Calgary Transit

[Gazyyc]

I find it weird that CT chose that particular MAX station to upgrade.

I think the bus stop on 6th Ave and 3rd street is more deserving of an enclosed shelter and arrival screen. It'd a stop for the:
301
302
MAX Yellow
#1
#3

In fact, it'd be nice to see more bus stations have MAX style shelters and real time information. Especially at stations that see high ridership. The bus stations at Market mall and South Centre are prime candidates.

Id guess the stop on 1st was chosen as CBBarnett pointed out, it is a fairly large interchange point along with the specific block being built out.
I wouldn't expect any major changes to the building or plaza so it's a fairly safe investment. The 6th ave stop you reference backs onto a parking lot and is fairly narrow between the lot and roadway. So if you rebuild the sidewalk and add a station, there's a good chance if the lot gets developed, it all gets demo'd. I'd imagine any future DT stations will pop up in areas with a wider sidewalk or where the chance of the adjacent lot being redeveloped is lower (the stop outside the tower for one).

Your comment about the stops at Malls is spot on. Other than North Hill, most have a simple basic stop and a couple have a C-Train station a hike through a car park and wander over a bridge away... whereas you look north, Edmonton, most have a transit centre on or directly adjacent to the mall, West Ed,Mill Woods,Southgate to name a couple.
Even if they don't go that wild, either a Max style or a smaller version of the shelter at North Pointe, would improve the experience vastly....

And on the topic of the NW, does anyone know if their are plans to add a stop for the Orange or any other route in University District, more central on the main strip? The Orange right now stops weirdly just outside the core of the development and the regular routes stop kind of awarkdly on the edges too.
And that's before even talking about the oddly placed and even oddly less serviced Children's hospital terminal. I'll never understand why they didn't just use that infrastructure for the Max ...

Sorry for the early morning long post

 

[trtcttc]

Id guess the stop on 1st was chosen as CBBarnett pointed out, it is a fairly large interchange point along with the specific block being built out.
I wouldn't expect any major changes to the building or plaza so it's a fairly safe investment. The 6th ave stop you reference backs onto a parking lot and is fairly narrow between the lot and roadway. So if you rebuild the sidewalk and add a station, there's a good chance if the lot gets developed, it all gets demo'd. I'd imagine any future DT stations will pop up in areas with a wider sidewalk or where the chance of the adjacent lot being redeveloped is lower (the stop outside the tower for one).

Your comment about the stops at Malls is spot on. Other than North Hill, most have a simple basic stop and a couple have a C-Train station a hike through a car park and wander over a bridge away... whereas you look north, Edmonton, most have a transit centre on or directly adjacent to the mall, West Ed,Mill Woods,Southgate to name a couple.
Even if they don't go that wild, either a Max style or a smaller version of the shelter at North Pointe, would improve the experience vastly....

And on the topic of the NW, does anyone know if their are plans to add a stop for the Orange or any other route in University District, more central on the main strip? The Orange right now stops weirdly just outside the core of the development and the regular routes stop kind of awarkdly on the edges too.
And that's before even talking about the oddly placed and even oddly less serviced Children's hospital terminal. I'll never understand why they didn't just use that infrastructure for the Max ...

Sorry for the early morning long post

It was mentioned in another forum. Apparently it's in front of Truman's new build

It's suppose to be the University District MAX Station. Across the street is suppose to have one too.

 

[trtcttc]

Really unfortunate news before a long weekend. Are the crossing arms manually controlled by the train driver? I would've though they're automatic as the train approaches, tripping a switch somewhere?

Calgary youth hit by CTrain in city’s northwest

Calgary police say a CTrain driver has been taken into custody after a youth was hit by a train on Thursday.

www.ctvnews.ca

 

[Surrealplaces]

Really unfortunate news before a long weekend. Are the crossing arms manually controlled by the train driver? I would've though they're automatic as the train approaches, tripping a switch somewhere?

Calgary youth hit by CTrain in city’s northwest

Calgary police say a CTrain driver has been taken into custody after a youth was hit by a train on Thursday.

www.ctvnews.ca

It's weird, I they're automatic, but maybe a misfunction? They are saying the issue seems to be that the train didn't stop, and sounds like taking the driver into custody is normal. It sounds like drugs or alcohol weren't a factor but they have to investigate whether it was medically related.

 

[Red Star]

The 144th Ave BRT functional planning has entered phase 2. There are a few different routes to choose from.
https://engage.calgary.ca/144AveBRTfps

 

[CalgaryTiger]

The 144th Ave BRT functional planning has entered phase 2. There are a few different routes to choose from.
https://engage.calgary.ca/144AveBRTfps

Hmm I wasn't expecting the Blue line to turn west and then north again. The LRT lines can only go so much further without them being pretty inefficient for travel times from end to end. The Blue line doesn't really have the ROW to add a third track for express trains either. I guess that's where regional rail comes in.

 

[trtcttc]

Hmm I wasn't expecting the Blue line to turn west and then north again. The LRT lines can only go so much further without them being pretty inefficient for travel times from end to end. The Blue line doesn't really have the ROW to add a third track for express trains either. I guess that's where regional rail comes in.

Blue line travel times from Saddletowne to City Hall is 25 mins, which gives plenty of room for expansion. The issue with express trains/regional rail is that it's only good for downtown commuting. Ideally within the city, we have people taking transit from NE to NE and other non-commuting travel patterns.

 

[accord1999]

Hmm I wasn't expecting the Blue line to turn west and then north again. The LRT lines can only go so much further without them being pretty inefficient for travel times from end to end. The Blue line doesn't really have the ROW to add a third track for express trains either. I guess that's where regional rail comes in.

Given the hypothetical Stonegate station being only about 5 km from Livingston, and 6.5 km from North Pointe, they should just extend the Blue Line to one of these two locations. With the Green Line for North Calgary essentially dead, that's probably the only way Far North Calgary will ever get LRT.

 

[CalgaryTiger]

Given the hypothetical Stonegate station being only about 5 km from Livingston, and 6.5 km from North Pointe, they should just extend the Blue Line to one of these two locations. With the Green Line for North Calgary essentially dead, that's probably the only way Far North Calgary will ever get LRT.

Green Line North isn't dead, we all will be by the time it's built but it isn't dead.

 

[Red Star]

2024 Route Ahead annual status report:

https://pub-calgary.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=325686

1. The Red line and Blue line C-train achieved Primary Transit service levels
2. Route 26 was implemented
3. Route 115 was extended to North Pointe

 

[whatchyyc]

Blue Line LRT Northeast Extension

The City is creating a detailed design for a proposed northeast extension of the Blue Line Light Rail Transit (LRT).

engage.calgary.ca

 

[konradiical]

Im glad they will likely be extending it, but at this point might as well just extend it to the airport or just more north. Based on the map it seems they set aside land for the future stations like might as well just build it to the end its probably 3 stations away from that anyways/

 

[CalgaryTiger]

Im glad they will likely be extending it, but at this point might as well just extend it to the airport or just more north. Based on the map it seems they set aside land for the future stations like might as well just build it to the end its probably 3 stations away from that anyways/

You would think there would be some savings with just being able to keep going versus having to go spin all this back up again in the future. Granted the savings are not worth it as I think the cost of this little extension is wild for a relatively flat and straight rail line.

Edit: In the herald article about this...

Area Coun. Raj Dhaliwal, whose Ward 5 encompasses both the airport and the Blue Line extension, said he welcomes another station along the LRT line, noting that the northeast has some of the highest transit usage in the city.

However, with an estimated cost to build a new LRT station at around $150 million, Dhaliwal argues it would be smarter to build the Blue Line all the way to Country Hills Boulevard N.E., to service residents of fast-growing communities like Skyview Ranch and Cornerstone.

"That's where we need our LRT to go," he said, adding that region of the northeast will eventually house more than 30,000 residents. "That's where the real catchment is."

How much more would it cost to go to Country Hills, double that? For the catchment it might be worth it. Especially if some of those people end up using the automated people mover to get to the airport and/or to the regional rail station in Nose Creek Valley.

From that Herald article...

After the 80th Avenue station is built, the city wants to link the LRT with a future airport connector transit line that runs along Airport Trail N.E.

The idea is spelled out in the city's 2020 Airport Transit Line Study, which envisioned building an automated, driverless "people-mover" between the Blue Line station at 88th Avenue and a future Green Line station at 96th Avenue N.

The study found that 60 per cent of the demand for airport service originated in the northwest and northeast quadrants.

 

[lemongrab]

Kiosks to return to some Calgary Transit LRT stations

Headline is probably more optimistic than realistic. I'd imagine newspapers and magazines were critical to these kiosks...do people even buy as much gum/etc as they used to? (I definitely don't...)

 

[Gazyyc]

Id imagine whatever opens won't simply be a carbon copy of a mid 90s newsagent stand and the fact CT states they have someone ready to go for Bridgeland, pushes it more into the realm of reality vs optimism.

I've always thought that if they put in a quick grab and go coffee/food store, they'd do a lot better than a mini-convenience store format.
Something along the lines of a mini/express Tims. Not a full menu but just the top selling basics to grab and go.
And going wild, in any new build stations, if any local grocery chains were serious, incorporate a mini store format like a Tesco Express or Sainsbury's Local, in the UK. Quickly grab a few things on the way home from work or heaven forbid, just transit accessible grocery stores for those without vehicles.