The Vancouver airport authority and the federal government have each agreed to put up $250,000 to help pay for a study of a Vancouver-Richmond rapid transit link.

Richmond MP Raymond Chan and Graham Clarke, chair of the Vancouver International Airport Authority Board, announced the decision Friday.

TransLink, the regional authority that is responsible for all transportation in Greater Vancouver, has been trying to organize the study for several months and has received contributions from Vancouver and Richmond.

The study will look at whether there is enough demand to warrant building a Vancouver-Richmond link. It will not assess the two most controversial subjects that link will bring up - the route through Vancouver and the type of rapid transit that will be used.

The airport and Richmond in particular have been asking for a study, as employee and tourist traffic between Richmond and Vancouver have skyrocketed.