THE city has cobbled together $13 million to build a new bike path, install high-tech gadgets on city buses and even curb truck traffic.

The cash has been in limbo for three years, but a deal was finally announced Friday. It will help the city buy two new hybrid electric buses and install new GPS tracking devices on all city buses so riders know exactly when their connections will arrive.

And it will fund a new bike trail from The Forks to the Jubilee underpass -- the first step toward a commuter path to the University of Manitoba, which is the single biggest demand of the city's vocal cyclists.

The cash will also kickstart pilot projects to shrink truck congestion and boost the use of environmentally friendly biodiesel in city fleet vehicles.

The deal was announced by politicians from all three levels of government, including Minister of Justice Vic Toews and provincial Healthy Living Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross.

The shopping list of projects, called WinSmart, are all meant to curb the city's greenhouse gas emissions.

"WinSmart will make transit, cycling and walking more competitive and more attractive," said Mayor Sam Katz. "We're now trying to catch up with other cities."

Ottawa chipped in about $3.5 million but Winnipeg is spending the most at about $8.7 million. The province is spending $847,000, mostly earmarked to improve trucking routes.

The fix-ups should start to appear next year and must be completed by the fall of 2008.

Three years ago, when the city began working on the WinSmart funding deal, the projects were originally meant to compliment a bus rapid transit system, including a bike path that ran beside the planned bus corridor down Pembina Highway. The BRT plan was postponed when Katz redirected the funding to community clubs.

Katz rejected the suggestion that WinSmart funding is an excuse to delay the big ticket item -- the first leg of BRT connecting the U of M to the downtown. Instead, said Katz, the new cash helps remedy years of neglect of the transit system.

Cycling advocate Kevin Miller, one of the leaders of Bike to the Future, said he's impressed by WinSmart's signature element -- the first leg of the bike path to the University of Manitoba.

"This is a very good start," said Miller. "What has been achieve in the last four, six months has been great."

Politicians jumped on the bike path bandwagon during last month's civic election after some high-profile cycling protest in the spring catapulted the issue onto city hall's agenda.

There's new plans to build a bike path through East Kildonan along the old Marconi rail line, and advocates of recreational trails are making steady progress connecting isolated sections of paths.

City parks and paths planner Kevin Nixon said the exact route between The Forks and Jubilee is still up for debate. It's slated to cut through Lord Roberts, but cyclists like Miller would rather see it bypass neighbourhoods and traffic lights by hugging the CN Rail line through Confusion Corner as much as possible.

Nixon said he's open to that idea, and any others cyclists may have. He's hoping to launch public consultations as soon as possible. What is WinSmart?

It's the moniker given to a collection of eight major projects meant to help improve air quality, boost transit ridership and build bike paths.

It's worth $13 million, most of that city cash. It's been in the works for three years as city hall dithered with the federal government over which projects deserved cash and how much. What are The Projects?

• A biodiesel fueling station to test how heavy duty city vehicles like sanders function in cold weather when they're powered partly by vegetable oil and animal fats. As many as 40 city vehicles will run on biodiesel when the station open in June. Cost: $558,000.
• Hybrid electric buses that run just like the Toyota Prius. Two will be on the streets in about a year on the 60, 61 and 62 routes to the University of Manitoba. They'll be the so-called "bendy buses" that can carry more passengers than the regular buses. Cost: $2.5 million.
• Park and Ride station at the Manitoba Hydro headquarters on Taylor Avenue. Cost: $366,000.
• Downtown street signs and sidewalk map kiosks to help tourists find attractions more easily and navigate traffic nightmares such as Confusion Corner. Cost: $465,000.
• GPS satellite bus locator system so Winnipeg Transit knows exactly where each bus is, which ones are late and which routes need more service. The GPS trackers will be installed on all 535 city buses starting next year. That's partnered with electronic signs at about 100 major stops so people can find out when their connection is due. Those signs will be installed in 2008 at shopping centres, the Graham Avenue transit mall, school and university stops and many others. The GPS system will also allow riders to get real-time schedules on their cell phones or blackberries to find how exactly when their bus will arrive. Cost: $1.6 million.
• A bike path from The Forks to the Jubilee underpass, hopefully paved instead of gravel. One possible route runs from The Forks along the Red River to Brandon Avenue, then cuts across Lord Roberts to the Fort Rouge rail yards and south to Jubilee. Cost: $940,000.
• Trucking efficiencies. The province will explore ways to improve freight and scheduling practices, such as scheduling deliveries on off-peak hours to prevent traffic jams, making delivery routes more efficient so trucks aren't driving around empty and finding the fastest routes through the city. It also means finding ways to boost e-commerce so people buy more online instead of driving from store to store. Cost: $225,000.
• A marketing campaign to find out why people don't take the bus or bike and promoting those options. Cost: $330,000
• Monitoring emissions reductions to see which projects work best at curbing pollution. Cost: $223,000