News   Apr 03, 2020
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Calgary Transit

Smartcards
On the subject, do we think it would be a hassle to QR Code bus tickets like the app based ticket is a QR Code?

That way the driver doesn't need to hand out a transfer, the activated ticket is stored in a central system much like the app based ticket is now; along with more accurate ridership information.

You don't actually worry too much about where riders get off the bus as like you say it's more than likely at a destination like train station.
 
On the subject, do we think it would be a hassle to QR Code bus tickets like the app based ticket is a QR Code?

That way the driver doesn't need to hand out a transfer, the activated ticket is stored in a central system much like the app based ticket is now; along with more accurate ridership information.

You don't actually worry too much about where riders get off the bus as like you say it's more than likely at a destination like train station.
The current system works well, and the number of ticket fares on buses was already quite low. Plus would still need paper transfer forms until we get rid of cash fares.
 
In another note, I took the MAX Yellow for the first time this morning, from the Rockyview to the downtown. This was middle of the peak, 7:30 AM, and the bus was packed. It wound up stopping at MRU for four minutes at a timepoint to get back on schedule, because it had arrived early. It's important for buses to maintain schedule, especially when the frequency is lower, so the driver was doing the right thing. But -- unless I caught the one freak occurrence -- the schedule for this service needs to be tweaked substantially. The city spent $65,600,000 building the busway on this route to save an amount of time that is likely less than four minutes, only for a bus full of people to wait for those four minutes because of the conservative scheduling.
Is this why buses are constantly driving below the speed limit? In the suburban neighbourhood I grew up in the bus would putz along at 35 in a 50 zone.

It's brutal. I know it probably makes in a minimal difference in the actual timing but it's a study in behavioural economics - it just feels like you are going at a snails pace and that affects the perception of the service.
 
Wow that's a massive increase to their workforce.

It was nice to be on a 4-car train again this week for the first time since the pandemic started.
 
I'm curious to know if the short-term savings of building the downtown portion of LRT line above-ground still outweighs the long-term costs including maintenance, cleaning, snow and ice removal, security, vandalism, pedestrian deaths, injuries, vehicle accidents, bottlenecking, as well as economic opportunity costs including attraction.

I take the C-Train everyday and ask the same question to myself: are we really a rich country/province/city?..... cause we sure don't look like one. If we were, we would have built it underground.
 
I'm curious to know if the short-term savings of building the downtown portion of LRT line above-ground still outweighs the long-term costs including maintenance, cleaning, snow and ice removal, security, vandalism, pedestrian deaths, injuries, vehicle accidents, bottlenecking, as well as economic opportunity costs including attraction.

I take the C-Train everyday and ask the same question to myself: are we really a rich country/province/city?..... cause we sure don't look like one. If we were, we would have built it underground.
I think it’s very hard to make these kind of cost comparisons because it’s all rooted in your assumptions (i.e. how much is a 3 minute delay due to the lights worth?). Although I’m not sure if the security benefits are there. Being underground would likely make security worse (even with a fare paid zone) and the people smoking crack in the shelters would have the an entire sheltered platform and worse ventilation for other passengers. Calgary is also not an underground city, with most office buildings having +15, +30, compared to Toronto where the PATH is an underground system.
 
I'm curious to know if the short-term savings of building the downtown portion of LRT line above-ground still outweighs the long-term costs including maintenance, cleaning, snow and ice removal, security, vandalism, pedestrian deaths, injuries, vehicle accidents, bottlenecking, as well as economic opportunity costs including attraction.

I take the C-Train everyday and ask the same question to myself: are we really a rich country/province/city?..... cause we sure don't look like one. If we were, we would have built it underground.
Yes.
 
Then can I ask why the Green Line is going underground? Wouldn't saving that money be better spent extending the line? This has obviously been debated to death, I just forget the answers.
The problem with above ground is that it would cross paths with the red/blue line. It could also be elevated, but there's also a fair bit of a cost with that.
 
It's not like we got nothing out of it, the LRT was able to expand more quickly and serve more passengers. Edmonton started out with the nice tunnel but they had and still have decades of catching up to do.
Yeah I think these perspectives lead to lack of standards in the city and is the driving factor in Canada lagging behind the rest of the developed or even the developing world. I'd much rather have Edmonton's LRT. This is what is going to lead me to moving countries in the near future. I'm just not getting much for my tax dollars in Canada. Canadians obviously have 0 clue what they should be expecting from government.
 
The problem with above ground is that it would cross paths with the red/blue line. It could also be elevated, but there's also a fair bit of a cost with that.
Understanding the ship has sailed. But why not just have it go under 7th Ave? In thinking more about it I think the problem was the fact you already have to go underground to go from the beltline to downtown under the freight tracks and then under 7th. There's also turning radius that has to be kept in mind and I'm not sure without a tunnel you can go from 11 Ave to 2nd St. With already having to go under so much, I assume they just thought we should go under everything.

I do agree though, going underground wouldn't stop those that want to access the stations without paying from accessing the stations.
1. There would still be some kind of foyer before you actually enter the paid area.
2. If you've ever been to a city with a subway or underground transit you know people jump the gates.
 
I'm curious to know if the short-term savings of building the downtown portion of LRT line above-ground still outweighs the long-term costs including maintenance, cleaning, snow and ice removal, security, vandalism, pedestrian deaths, injuries, vehicle accidents, bottlenecking, as well as economic opportunity costs including attraction.

I take the C-Train everyday and ask the same question to myself: are we really a rich country/province/city?..... cause we sure don't look like one. If we were, we would have built it underground.
We are a rich country, but the problem is the way Canadian cities and North American cities for that matter spread out. Part of that is exactly due to the wealth that we have an part of it is due to the era in which housing was built.
Calgary is a reasonably big city in Canadian terms, but for the geographical area of it, it would be very expensive to do any of underground for a city with a metro area of 1.5 million.
I do think Calgary should figure out a way to try and do the blue line and red line under ground, I’m sure we are a rich enough city that we can do that and we can do the underground portion for the green line but outside of that, it gets very expensive for a city at spread out as Calgary.
If you’re comparing underground systems to cities in Europe and Asia, you also have to remember that they need those systems, as the cities have a major advantage of density, part of that is due to their being older and part of that is due to them actually not being as rich, with people living in a much smaller spaces and not driving as many cars.
 

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