Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the Mississauga Bus Rapid Transit Project will be part of an initiative that will eventually extend from Oakville to Pickering.

The 18-kilometre Mississauga portion will extend from Winston Churchill Boulevard to Renforth Drive, he told a news conference in Mississauga on Tuesday.

Harper called said the $259-million project will create the public transit equivalent of a super-highway in Mississauga. His announcement marks the start of construction, which has a scheduled completion date of 2013.

Eleven new stations will be constructed.

"There are five-and-a-half million residents of the Greater Toronto Area who want us to keep working together to improve transportation infrastructure throughout the region," he said.

"We want to ensure communities get to work on time and get home to their families at the end of the work day as quickly and securely as possible."

He noted that vehicle emissions are a health hazard and a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.

As part of the federal government's Economic Action Plan and the FLOW transit plan (first announced in 2007), Harper said the federal government has made a number of investments in GTA transit:

Toronto-York Spadina subway extension

Brampton Zum (formerly AcceleRide)

York Region Viva Phase 2 (vivaNext)

For the Mississauga project, Ottawa is contributing up to $59 million to the City of Mississauga and $24 million to GO Transit, according to a news release.

The provincial government has already provided $65 million to Mississauga and $48 million for GO Transit investment.

Mississauga will fund the remaining costs.