Calgary Transit to raise fairs AGAIN

[Eastern Girl]

Originally Posted by HelloHockeyFans

Ottawa is $3.00 now I believe... $4.00 for express...

$4!!! That's insane!

I know! It's utterly ridiculous! I am pretty sure they had just raised it over the summer as well to $2.75. But now it's $3 even. That just really sucks.

[mykalberta]

It takes me about 18 minutes to walk from my apt to the Eau Clair YMCA, then about 3 minutes to walk to work from there, I am so glad I dont have to pay of parking or take public transportation

MYK

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Originally Posted by flamingchina

Well, the city is stuck for cash...

The city's not remotely stuck for cash. Bronco just has eyes bigger than our wallets.

Should add too - I hate transit, but I don;t get the complaint. The cost is hugely subsidized already and is still less than the latte most people grab each day. You can't gripe about a service that costs next to nothing and gripe that the sevice stinks.

[Igottago]

Where is all the money going when they jack up prices? Its not like the Transit system is even remotely up to par with the demands of the city. It's pathetic. It's the same old thing it always was, despite way higher volume of people using it. For such a "world class" city, our transit systems blows hard. Unfortunately I have to keep using the piece of crap every day.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Bend it like Bourgeois

Bronco just has eyes bigger than our wallets.

I hear a few people say things like this. IMHO, the problem was in the 90's when Duerr watched the city grow from 700,000 people to 900,000 (a 29% increase) but was so afraid to spend money that the city's infastructure wound up being so far behind.

Remember the outcry when they were building the Deerfoot extension and they build overpasses that went nowhere? Well, those overpasses now lead to communities that are there.

As far as transit is concerned, yes the service does suck. However I also think they should spend more on transit. If that means fare hikes in the short term, so be it. Raise the rates to $3, make tickets $2.50 and keep the bus pass at $70, or even lower it. Reward the people who commit to transit, and spend the extra you get from occasional riders on transit upgrades.

[fredr123]

Can anyone on here point me towards some resources on road/transit planning? I'm sure there must be some gears on here with a bent for this kind of design...

I'm also curious as to when the last time the CT bus routes were reconsidered? Seems to me there are a lot of weird, ambling routes. Are these routes based on studies that show people in certain locations travel to certain other locations? Are these studies outdated? Would it be more efficient to have buses that cruise up and down major routes and smaller feeder buses leading up to them? Maybe, based on recent growth, it is time to reconsider the routings...

I'd also like to say I agree with ken with respect to spending more on transit. It's important to have something to show for the increased spending though. We're all getting tired of the "stuff costs more so we're passing the costs on to you" lines. Show us that more buses are coming on line, that wait times are decreasing, that C-trains aren't stuck at red lights downtown anymore. Give us hope that transit is improving. And keep the monthly pass reasonable so people will be encouraged to use it. None of this "I have to ride the bus/train every day to and from work plus once on the weekend to make the pass pay off" crap.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by fredr123

Can anyone on here point me towards some resources on road/transit planning?

There's a bunch of info about the SE LRT run on the main Calgary Transit site. Unfortunately the proposed date for the station opening by my house is 2018. And it looks like they are repeating some of the mistakes made 25 years ago; above ground stations downtown (or in this case beltline), as well as only laying 2 tracks.

What should have been done with the old "Anderson" run was to lay down at least 3 tracks; if not 4. That way there could have been a run that starts in Bridlewood, makes stops until Anderson, then from Anderson downtown run it as an express; as the train is full by the time it hits Anderson. Then have a second line that runs from Anderson downtown making all the stops.

Speaking of red lights downtown, does anybody recall why the 7th ave leg wasn't built underground? Was it a cost savings at the time, or something to do with the water levels or something like that?

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by ken0042

There's a bunch of info about the SE LRT run on the main Calgary Transit site.

Thanks ken. I was hoping for some more general academic stuff though. Theory of traffic flows and stuff like that. Trying to figure out, generally, if it would be better to have buses that follow natural routes like 16th ave and Crowchild with smaller feeders to these main routes or if it would be better to have those big circle routes and others that tour you all around Calgary for 2 hours.

[kermitology]

I don't know.. I never have many problems with Transit. I take the 2 and the 101 everyday unless I'm going to the Univeristy gym where I take the 19 or 119. Never have many problems and it takes me about 40 minutes that aren't overly stressful cause I'm not the one driving through downtown. The only thing that sucks is taking the 73 to the 101 after 5:30 PM.. then you have to wait about 40 minutes.

That being said.. I won't be taking the bus as much now that I have a BRAND NEW CAR!!

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I hear a few people say things like this. IMHO, the problem was in the 90's when Duerr watched the city grow from 700,000 people to 900,000 (a 29% increase) but was so afraid to spend money that the city's infastructure wound up being so far behind.

I don't disagree. Duerr caused the capital backlog, not Bronco.

That said, the City's capital budget is seperate from the operations budget. Our never ending tax and fee hikes feed the operations machine, and have little relation to roads and infrastructure.

[FireFly]

I took a course with a gentleman considered an expert on transit, and he says that Calgary has actually been one of the cities that has best kept up with the transit needs of it's customers. With the Olympics in 1988, our transit had to be good for that time, and they have at least tried to put money into the system. Vancouver will need major overhauls by the time 2010 rolls around.

That said, one of the reasons he feels this way is because Calgary has at least partially developed transit communities... areas where a person doesn't need a car because home, grocery store, and all the things they need are within walking distance from the train. Sunnyside and Lion's Park are excellent examples of this. The idea behind transit is to get cars off the road, and areas like this help a city succeed at this aim.

My personal experience is that it takes me about 35 minutes to get from my home in Inglewood to the University or my work. Driving, I could get to my work in about 10 minutes, but getting to the University in rush hour through downtown? I'm probably looking at roughly the same time it takes me to get there through transit. Don't blame transit if you live way the hell down South and everything you need is way up in the North! That's your bad planning, (or your parents, or whoever's) not transit's!

[Hack&Lube]

This city should pass a law restricting annoying suburban sprawl and really force people to build up and not out.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by FireFly

Don't blame transit if you live way the hell down South and everything you need is way up in the North! That's your bad planning, (or your parents, or whoever's) not transit's!

I do blame transit, because of the 5 buses per day that they offer on my route, each and every one is packed full. And I know of people who don't take the bus because they don't like being packed in like sardines. (Myself included.) The solution would be to add more buses. The first 2 buses are 15 minutes apart. The first one is the busiest of all. Add another bus 5 minutes earlier, and then continue on with buses every 10 minutes. That would add 2 extra buses to the route, and an increase of 40% space.

This is just one example of a problem with Transit's line of thinking. They think that nobody uses our service, so we don't need to provide extra service. The problem is people don't use it because of the poor service. Rather than making customers pack the buses and trains until Transit does something; why not improve what we have now to encourage people to ride?

It's like a few years ago when I was planning my New Years Eve. At that time I lived close to the University LRT station. I called transit to ask what time the last train left Anderson. I was told 11:54pm. What good is having the last train before midnight on New Year's Eve? The transit CSR told me I should be going to a party downtown; rather than what I had planned with my friends.

Transit should be there to serve the public; not the other way around.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

This city should pass a law restricting annoying suburban sprawl and really force people to build up and not out.

Hey, as long as they also pass a law forcing those who already have houses with yards on quiet streets to sub-divide them so others can enjoy the same privilidge, I'm in.

[flamingchina]

The market will take care of it.
See: infills, and houses being knocked down to put in low rise condo's...
Of course it would aso massively raise housing prices, and make communities like airdrie and cochrane grow quite quickly...