Winnipeg commuters may suffer from transit envy once they get a load of a new $4-billion transportation plan in the nation's capital. One week after Winnipeg Transit announced plans to spend $143 million on upgrades over the next six years, Ottawa-Carleton's OC Transpo unveiled a scheme to spend an average of $267 million each year for the next 15 years, mostly on light rail and dedicated transitways.

Ottawa's plan, made public on Wednesday, has public-transit advocates in Winnipeg second-guessing the comparatively modest upgrades announced here recently as part of the 2006 capital budget.

Between now and 2011, Winnipeg Transit plans to spend $143 million on 20 diesel-electric hybrid buses, 144 conventional buses, and passenger-friendly improvements such as up-to-the-minute arrival information.

"It's a drop in the bucket. It's positive we're spending some money, but we don't compare to other cities," said environmental consultant Ken Klassen, a former member of the city's disbanded environment committee.

"I haven't done a detailed comparison of capital budgets for years, however I'm confident once you get past the hype from the mayor's office, Winnipeg's per-capita investment in transit improvements still ranks at the bottom compared to other major Canadian cities."

Compared to Winnipeg, Ottawa-Carleton is a larger, newer and wealthier city, where the 845,000 inhabitants, many of them white-collar workers, don't contend with as many crumbling streets and decaying bridges.

Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz said it's unfair to compare the two cities, especially when Winnipeg faces such a serious infrastructure problem.

"I'd like you to go to Ottawa, take a ride on their streets and tell me what kind of problems you encounter," said Katz, noting Ottawa is unique among Canadian cities. "If we were the capital of Canada, it would be a different situation."

Winnipeg's transit improvements are being made possible with $67 million from the federal and provincial governments. Ottawa-Carleton, meanwhile, will receive $400 million toward its transit plan, which will expand an existing network of dedicated bus rapid transit pathways and build two light rail lines.

While Ottawa-Carleton hopes to land more federal and provincial money, the city will foot the rest of the $4-billion tab on its own, said Helen Gault, acting director of transit services for OC Transpo.

"Council has been very supportive of transit and a major player in the transit system," said Gault in a phone interview from Ottawa. "There was a period (in the 1990s) when we had no support from the provincial or federal governments, but we just kept on adding to the system. It was wonderful."

Ottawa and Winnipeg both studied rapid transit back in the early 1980s, but Winnipeg chose not to proceed, said opposition Coun. Jenny Gerbasi, a rapid-transit advocate who offered only muted criticism to the city's transit plan when it was announced.

Gerbasi said she held her tongue because she supports other items in the capital budget, such as public art and housing initiatives.

But given a week to review the transit plan, she contends almost half of the $143 million being spent is not really new funding, but a package cobbled together from pre-existing transit plans.

The crux of the issue is Winnipeg is only spending 10 per cent of its federal gas-tax money on transit, while Ottawa, Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto spend 100 per cent of their windfall on public transportation, Gerbasi said.

"I'm not saying we should spend 100 per cent of our money, too, because every city has different priorities. We really do have a problem with roads and bridges," she said, adding the city should spend at least 20 per cent on public transportation.

Failing to spend more of the gas-tax windfall on transit is just the latest in a long line of missed opportunities that date back to the 1980s, she said.