Calgary Transit Fantasy Maps

[darwink]

^ It was a joke. There is literally no reason to do a commuter rail fantasy map besides station locations

 

[Oddball]

^ It was a joke. There is literally no reason to do a commuter rail fantasy map besides station locations

I recognized the map and assumed that was the case. The point being that "Anywhere with an existing rail connection is a valid commuter rail destination."

 

[hollahollaholla]

^ It was a joke. There is literally no reason to do a commuter rail fantasy map besides station locations

Ah my bad I'm new here and don't often get the subtleties of sarcasm through words. Regardless knowing where tracks are is good but routing and lines can always be changed. It's nice to see where different people have different visions.

 

[WildcatOil]

I know I'm rather late to the thread here, but I started doing this in Edmonton a few years ago and went for it again when I moved to Calgary this summer.

Red Line is as is, Green Line is as planned, Blue Line is as is with an extension to Cross Iron Mills.

Pink Line goes from East Hills to Olympic Park going down International Ave, through Downtown and passed Foothills & Alberta Children's Hospital.

Purple Line fills in the remaining corners of the city going from South of the Glenmore Reservoir to Heritage Park, Rocky View, Mount Royal and Downtown and then can be extended to the South East.

Gold Line is what links my former city to my current city. A high speed real line through the CalEd Corridor from Edmonton, to the Edmonton Airport, to Red Deer, to the Calgary Airport, to Downtown Calgary and then eventually out to Banff. Once in place additional lines can be added to the route stopping off a smaller centres along the way. This connects the corridor and gives tourist an easy way to fly into Calgary and get to Banff.

The High-speed rail line would also eliminate a need for a spur off of the Blue or Green Lines to the Airport as it would be a one stop link from Airport to the main station downtown.

I don't have any circle routes but I envision MAX routes connecting the outer reaches of each limb of the CTrain.

As all lines converge downtown I envision a large European style station South of the Calgary Tower. Where transfers can be made between all lines and the High Speed rail. Platforms to stories underground with retail space above them and connections to the Core Shopping Area and 7th Ave.

 

[AccUnit]

I like the pink line because both the international Ave and west 16 Ave corridors could increase density in big way with addition of train service.

 

[pororo06]

Great map! You forgot to add the Providence spur off the south line.

The Providence (162 Ave) LRT was changed to a BRT route, a ROW was left in place for the BRT (median)

 

[boreal96]

Hello all. This is my take on Calgary Transit Map in 2040 (being very optimistic). Some of you might have seen it on Reddit already, I got lots of feedback and made several changes since.

You can click on the picture and zoom in, the map is high resolution.

https://imgur.com/zHqylTc

 

[jhappy77]

I've been working on this map for a while. It's a plan for a complete overhaul of CT, focused on a grid of fast, high frequency bus routes.

GitHub - Jhappy77/Reimagine-Calgary-Transit: A plan to transform Calgary through transportation

A plan to transform Calgary through transportation - Jhappy77/Reimagine-Calgary-Transit

github.com

I also have a WIP 67-page long report on it here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SyxgfXDGrWfLdb-O2y3Dr1Dh2Pc6roHdbGsgMLN4z3Q/edit?usp=sharing
I want your feedback! How would you change the routes? Anything I missed?

Additionally, I'm going to make a version with no infills/extensions to the existing LRTs, no gondola or airport people mover, and no green line built past Shepard or Aurora to show how we could build this quickly and as cheaply as possible. If the Green and Blue lines didn't extend North, how would you redesign the bus routes in the far Northeast past Saddletowne and Aurora?

I'll be reposting this to reddit for a wider audience after a first round of revisions, so please don't repost this anywhere until then. Hope you enjoy!

 

[darwink]

Awesome! Always cool to see.

Here is some work I did that might help you think about this a bit more. All the numbers are sourced from city documents, and some are very rough estimates, as noted in comments. a key one to look at how much service might cost is the max teal extension - Operating costs of a Max service are about $1 million a KM. Of course, costs can be recovered elsewhere for a big change like this, but it gets into the old transit fight between coverage and frequency.

Project	Project Type	Trips	Net Op Costs	Capital Costs	NPV 3.05% $ per incremental Trip (lower is better)	Comments
Beddington to North Pointe	Green Line LRT	11500	$0	$0	$0	Screened out: improbable estimate; dependent on other unplanned segment
96 Ave to North Pointe	Green Line LRT	6000	$1	$0	$3,246	Screened out: improbable estimate; dependent on other unplanned segment
MAX Purple/17 Ave SE - 52 St E to 84 St SE	BRT	3300	$0	$43	$11,850	Selected: Serves Developing Communities, Low Relative Cost, Leverages Existing Infrastructure
52 Street E BRT -Saddletowne to Seton	BRT	20500	$15	$60	$16,796	Selected: Connects Communities to Jobs, Connects MAX Orange, Green Line and Blue Line, Low Relative Cost, Leverages Existing Infrastructure
40 Ave to 64 Ave	Green Line LRT	19000	$1	$300	$16,814	Screened out: dependent on other unplanned segment
Route 305 West	BRT	6700	$7	$30	$25,696	Selected: Low Relative Cost
NW-HUB / West Campus Mobility	BRT	4220	$5	$22	$29,672	Selected: Alternative Option Examined (BRT Orange realignment to Lions Park)
162 Ave BRT - Somerset Bridlewood Station to Providence	BRT	6500	$6	$95	$32,592	Screened out: Needs additional study, beyond 2030
Red Line S - Extension to 210 Ave S	LRT	14700	$9	$341	$35,518	Screened out: Needs additional study, beyond 2030
Shaganappi HOV - Bowness Road to Stoney Trail	HOV/BRT	8000	$6	$179	$37,224	Screened out: Needs additional study
16 Ave N to 64 Ave N	Green Line LRT	26900	$8	$850	$37,390	Selected: Most cost efficient Green Line extension; serves Bus transfer station at 64th
16 Avenue N to North Pointe	Green Line LRT	42300	$6	$1,500	$38,223	Screened out: improbable estimate
North Regional Context Study/144 Ave N BRT - Tuscany to Nose Creek	BRT	10800	$21	$42	$42,477	Screened out: Needs additional study, beyond 2030
16 Ave N to 96 Ave N	Green Line LRT	36300	$5	$1,500	$44,005	Screened out: 2nd best Green Line Project: improbable estimate
MAX Purple/17 Ave SE - 84 St E to City Limits	BRT	2200	$2	$71	$45,551	Screened out: beyond 2030
Blue Line NE - 88 Ave to 128 Ave NE	LRT	9700	$2	$405	$46,370	Screened out: dependent on other unplanned segment, beyond 2030
Westbrook to MRU Streetcar	Streetcar	9400	$9	$292	$50,331	Screened in: Additional study ordered to examine alternatives including routes which could serve Currie Barracks neighbourhood and Marda Loop; no commitment for construction due to need for additional study
Blue Line NE -Saddletowne to 88 Ave NE	LRT	3500	$1	$158	$50,707	Selected: Serves Developing Communities, Low Relative Cost, Leverages Existing Infrastructure
16 Avenue N to Beddington	Green Line LRT	30800	$6	$1,500	$52,495	Screened out: improbable estimate
Blue Line NE - 128 Ave to Stonegate NE	LRT	3700	$2	$160	$55,875	Screened out: dependent on other unplanned segment, beyond 2030
Airport Transit Connector – Blue Line to Airport	LRT	13000	$7	$600	$56,340	Screened out: beyond 2030
MAX Purple/17 Ave SE -Blackfoot Truck Stop to Downtown/Green Line	BRT	1980	-$2	$156	$62,067	Screened out: beyond 2030, wait for Green Line completion
16 Avenue N to 40 Avenue N and Shepard to Auburn Bay/Mahogany	Green Line LRT	15200	$5	$850	$62,327	Screened out: doesn't reach 64th Ave Transfer Station
64 Ave to 96 Ave	Green Line LRT	9400	-$3	$650	$62,934	Screened out: dependent on other unplanned segment, beyond 2030
Shepard to McKenzie Towne	Green Line LRT	4200	-$3	$325	$63,471	Selected: Best Green Line South extension; serves communities
Auburn Bay/Mahogany to Seton	Green Line LRT	5300	$2	$300	$63,953	Screened out: dependent on other unplanned segment, beyond 2030
Max Teal/South Crosstown BRT - Extension to 68 St E	BRT	1500	$5	$7	$64,121	Selected: Low relative cost, low upfront costs mean if project fails to meet ridership expectations, project can be reexamined, Connects Greenline, and 52nd St E BRT, generating benefits far beyond the project in isolation, which is what is projected in this project screen
Shepard to Seton	Green Line LRT	12600	-$1	$850	$65,915	Screened out: too high of a budget for too low of ridership against competing projects; beyond 2030
Shepard to Auburn Bay/Mahogany	Green Line LRT	7300	-$3	$550	$67,339	Screened out: too high of a budget for too low of ridership against competing projects; beyond 2030
Airport Transit Connector – Green Line to Airport	LRT	9500	-$3	$750	$72,388	Screened out: dependent on other unplanned segment, beyond 2030
McKenzie Towne to Auburn Bay/Mahogany	Green Line LRT	3100	$0	$225	$72,581	Screened out: too high of a budget for too low of ridership against competing projects; beyond 2030
16 Avenue N to 40 Ave N	Green Line LRT	7900	$7	$550	$86,876	Screened out: high cost per rider due to commuity stations only
64 Ave to Beddington	Green Line LRT	3900	-$2	$650	$156,680	Screened out: dependent on other unplanned segment, beyond 2030
Blue Line W – Extension to 85 St SW	LRT	1500	$5	$213	$212,108	Screened out: worst project financially

 

[jhappy77]

Awesome! Always cool to see.

Here is some work I did that might help you think about this a bit more. All the numbers are sourced from city documents, and some are very rough estimates, as noted in comments. a key one to look at how much service might cost is the max teal extension - Operating costs of a Max service are about $1 million a KM. Of course, costs can be recovered elsewhere for a big change like this, but it gets into the old transit fight between coverage and frequency.
~snippy snip ~~

Very cool, thanks! Was there a main source you used to compile that info or is it too split up? If you have a link that would be great as I could use it as a resource.

In my report I did a very rough analysis of comparing bus operating minutes in the deep SW from prepandemic times with my proposed network (including additional local buses which serve coverage goals). Crazily enough, they had very similar total operating minutes while my system offered far superior frequency along the main routes and serves a few additional neighborhoods/areas than the prepandemic network. The gains in efficiency you can make by adopting a superior geometry are pretty crazy.

My analysis is probably pretty wrong but it at least shows there's big potential here.

Calgary Transit Reborn

Calgary Transit Reborn Rethinking Calgary Transportation for a better network and a better city Abstract What if public transit was so good that you didn't need to own a car? This report contains a proposal to completely redesign Calgary Transport's network. My hope is that it could serve as a...

docs.google.com

 

[boreal96]

Great work, i'll have a deeper read when I have time.

Speaking of fantasy maps, i've done some little revisions on some map I did last year.

 

[darwink]

Very cool, thanks! Was there a main source you used to compile that info or is it too split up? If you have a link that would be great as I could use it as a resource.

All drawn from the below - some green line projects you had to do math as they didn't present all the phasing options as discreet projects. And the NPV is own work.
Distrib-PowerPoint-TT2019-0245.pdf
SPC on Transportation and Transit - November 17, 2020
Attach 2 - RAPP Evaluation.docx - Attach 2 - RAPP Report - TT2020-1289.pdf
PowerPoint Presentation - Attach 3 - RAPP - Project Summary Pages -TT2020-1289.pdf
Consolidated Green Line LRT Stage 1 Business Case - July ... https://www.calgary.ca › green-line › documents › g...

 

[jhappy77]

Hey folks! Back with an update on the map I made earlier.

This map tries to be pretty cost conscious in terms of the infrastructure investments it would require (outside of the Green Line North expansion ofc).
I've put a lot of work into the accompanying report: https://docs.google.com/document/d/...c6roHdbGsgMLN4z3Q/edit#heading=h.2lcyws1c3vqu
Notably, I did a full operating analysis which estimates the cost of operating the entirely redesigned citywide bus network, including coverage routes (to the best of my ability). You can peep that analysis inside the document, and in this spreadsheet. Hope you enjoy this, and always happy for any feedback!

 

[darwink]

I like it!

One thing that tempts me when thinking of projects like this is ‘quick win’ connectivity projects. Like where we could expropriate 3,4 houses to make a route much more direct by reconnecting a grid broken up by curvilinear neighbourhoods.

When trying to turn routes into lines and connect the grid, were there any places where it just gets messy and inefficient in your opinion?

 

[jhappy77]

When trying to turn routes into lines and connect the grid, were there any places where it just gets messy and inefficient in your opinion?

The main culprits of the "connecting the grid" challenges are the river valleys, big hills, the railway, and Deerfoot - meaning any connection across them would probably cost a lot of money to complete.

I included one such connection in the map - a bridge across 194 Ave S along the C94 route. It seems simple enough and cheap enough to do, and IIRC based on development maps you probably don't even need to expropriate any properties to complete the link with a narrow bus-only road.

Here's a list of other grid connections I considered but ruled out:

• Edworthy Street crossing the bow river to Point McKay would allow for a route (the C5 in my map) to beeline it to the UofC area instead of detouring around Sarcee & Trans Canada, saving around 4 minutes per trip compared to the current route
• The gap between the terminus of 85th Street SW and Chiila Rise next to COP is already mostly complete - it's only 300m apart - but the grade would be around 20% so switchbacks would be necessary. Probably not worth it considering the west ring road is right next to it
• You could theoretically build a connection between a route going down 24 St SW (our current Max Yellow, this map's C2) at Bebo Grove to Evergreen but it would cut through the heart of Fish Creek Park which would probably be very unpopular. I think a better alternative for a future Max Yellow / C2 extension is to have it go down Stoney to 37 St SW where they're building Alpine Park.
• I think RouteAhead also tentatively calls for a transit crossing across the Bow on 210 Ave SW but the area does not seem to be ready for it yet
• You could probably connect McKenzie Towne Boulevard / Mt McKenzie way with Deer Run and 153 Ave SE across the Bow.
• You could connect 130 Ave SE with Canyon Meadows Drive SE - but the route would need to cross Poplar Island which is pretty questionable. That said, 130 Ave SE is supposed to be the site of a future neighborhood main street east of Stoney Trail and will lead to some 'strategic growth areas' for new neighborhood developments

Ultimately, most of those connections would be pretty costly relative to their benefit, at least at the moment. You probably wouldn't want any traffic beyond buses using them either.

On the flipside, there's a different kind of project that could give transit a lot of benefit for a relatively cheap cost. A lot of neighborhoods lack pedestrian permeability, which makes it incredibly difficult to provide adequate coverage without loopy windy suburban routes. We could fix this problem by building more alleywalks between houses, allowing for more direct pedestrian/bike routes between transit stops and houses. It probably wouldn't even be unpopular - you could expropriate the land around a fence on a property line, but then pay for new fences around the new alleywalk for both properties impacted. That would enable transit routes to take faster, more direct routes, like the ones I included in the map.