcements from the campaign trail in the race for Winnipeg mayor

A Winnipeg Transit bus is pictured near Polo Park.

A pair of mayoral candidates unveiled more of their plans if they were to be elected mayor.

Rana Bokhari is focusing on Winnipeg Transit, saying she will work to dropping monthly transit passes down to $20.

She said it comes as a way to increase ridership without increasing cost.

“All the candidates have made pledges around transit, recognizing it’s a vital economic system and climate-change combater for the city,” said Bokhari in a news release.

She said she wants Winnipeggers to use transit more and make it more attractive as well.

On top of the cheaper bus pass, she wants to replace older buses, implement paid park-and-rides for people living outside the city, develop more blue line strategies, increase route frequency where needed and make the last leg of the BRT the start of LRT.

Meanwhile, Jenny Motkaluk turned her focus to construction contracts, saying she would implement qualification based selection, which would include guarantees and warranties to protect taxpayers.

“Every tax dollar the city of Winnipeg takes to spend, takes a dollar out of the pockets of the hard-working people who earned the money,” Motkaluk said in a release. “There is only one person running for Mayor who cares enough to say when it comes to waste of taxpayer dollars because of incompetence and waste at City Hall, I will not raise taxes and I will put a stop to your money being wasted.”

She noted her qualification based plan means contracts wouldn’t be given to the lowest bid, but to those companies based on their qualifications.

She said this process creates better relationships and provides better outcomes for taxpayers.

“Winnipeggers deserve a city government that works as hard and as smart as they do. We will create a culture at City Hall that ensures all new infrastructure helps create jobs and investment in our city.”