VANCOUVER (CP) - A key cog in the effort to provide a smooth 2010 Winter Olympics was realized Tuesday with the announcement that public funding is in place for a transit line connecting Vancouver, the airport and suburban Richmond.

"The RAV (Richmond-Airport-Vancouver) project is proceeding as of today," said Doug McCallum, mayor of Surrey and chairman of the Greater Vancouver Transit Authority, also known as TransLink. "It's a very exciting day for the region."

The expensive rapid transit line now has $1.2 billion in secured funding, $300 million each from the federal and provincial governments, the Vancouver International Airport Authority and TransLink.

The additional $300 million needed to get the minimum $1.5 billion required was to come from the private sector.

Four short-listed companies have been selected and asked to submit "requests for proposals," which are detailed submissions that require the four companies to submit plans for construction and technology, said McCallum.

He expressed confidence the additional $300 million would not be a problem for the winning private-sector builder.

"We've been assured of $300 million from the private sector, which is within the range we've always said we were looking at," he said.

The RAV line is a key part of the transportation plan for the 2010 Games and also aimed at improving public transit to Richmond, a city of about 165,000 just south of Vancouver.

The line's route has been controversial with some residents, since it will involve tearing up a broad, picturesque boulevard from downtown Vancouver to the southern edge of the city.

The B.C. government had initially requested $450 million from the federal government and indicated the project could not proceed otherwise.

But McCallum and Ken Dobell, the deputy minister in the premier's office, said cost-estimate reductions assisted in getting the project to proceed regardless.

They said the project's estimated cost was reduced by $50 million after that initial request, leaving the federal government request at $400 million.

But although the federal government offered $400 million, the local authorities decided they didn't want Ottawa to commit all its B.C. infrastructure allotment to one project.

The local authorities agreed to allocate $300 million of the federal money to the RAV project.

"We didn't want to be seen as taking all the infrastructure money (for one project)," said Dobell. "We felt comfortable the $300 million would leave money for other projects in B.C."

Dobell and Jane Bird, the project director, also said they don't anticipate cost overruns, but if that occurred they would be borne by the corporate partner through contractual agreements.

"Contract documentation will place the risk of overruns on the private sector," said Bird, acknowledging that didn't apply to tunnelling, which is still under negotiation regarding cost overruns.

In Victoria, NDP Leader Joy MacPhail was predicting overruns and said the public needs to know all the facts about the funding.

"He (Premier Gordon Campbell) has to release the PriceWaterhouseCoopers study about what the cost projections are on this," said MacPhail.

"He has to explain why the federal government is assuming no risk of cost overruns."

There has been too much secrecy surrounding the project, she said.

"The facts around this have been kept secret," said MacPhail. "TransLink won't release the studies, even to their own board members. Mr. Campbell has released no studies to show the viability of this project."

James Moore, the Canadian Alliance transport critic, suggested the federal contribution was inadequate.

"In 2002, B.C. motorists paid Ottawa roughly $750 million in federal fuel taxes and an additional $378 million in GST on that fuel, making Ottawa's total tax bite just over $1.1 billion in 2002 alone," he said.

Last year, Ottawa returned only $37 million to British Columbia for infrastructure improvements, said Moore.

"And we're supposed to thank Ottawa for this money for the RAV project?"

© Copyright 2003 Vancouver Sun