Calgary Public Transit - Discussion

[Notorious Honey Badger]

94 dollars a month for a bus pass. wow.

just wow.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

Also, as of today, no discount for buying books of 10 tickets.

That would have been good to know yesterday.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Notorious Honey Badger

94 dollars a month for a bus pass. wow.

just wow.

it wouldnt be so bad if this years passes weren't so god damn fruity.

[stevinder]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

it wouldnt be so bad if this years passes weren't so god damn fruity.

Fruity? its just a pass.

[albertGQ]

Originally Posted by ken0042

That would have been good to know yesterday.

I paid $94 for the January pass on Saturday. Since I'll be in Hawaii for 10 days in February, I bought tickets instead of the monthly pass. Knew that CT was getting rid of the discount so I saved myself $7 on two books!

[grizz29]

I still have 1.5 weeks of transit tickets left. Should be an interesting few weeks in dodging the transit security guards.

[Jayems]

Anyone here take the BRT 302 from the station at 52nd near Mackenzie to downtown? Looking for some feedback as to how packed the bus is on a weekday in the AM, what sort of time it takes to get DT by say, 8am.

Any feedback appreciated.

[ken0042]

It takes just under an hour from the first station; and everybody gets a seat on the bus. It isn't until the afternoon trip home that anybody is standing.

[Rathji]

What Ken said.

The bus gets pretty full, by Douglasdale but no one is standing.

I normally get on between 6:15 and 6:45 every morning and am at work downtown between 7:15 and 7:45 pretty much like clockwork.\

edit: Just want to add, that the Express buses normally take a little bit less time getting downtown, but are worse coming home. Often I will park at the Park and Ride and take the 117 downtown, and then take the 302 home and be at my car.

[grizz29]

I live out in near Evergreen and after ~7 years of riding Calgary Transit, I am throwing in the towel and driving in. Too many people and brutally inconsistent service. Total shame. Good luck CT.

[frinkprof]

The CONNECT smart card system will be implemented by June. Disposable and reloadable cards will be available.

CONNECT Timeline
Sept/Oct 2011: Software and equipment testing
Oct 2011-March 2012: Installation of equipment on buses and platforms
March-April 2012: Training (including operators)
April-May 2012: Implement pilot (U of C spring/summer students)
June 2012: Implementation of new system
In the future the card will allow you to pay for other City of Calgary services too.

More:

http://www.calgarytransit.com/html/connect.html

[SebC]

I refuse to call it that. Prairie Oyster smart card system.

[frinkprof]

Alternative routes suggested for north-central LRT proposal



Nose Creek route out of the running



By Jason Markusoff, Calgary Herald January 8, 2012 10:15 PM

CALGARY — The north-central leg of Calgary’s LRT is still a long way from reality, but one thing is all but certain: it won’t be a train to nowhere (and nobody).


This spring, transit planners will encourage council to jettison the six-year-old idea of routing the future line through the Nose Creek Valley to the Country Hills area.


“I don’t know if it’s officially dead, but it’s dead,” said Ald. Gian-Carlo Carra, who represents part of that corridor.


Instead, aldermen will be asked to commission a study into the other two alternatives — neither of them ideal — Edmonton Trail or Centre Street.


The Nose Creek alignment was first touted because it was the most affordable and quickest way to reach those far northern suburbs.
But the route’s shortcomings are plain.


[...]

Full Article

[SebC]

So cut-and-cover is out then?

[stevinder]

Not necessarily. Some tunnelling will be required.

[MrMastodonFarm]

What's with the real life screens at bus stops? Well so far, one stop.

Not that wouldn't be a welcome addition to high usage stops, but it was surprising. The one I'm talking about was at the north end of the UofC Campus on 32nd ave west bound, at the back end of that new building.

Looked similar to this, but with transit routes (22, 72, 20, 405)

[MrMastodonFarm]

double post

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

What's with the real life screens at bus stops? Well so far, one stop.

Not that wouldn't be a welcome addition to high usage stops, but it was surprising. The one I'm talking about was at the north end of the UofC Campus on 32nd ave west bound, at the back end of that new building.

Looked similar to this, but with transit routes (22, 72, 20, 405)

Gps tracking supposed to be in and functional for bus timing sometime soon - maybe the end of the year? The signs are part of that process. Personally I think they should have a qr code on a panel at each stop, then have it open a transit app that is populated with real time gps data.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Gps tracking supposed to be in and functional for bus timing sometime soon - maybe the end of the year? The signs are part of that process. Personally I think they should have a qr code on a panel at each stop, then have it open a transit app that is populated with real time gps data.

That's not nearly as user friendly as a screen, and doesn't serve people without smartphones (a demographic more likely to take transit, imo)

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

That's not nearly as user friendly as a screen, and doesn't serve people without smartphones (a demographic more likely to take transit, imo)

But about 1000x cheaper to install and maintain.