UrbanWarrior
Senior Member
The Haysboro yard expansion, and another pic of Vic Park Station.
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Calgary Transit
- Thread starter Always_Biking
- Start date
outoftheice
Active Member
They really did a nice job with the Vic Park station. It changes the whole vibe of that intersection. Get a few new mixed used buildings at the east end of 17th and it will naturally start drawing people off the train and into the heart of 17th Ave
KrisYYC
New Member
So I took Calgary Transit for the first time in about 20 years despite living within a 10 minute walk from an LRT station. Had to pick up my vehicle from the dealership which happens to be right next to a station as well. Their courtesy shuttle was going to take hours due to the bad weather so I decided to take the C-train. Overall it was positive, I like how the ticket machines accept tap/Apple/Google pay. The information screens on the platform with train times were nice too. I was traveling at peak time a little after 4pm on a southbound 201 train so it was PACKED. I'm talking almost Tokyo Subway packed. I was wondering why they still aren't running 4 car consists? I can't remember the reason they stopped.
Anyway I'd take the train daily if it went to the airport. I'm sick of driving haha!
Anyway I'd take the train daily if it went to the airport. I'm sick of driving haha!
CBBarnett
Senior Member
They are limited to 3 car trains for now due to the Haysboro LRT garage expansion. I think once that's done in a year or two 4 cars on red line will become more common again. I think they do need to buy some more LRTs too to get 4 cars more of a standard.
KrisYYC
New Member
Right! I couldn't remember why. Thanks
thecivilengineer
New Member
Haysboro Storage Facility Expansion
www.calgarytransit.com
whatchyyc
Active Member
Good news is the first units of the 15-car Series 10 order have arrived so that'll be a few U2s off the rails and a few extra trains for service once Haysboro is finished up
Red Star
New Member
Is the Series 10 a different model than the S200? Or just a variation of it?
Transit Apologist
New Member
There are minor cosmetic differences to the interior, but beyond that it’s the same as a series 9 S200 AFAIK.
Joborule
Active Member
FYI, there should be some 4-car trains coming up for the Winter Schedule.
CBBarnett
Senior Member
Good to hear! Almost time for that Winter schedule updates - it's one of the only ways we see the inner workings of what transit is doing and thinking about ever-changing ridership and demands.
Any other details that have been leaked? The last few schedule updates have been fairly incremental improvements apart from a few rush-hour 10 minute upgrades on the MAX lines.
Transit Apologist
New Member
Nothing revolutionary this signup as far as I know. I wouldn’t be surprised if the next significant service change comes when the 301 is converted to a MAX route (likely sometime around Summer 2025).
CalgaryTiger
Senior Member
Unless things change with an amendment today. Looks like no service improvement for Calgary Transit next year.
livewirecalgary.com
Calgary city councillors approved a revised Route Ahead strategy in 2023 that put the focus on increasing the frequency of Calgary Transit service along a Primary Transit Network. It was to be boosted to 10-to-15-minute service for at least 15 hours a day, seven days a week.
Fleming said there has been increased frequency, noting that they’re seeing more connected trips, which demonstrates that more trips are available. Still, they won’t be able to expand beyond that with the current budget.
“We’re seeing more frequency, but we’re not going to be seeing the amount of increased frequency that we originally wanted to see by now,” Fleming told reporters.
“I mean, we’re really looking forward to expanding our coverage of the primary transit network. We’d like to see more investment in that area and hope that in the future years, we do see that investment.”
Right now, Fleming said that Calgary Transit is experiencing a $33 million shortfall, due mostly to an increased demand for the Low Income Transit Pass ($19 million) and a transit revenue shortfall ($13 million) driven by a change in the transit usage patterns.
Without planned funding for those items, she said service levels would have to be reduced or fares increased more than the planned boost to $3.80 for an adult fare.
“If we don’t get that funding, we’ll have to look at a variety of different options,” Fleming said.
“One might be service reductions. It could also include increases to fares, and finally, maybe changes to some of the services we’re used to having.”
Too bad, how many people are using the Low Income Transit Pass that it is costing this much?! Also interesting that a change in usage patterns has cost them money; to me this means they are not getting the ticket revenue expected for service levels at certain times. Another sign that we've shifted to be an all-day transit city versus a commuter transit city. (Also from the herald article referenced below: She said many hybrid workers now opt to buy single-use tickets when they need them rather than invest in a monthly pass, which she said used to be Calgary Transit's "bread and butter.") So not exactly an all-day transit thing, more of a lack of monthly pass purchases thing.. The monthly pass worked for CT like a Starbucks giftcard... you buy it and use it over time (if ever) while to Starbucks, that's straight cash.
Edit: Found the information in a herald article... Earlier this year 119,000 Calgarians were using the pass! Forty per cent of Calgary Transit users are currently on the subsidized pass! Damn...
The low-income pass, which is a component of the city's Fair Entry program, provides partially subsidized transit access to Calgarians who earn less than the low-income cut-offof approximately $33,000 a year.
Operating on a sliding scale based on three income "bands," the pass costs just over $5 a month for an individual earning less than $15,263 a year, while it costs $40.25 monthly for those who earn less than $25,947 annually and $57.50 for users who make less than $30,526.
In comparison, a regular monthly transit pass is $115.
Subsidizing the low-income pass costs $52 million a year - $19 million more than it did in 2019. While it's primarily a city-run program, the province also provides $6.4 million annually to the program.
$33 million Calgary Transit shortfall means they'll hold on service expansion - LiveWire Calgary
The Director of Calgary Transit told city councillors that there’s no additional growth planned for 2025 and that the proposed budget merely protects current service levels. Sharon Fleming answered councillor questions about Calgary Transit on Wednesday, as transportation was a focus for the...
livewirecalgary.com
Calgary city councillors approved a revised Route Ahead strategy in 2023 that put the focus on increasing the frequency of Calgary Transit service along a Primary Transit Network. It was to be boosted to 10-to-15-minute service for at least 15 hours a day, seven days a week.
Fleming said there has been increased frequency, noting that they’re seeing more connected trips, which demonstrates that more trips are available. Still, they won’t be able to expand beyond that with the current budget.
“We’re seeing more frequency, but we’re not going to be seeing the amount of increased frequency that we originally wanted to see by now,” Fleming told reporters.
“I mean, we’re really looking forward to expanding our coverage of the primary transit network. We’d like to see more investment in that area and hope that in the future years, we do see that investment.”
Right now, Fleming said that Calgary Transit is experiencing a $33 million shortfall, due mostly to an increased demand for the Low Income Transit Pass ($19 million) and a transit revenue shortfall ($13 million) driven by a change in the transit usage patterns.
Without planned funding for those items, she said service levels would have to be reduced or fares increased more than the planned boost to $3.80 for an adult fare.
“If we don’t get that funding, we’ll have to look at a variety of different options,” Fleming said.
“One might be service reductions. It could also include increases to fares, and finally, maybe changes to some of the services we’re used to having.”
Too bad, how many people are using the Low Income Transit Pass that it is costing this much?! Also interesting that a change in usage patterns has cost them money; to me this means they are not getting the ticket revenue expected for service levels at certain times. Another sign that we've shifted to be an all-day transit city versus a commuter transit city. (Also from the herald article referenced below: She said many hybrid workers now opt to buy single-use tickets when they need them rather than invest in a monthly pass, which she said used to be Calgary Transit's "bread and butter.") So not exactly an all-day transit thing, more of a lack of monthly pass purchases thing.. The monthly pass worked for CT like a Starbucks giftcard... you buy it and use it over time (if ever) while to Starbucks, that's straight cash.
Edit: Found the information in a herald article... Earlier this year 119,000 Calgarians were using the pass! Forty per cent of Calgary Transit users are currently on the subsidized pass! Damn...
The low-income pass, which is a component of the city's Fair Entry program, provides partially subsidized transit access to Calgarians who earn less than the low-income cut-offof approximately $33,000 a year.
Operating on a sliding scale based on three income "bands," the pass costs just over $5 a month for an individual earning less than $15,263 a year, while it costs $40.25 monthly for those who earn less than $25,947 annually and $57.50 for users who make less than $30,526.
In comparison, a regular monthly transit pass is $115.
Subsidizing the low-income pass costs $52 million a year - $19 million more than it did in 2019. While it's primarily a city-run program, the province also provides $6.4 million annually to the program.
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Red Star
New Member
I took the MAX yellow from the SW to downtown during the morning commute for the first time on Wednesday. I was pretty impressed with the service. The bus-only underpass at 90th Ave. is pretty neat and the bus moves very quickly along Crowchild trail.
There are a couple things I'd change to improve the route:
1. Get rid of the stop at Mount Royal. No one uses it. In my opinion, it's a useless detour and adds about 5 minutes to the commute time to downtown. Students travelling to Mount Royal from the SW can transfer at Heritage or Rockyview BRT station and take the MAX Teal.
2. Extend the bus only lanes along Bow Trail and 9th Ave. The bus gets stuck in traffic along this street.
I'm not a transit expert, but I think these changes are not overly costly and will get more people to use the MAX Yellow. My friend in the SW prefers driving to Southland C-train station and taking the C-train to work as it's quicker than the MAX BRT. She lives about a 5-minute walk from a BRT station.
There are a couple things I'd change to improve the route:
1. Get rid of the stop at Mount Royal. No one uses it. In my opinion, it's a useless detour and adds about 5 minutes to the commute time to downtown. Students travelling to Mount Royal from the SW can transfer at Heritage or Rockyview BRT station and take the MAX Teal.
2. Extend the bus only lanes along Bow Trail and 9th Ave. The bus gets stuck in traffic along this street.
I'm not a transit expert, but I think these changes are not overly costly and will get more people to use the MAX Yellow. My friend in the SW prefers driving to Southland C-train station and taking the C-train to work as it's quicker than the MAX BRT. She lives about a 5-minute walk from a BRT station.
CalgaryTiger
Senior Member
Take the MY every Monday and Wednesday. Its route is frustrating, MT would serve MRU perfectly fine. To be selfish, I live off Flanders and need to take the 20 two stops to 33rd, even then I take it over the milk run that the 7 and 13 do into downtown.
I do think a MY stop at the 20 stop on Flanders would take some ridership off of the 7 and maybe even get people on the bus and out of their car.
A dedicated bus lane on 9th is long overdue. Could also implement priority signaling at some streets to increase ease of crossing 9th to go north into downtown. MY is a solid service that requires only minor tweaks to be great.