I work for Mayor Nenshi, ask me anything!

[RedHot25]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I'm not sure there was any political force behind this, I believe it came out of the route ahead plan and is part of long term transit plans. It serves people who would like to use transit to get them places efficiently and quickly, in leu of building an LRT.

I'm not sure what there is to oppose, though I haven't looked into this specific project, it seams to me the more people you get on buses, the fewer are in cars to clog up the roads. The best way to do that is by making transit quick and convenient, hence the BRT.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...onse-1.3395439

FYI Allan Hallman below has been involved in many political campaigns from what I understand. For e.g. most recently I believe he managed Gordon Dirks campaign, I think?

Calgary's general manager of transportation had a tongue-in-cheek response to some recent concerns raised by southwest residents about a planned bus rapid transit (BRT) project, which he doesn't believe are particularly credible.

He also took issue with the group's suggestion that putting dedicated bus lanes above a natural-gas pipeline was a dangerous proposition.

"What I'm really worried about is actually the meteorite coming in from space, bouncing off Godzilla and hitting the bus, which is going to release the zombie apocalypse," Logan said wryly, before explaining that roads run safely over gas pipelines "all throughout the city."

The pipeline worry was just one of several raised by Ready To Engage spokesman Alan Hallman on the Calgary Eyeopener the day before.

"The biggest problem we've got is we haven't had a chance to actually discuss this BRT," Hallman said, adding the group is more than 100 members strong and includes residents of 14 communities from Lakeview to Woodbine.

Hallman acknowledged that the city held two open houses in October and plans several more workshops this month and next month, but said those meetings aren't giving area residents what they want.

Logan said some area residents who are just getting involved in the consultations recently may have unrealistic expectations about how their feedback will affect the project at this stage.

"If you come out to a meeting on a project that we've been working on for eight years and you have a concern with it and you expect the project to stop in its tracks, then you're going to be disappointed," he said.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Talk about naive. People that have kids and can't afford cars also like to do recreational activities with their children.



Why should MRU students be forced to need a car to get to school so you don't have to endure a few years of some extra commute time? Why should your slight inconvenience have any bearing at all on getting up-to-date transit options for a city of 1.5 million people? F the buses, they should be putting a train line through there. There should be a train going straight from U of C to MRU, and MRU should be connected to both the SW and West LRT lines.

The public transit system in this city is a joke. Anything that improves it is nothing but a bonus.

I just don't understand why the west leg of the C-train wasn't built to go to MRU to begin with. I know that ship has sailed, but that was the obvious opportunity at the time.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Slava

I just don't understand why the west leg of the C-train wasn't built to go to MRU to begin with. I know that ship has sailed, but that was the obvious opportunity at the time.

I think it had to do with Bronconier having properties along the actual route, though that could be bad rumours.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Slava

I just don't understand why the west leg of the C-train wasn't built to go to MRU to begin with. I know that ship has sailed, but that was the obvious opportunity at the time.

Totally agreed. When I first heard about it I figured that was exactly what they were going to do. Nope, make it go up to Wentworth or whatever, where people would plug their noses if they ever had to step on such an objectionable surface.

[Addick]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

It's very naive to think that people will actually pack their 2 kids onto a bus to go to HP - just never happening. But that's irrelevant - I think the main concern is the Glenmore/14 Street interchange, which will be even more of a PITA with 2 extra lanes feeding into it and buses that will have the right of way.
Go rich people! Why should I put up with 5 years of inconvenience so some MRU student can take one bus to school instead of two?

Enabling people to take one bus rather than two is a step toward creating a system where choice riders take their two kids to Heritage Park on the bus/train.

[D as in David]

IIRC, the BRT bus is going to run every ten minutes. I seriously doubt one extra bus every ten minutes will have much of an impact on congestion at 14th and Glenmore.

As a resident of Woodbine, my son has to take a bus to Southland, train to Heritage and then a bus to MRU. Guess what he does instead? Takes his car.

[Rhettzky]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

With the news stories about the corrosion of water pipes in Flint, Michigan, I was curious about the quality of pipes in downtown Calgary.

https://www.launchgood.com/project/c...flint_michigan

Surely, a lot of the pipes and infrastructure here are the oldest in the city and maybe even decades old. What is it made of? Does it contain lead solder?

A lot of us live and work downtown. I'm sure there are water quality tests but I have boiled pots of water and found huge crusts of mineral deposits left behind. I put all my drinking water through a brita filter but am constantly fighting iron (red stains) and calcium deposits in the bathtub, sink, etc.

I'm not worried about safety because I can filter the water and I know we have top-notch water treatment facilities but I'm curious about the pipes in downtown Calgary because they pick up deposits after the water has been treated.

*edit*
Spoke too soon, I looked up some water filter tests and Brita consistently ranks last in ability to filter out heavy metals. Time to go buy something else.

There are lots of old pipes downtown but lots get replaced when big developments come through. Most of the older stuff is Cast Iron, but there are a few spots with yellow ductile iron pipes. All of east village is brand spanking new PVC. Downtown moves a lot of water, so I would never be too concerned. But if you are, you can have your water quality tested by Alberta Health.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Addick

Enabling people to take one bus rather than two is a step toward creating a system where choice riders take their two kids to Heritage Park on the bus/train.

Which takes a car off the road for Vlad.

[CliffFletcher]

Logan said some area residents who are just getting involved in the consultations recently may have unrealistic expectations about how their feedback will affect the project at this stage.

"If you come out to a meeting on a project that we've been working on for eight years and you have a concern with it and you expect the project to stop in its tracks, then you're going to be disappointed," he said.

He's underestimating these people, and their history at shutting down projects along 14th street. I've seen the campaign literature for the opposition group, and it's more polished and expensive than what mayoral candidate put out. Which surprises me not at all considering the neighbourhoods affected. Calvin Grove, Eagle Ridge, West Haysboro, Pump Hill, Palliser, Bayview. It's an unrivalled nexus of money and NIMBYism.

[cam_wmh]

Would Vlad's logical be the northcrunk & bikelanes of 14th st BRT?

[northcrunk]

14th st is a cluster ####. Trying to get through there during rush hour is a nightmare and one of the reasons I moved out of the south. I could see a BRT really annoying people on that route with stopping/moving lanes but there is enough space on each side they could probably add 2 lanes on each side which would help.

[Cappy]

A c-train stop at MRU would be great, but man is it out of the way. Where would the West line go before and after MRU. I thought the rationale for the West lines position was to follow major thoroughfares (Bow and 17) where the main people would congregate. The NW (Crowchild) and South (McLeod) lines did the same. Maybe one day MRU could be accessed by a run-off or a glenmore line but as of right now, considering there are alternative public transportation to MRU, the cost seems excessive.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by northcrunk

14th st is a cluster ####. Trying to get through there during rush hour is a nightmare and one of the reasons I moved out of the south. I could see a BRT really annoying people on that route with stopping/moving lanes but there is enough space on each side they could probably add 2 lanes on each side which would help.

This city been trying to add lanes to 14th street for more than 20 years. They've been challenged every time by the same people who are now opposing the BRT.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Cappy

A c-train stop at MRU would be great, but man is it out of the way. Where would the West line go before and after MRU. I thought the rationale for the West lines position was to follow major thoroughfares (Bow and 17) where the main people would congregate. The NW (Crowchild) and South (McLeod) lines did the same. Maybe one day MRU could be accessed by a run-off or a glenmore line but as of right now, considering there are alternative public transportation to MRU, the cost seems excessive.

You could probably have it just as an off-shoot from Shagannappi to start. where trains go and just come straight back. From there it could become a connection that goes from MRU to Chinook along Glenmore.

The excessive cost depends on your view of the necessity of decent public transit. I think for a million + city, with outlying commuters, 3 major post secondary institutions and a problem of urban sprawl, that decent transportation options are necessities. I would rather see money spent on that then more huge overpasses for Stoney, or a stadium for that matter.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Yes, yes - that is fine in theory, but it all feeds into the existing and not expanding 14th Street/Glenmore off-ramp which becomes even more of a cluster**** than it already is.

And strictly from my selfish POV, getting out of my neighbourhood and going anywhere is going to be miserable for years, unless I take a major detour. So, **** the MRU students.

We're talking what, one bus a minute at peak times?

[KevanGuy]

I'd like know if double length busses cost more to operate than regular busses. And if they are, why are there double length busses on the roads late in the evening when there is little demand, specifically on route 3.

[VladtheImpaler]

Just build a ****ing monorail already and be done with it. I am just curious how the SW ring road will play with this - wouldn't it make sense to run all the BRT along that?

[getbak]

Originally Posted by edslunch

We're talking what, one bus a minute at peak times?

One bus every 10 minutes in peak times. One bus every 20 in non-peak times.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Just build a ****ing monorail already and be done with it. I am just curious how the SW ring road will play with this - wouldn't it make sense to run all the BRT along that?

Why would it? It would have to leave the RR every time it needed to make a stop, and the RR doesn't actually go directly by anywhere useful. It's a bypass, not a route.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Just build a ****ing monorail already and be done with it. I am just curious how the SW ring road will play with this - wouldn't it make sense to run all the BRT along that?

Not really. It wouldn't be useful because hardly anyone would live, work, or study near it. And there is no way that the provincial government is going to facilitate bus access on a high speed roadway like Stoney.