On Monday Premier Gordon Campbell and Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon unveiled their $14-billion public transit plan to be completed by 2020.
The plan calls for $14 billion in investments, including $11.1 billion in new funding, with the provincial government committing $4.75 billion and the remainder from partners that include the federal government, TransLink and municipal governments.
The plan calls for a $10.3 billion investment in four new rapid lines in metro Vancouver, $1.2 billion for a new, cutting-edge, energy-efficient, high-capacity RapidBus B.C. service along nine major routes in high-growth urban centres of Kelowna, Victoria and metro Vancouver and $1.6 billion invested in 1,500 new, clean-energy transit busses.
It's a bold plan in which the government hopes to stand firm on its commitment to reduce greenhouses gases and a plan Premier Campbell said touches every region of the province.
In an interview, Falcon explained the new 600 buses for BC Transit would be available to all communities, including Sechelt, should they wish to expand the service. Falcon added that there is also money available to improve services if the governments (District of Sechelt or the Sunshine Coast Regional District) want to go after it.
While I applaud the Liberal government for this plan (and looking at it, the plan has a lot of potential benefits for Metro Vancouver and other large centres in the province), I still think more could be done for smaller communities like us on the Sunshine Coast.
Over the past few years, there have been several high-profile fatal accidents on Highway 101. While they were not all directly related to the problems that exist with the highway, the bottom line is Highway 101 is now one of the busiest roadways in the province. The amount of traffic that travels up and down the Coast continues to increase, and I feel the highway has outlived the number of vehicles that use it every day.
In response to all the accidents and safety concerns, the Highway 101 Safety Society was created. Since then, that society has held several community-wide meetings, joined the transportation committee at the Sunshine Coast Regional District and begun to lobby the provincial government.
But all of the lobbying by this group, our own local governments and other citizens appears to continue to fall on deaf ears. While I appreciate the fact that Minister Falcon did call me back, I would appreciate it a bit more if he came to the Sunshine Coast along with Premier Campbell and finally addressed this community - something that has been promised by the premier during two interviews with me.
We need highway improvements, we need an adequate cycling network and, overall, we need to create a much safer environment for motorists and pedestrians on the only highway on the Sunshine Coast.
