More trains, bridges and buses promised in B.C. election pledges

If there's one thing B.C.'s competing political parties seem to agree on, it's that British Columbians need more ways to get around the province.

Pledges released this week from the B.C. NDP, Conservative Party of B.C. and the B.C. Greens all focus on ways to expand transportation options, from upgraded highways, better buses or brand-new rail lines across the province's more than 900,000 square kilometres, a land mass greater than France and Germany combined.

They also look at ways to ease congestion in rapidly growing metro areas in and around Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna.

Ideas being floated include a new bridge across Okanagan Lake (Conservatives), rail travel across Vancouver Island (Greens) and the creation of a new passenger train service in the Fraser Valley (NDP).

All three parties have also expressed interest in TransLink services in the Lower Mainland, proposing new and expanded SkyTrain lines as far out as Squamish and the North Shore.

Here's a look at some of those pledges.

In his party's "Get B.C. Moving" policy released Thursday, Conservative Leader John Rustad made a series of transportation infrastructure pledges.

They include building a new bridge across Okanagan Lake connecting the cities of Kelowna and West Kelowna by 2032, replacing the aging Taylor Bridge across the Peace River between Fort St. John and Dawson Creek and rebuilding the recently destroyed Red Bridge in Kamloops — something David Eby has already committed the province to.

Rustad also said his party would fund upgrades to Nanaimo's Highway 19, an expansion of Chilliwack's Highway 1 to six lanes, an expansion of the Pattullo Bridge to six lanes and replacements for the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge and George Massey Tunnel, some of which have also been promised by the NDP.

On transit, he vowed to extend SkyTrain service to Newton in Surrey.

Less specific pledges include analyzing whether transit service could be expanded along the Sea-to-Sky corridor and analyzing the need for rail service between Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Langley and Surrey.

There were no financial details attached to any of the pledges.

In his party's platform released Thursday, David Eby said a new NDP government would also commit to expanded transit services, including extending the West Coast Express from downtown Vancouver as far east as Chilliwack. 

Like the B.C. Conservatives, the NDP also said it would improve Highway 1 to Chilliwack, both by widening it and building in "climate resiliency" to avoid flooding and washouts. The party also echoed the Conservative pledge to replace the Pattullo Bridge and the George Massey Tunnel.