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Calgary Regional Rail Transit

Good question. I know that there is a strong shuttle demand for regular times. I took some out of town work colleagues up to Banff on a Saturday. I knew it would be busy, but it was a gong show at Lake Louise. I was told the shuttle tickets needed to be booked about a week in advance. I ended up driving up to the hotel and dropping the guests off so they could look around. There was the usual long stream of cars driving to the top hoping for a parking spot and driving back down again, and then repeating the futile procedure. The thing that caught my eye was a guy in the parking lot with a sign advertising drop off and pick up for $20/person.
Per person?!?! Good grief! 😵‍💫
 
Could a gondola be put in from the Lake Louise town site at the bottom, up the lake? I think that would be pretty cool and effective.
 
Could a gondola be put in from the Lake Louise town site at the bottom, up the lake? I think that would be pretty cool and effective.
Yes, though you end up back in the fights over intensification of a site or two versus with fewer vehicles versus those who believe fewer people is the solution.
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Versus the Sunshine gondola elevation and distance:
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I think Canada is one of the only western countries that still prioritizes freight service over passengers service and, no surprisingly, we're one of the only countries where passenger rail is virtually non-existent. Time to make this change although I feel CN and CPKC form too powerful of a lobby group for it to happen.
 
I think they meant he is a NIMBY on steroids. A train line and a well-connected station (i.e. with access to fixed transit like a gondola to nearby attractions) will take cars off the road and help the environment. But an environmentalist lawyer opposed to it might tell you that this will cause irreparable harm to the local fauna, and stress the water source, and cause light pollution, and require another 5 years of studies, and... etc.

It's like those Sierra Club guys who oppose bike lanes.
 
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I think they meant he is a NIMBY on steroids. A train line and a well-connected station (i.e. with access to fixed transit like a gondola to nearby attractions) will take cars off the road and help the environment. But an environmentalist lawyer opposed to it might tell you that this will cause irreparable harm to the local fauna, and stress the water source, and cause light pollution, and require another 5 years of studies, and... etc.

It's like those Sierra Club guys who oppose bike lanes.
Sure, no disagreement trains are absolutely better than cars for long-term environmental preservation.
 
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New poster here, long term lurker.

I actually know Harvey Locke, and Adam and Janet Waterous. I have previously worked for a developer in the Bow valley so built a decent set of connections. And was initially for this project, but am now staunchly against it in its current form.

Sometimes Harvey is a quack, but overall he means well and cares about the town and park. Some things he pitches I dont believe in like lowering the transcanada speed limit from k country on.
Ther Waterous's on the other hand care a lot about $$$.

The whole point of the Waterous plan is to monopolize transit into the park, and restrict massive swaths of land around Mount Norway to become privately accessed. Same thing with their previous "car free banff" where they were pitching reducing or eliminating car access into town once the train is built. The whole thing is veiled under environmentalism, but they made money and oil and simply want money on this. The plan for the transportation hub is smart on their point strategically though. It was purchased from CN land that was in existence before the park from my understanding, so because of that they have essentially the last plot immune to Banff's commercial caps.

I would be for it if it was provincially and federally controlled, but no way should a private corp gain this much control over a community. Regardless, parks is thankfully not entertaining the gondola, and last I heard is that the province has little interest in supporting their endeavors.

On a side note, setting up transit in Louise Is going to happen. It is just a matter of time. Parks recently released a report that touches base on it, you can see it below. The question more so will be what method

 
I would be for it if it was provincially and federally controlled, but no way should a private corp gain this much control over a community. Regardless, parks is thankfully not entertaining the gondola, and last I heard is that the province has little interest in supporting their endeavors.
Ditto.
 

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