Election in the Air

Ah! the smell of an election is in the air, it must be spring. Anyway to help celebrate next month’s election, I thought I would highlight what the major parties have to say about transit, and how they plan to improve it in their platforms. Let’s start with the Greens:

The BC Greens would use a portion of these collected taxes to build new transportation infrastructure, including pedestrian, rail, bicycle and public transit.

Now on to the Liberals. In their platform, they plan on working with transit agencies and universities to introduce a common U-Pass program. Also in the list is the Smartcard/Turnstile upgraded fare collection system on TransLink. They also mentioned the $14 billion transit plan that has been blogged about previously. And finally they mentioned the Fraser Valley transit study:

Major transit studies underway to identify best transit options for the Fraser Valley and southern Vancouver Island, including upgrading the existing Southern Rail and E&N rail corridors.

Finally let’s see what the NDP has to say in their platform about transit:

-Expand passenger train service between Seattle and Vancouver.
-Make necessary capital investments in needed bus and transit options in Metro Vancouver to cut congestion and pollution.
-Tune-up TransLink. The Campbell Liberals’ approach to TransLink has resulted in expensive privatization schemes, decisions made in secret and dictated by the Campbell government.
-The NDP will repeal Bill 43 to restore democratic control and public accountability to local government and taxpayers.

They also plan on rolling back transit fares and start construction on the Evergreen Line.

No word in any platform about light rail for the South Fraser.

That’s it for today, but stay tuned for more election coverage as the campaigning progresses.