B.C. will have three new transit lines before the next decade is over in a $14-billion transit plan unveiled by the premier and his minister of transportation Monday.

The plan -- which includes $10.3 billion in upgrades to Metro Vancouver transit -- will increase transit ridership and reduce greenhouse gases, Premier Gordon Campbell said at a press conference.

Among the new investments are commitments to fund a SkyTrain extension to UBC, funding of the Evergreen Line to the Tri-Cities area, an extension of the existing Expo Line through Surrey and construction money for the Canada Line.

All of the infrastructure will be completed within 12 years.

"One new transit line was committed to in each of the previous three decades," said Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon. "This plan delivers three lines in the next decade."

The plan also contains some $1.2 billion for RapidBus services in seven major routes in Vancouver, as well as one in each of Victoria and Kelowna.

And 1,500 new buses will be added to the provincial bus fleet at a cost of $1.6-billion, and the number of buses in Metro Vancouver will double, according to the plan.

The province hopes to increase the number of transit rides to over 400 million trips per year. That could lead to a saving of a cumulative total of 4.7 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, said Campbell.

The plan calls for:

  • $10.3-billion in four new rapid transit lines in Metro Vancouver
  • $1.2-billion for a new rapid bus service in Kelowna, Victoria, and Vancouver
  • $1.6-billion investment in 1,500 new buses and related maintenance

Cambie Street merchants say they are still smarting from the impact that construction from the Canada Line has had on their business.

But Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan - a major proponent of the UBC extension - says he will fight to ensure the impact on merchants along Broadway won't be so bad.

I'm going to do a lot of work to ensure the impacts of the UBC line are minimized and I would like to see a tunnel for example as a much preferable option to anything else," Sullivan told CTV British Columbia.