BC's $14 Billion Transit Plan

Posted By: Zach Poturica

On Monday Morning, BC Premier Gordon Campbell, and BC Minister of Transportation Kevin Falcon, announced the largest Infrastructure Initiative in the Province of British Columbia. BC's Transit Plan, a decade long plan totalling $14 Billion when complete will lead to the completion of:

-Evergreen Line, a rapid transit line connecting Port Moody, Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam to the Millenium line at Lougheed Centre Station

-Canada Line, Connecting Waterfront Station to Richmond Centre and Vancouver International Airport

-UBC Skytrain Expansion, Connecting UBC's Campus to the Expo Line.

“One new transit line was committed to in each of the previous three decades; this plan delivers three lines in the next decade,” said Falcon.

The plan calls for $14 billion in investments, including $11.1 billion in new funding, with the Province committing $4.75 billion, and the remainder from partners, including the federal government, TransLink and local governments.

Increased security measures will enhance transit safety. Electronic gates and closed-circuit cameras will be installed at rapid transit and new RapidBus stations. A smart-card system for rapid transit and buses, which users can reload at vending machines or on the Internet, will be implemented.

Apart from the announcement of new Rapid Transit Lines, the creation of RapidBus BC which will create 7 RapidBus Lines in Vancouver and one each in Victoria and Kelowna

System upgrades will include the lengthening of Skytrain cars from 4 to 6 per train and the purchase of 1500 new Clean Energe Buses for communities around BC.

Campbell's Government has been leading a strong move ahead in efforts of dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 33.3% by 2020. BC's Golden Decade is a time Promises Made, Promises Kept, improving infrastructure to BC's growing economy allows us to benefit greatly from growth in our community by seeing return of a new services and opportunities