Calgary Public Transit - Discussion

[SebC]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

I thought we had learned after the airport tunnel to do things right....this isn't it.

Heck, one might argue that the airport tunnel money would've been better spent here.

[#-3]

The best reason I saw for not tunneling under the river, was that they want a station close to memorial on the north side of the river, and the tunnel would be too deep there. I assume they think will be a foot traffic friendly area.

I hadn't really looked at the down town alignment yet. You'd think it would have made more sense to give the train its own bridge and steer it towards 2nd further north.



I'm sure there is a reason they haven't considered just building another bridge right beside center, I wonder why?

[#-3]

Originally Posted by SebC

Heck, one might argue that the airport tunnel money would've been better spent here.

I argued the money might have been better spent turning Country Hills, Metis, and Memorial into freeways with no lights in that area. Not sure what the cost difference between the tunnel and 6 or 7 interchanges would have been. But I think it would have provided just as much access to the airport, and more access to the city for commuters.

[Looch City]

The new Calgary Transit website is launching Monday, here is a sneakpeak and some pictures: http://crackmacs.ca/index.php/2014/1...e-new-website/

[RW99]

Looks promising. And I didn't know that Crackmacs had a website...

[SebC]

Carckmacs keeps getting more and more serious about municipal politics. I think "Mayor Crackmacs" is an inevitability.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by SebC

Carckmacs keeps getting more and more serious about municipal politics. I think "Mayor Crackmacs" is an inevitability.

Oh lord, I hope not. The husband and wife team behind the @crackmacs twitter are brutally annoying and use their small pseudo local fame to get free meals from restaurants more than anything. Their takes on issues are simple, at best, and anything beyond reporting what's going on at the Crack Mac's on 8th comes across as High School journalism.

If the mayor of Calgary's job was solely reunite lost animals via twitter, then by all means, Mayor Crackmacs!

[Joborule]

Finally, CT has a website for the 21st century.

[secol]

good stuff....can't wait till all the buses are outfitted with GPS for real-time

[Regular_John]

We saw the RFP on the new transit site last year and passed on it due to scale/resources. Not sure who won the RFP, but they did a pretty decent job of it. The responsive/mobile interface is nice & snappy, and the UX has been well thought out.

[BlackArcher101]

Is it me or is the trip planner not telling you the stop numbers?

[Cuz]

Originally Posted by secol

good stuff....can't wait till all the buses are outfitted with GPS for real-time

The majority of the fleet is outfitted with GPS, with exceptions for some of the newer units.

[secol]

Originally Posted by Cuz

The majority of the fleet is outfitted with GPS, with exceptions for some of the newer units.

yeah. i noticed not everything had GPS because some of the times I got texted with didn't have the asterisk. also i noticed last night that it was fairly accurate, but i'm wondering if anybody has any insight as to how it determines the ETA because according to the ETA the bus went past my stop about 1 to 2 mins before it actually arrived.

[Calgary14]

Looks like CT has raised the price of reserved parking at LRT stations to $80 plus GST effective Jan 1/15. Has anyone else noticed this?

[tvp2003]

I was in Vancouver recently and noticed they had multiple fare zones (i.e. for taking the skytrain). Has there ever been any consideration to implementing something like that within Calgary?

I suspect you could only do it once the automatic fare cards are implemented; while it may seem more equitable (someone who takes the train from Tuscany currently pays the same as someone who takes the train from Sunnyside), it would probably be a political landmine as well...

Originally Posted by Calgary14

Looks like CT has raised the price of reserved parking at LRT stations to $80 plus GST effective Jan 1/15. Has anyone else noticed this?

So $99 plus $84 = $183 (not including the federal bus pass rebate)? Jeepers...

[InBurkeWeTrust]

Anyone else having problems paying for their parking? I log in and "You currently do not have any parking lots reserved."

wth?

[Cuz]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

I was in Vancouver recently and noticed they had multiple fare zones (i.e. for taking the skytrain). Has there ever been any consideration to implementing something like that within Calgary?

I suspect you could only do it once the automatic fare cards are implemented; while it may seem more equitable (someone who takes the train from Tuscany currently pays the same as someone who takes the train from Sunnyside), it would probably be a political landmine as well...

The geography of the Lower Mainland allows for fare zones that, while somewhat arbitrary, ultimately make sense (Vancouver itself is one zone, Burnaby, New West and Richmond are another and Coquitlam and anything south/east of the Fraser are another). IMO, Calgary doesn't divide up as nicely and I think, as you said, would be a political landmine.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Cuz

The geography of the Lower Mainland allows for fare zones that, while somewhat arbitrary, ultimately make sense (Vancouver itself is one zone, Burnaby, New West and Richmond are another and Coquitlam and anything south/east of the Fraser are another). IMO, Calgary doesn't divide up as nicely and I think, as you said, would be a political landmine.

We have major roadways in Calgary that can be used for division. Stations south of Glenmore Trail, west of Shaganappi Trail, east of Deerfoot can be a different fare zone.

[RW99]

Speaking of price, any update on the Connect cards? They had a new trial from Sept to November.

[Cuz]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

We have major roadways in Calgary that can be used for division. Stations south of Glenmore Trail, west of Shaganappi Trail, east of Deerfoot can be a different fare zone.

True we do, but those IMO are not as natural as a border between two municipalities. I could imagine people screaming discrimination based on where they live. Also, with the city looking towards basing transit passes on a sliding scale dependant on income, I don't see fare zones being implemented.

Originally Posted by RW99

Speaking of price, any update on the Connect cards? They had a new trial from Sept to November.

I saw a whole two passes during the trial (two people, multiple times) and they did work except for the time when I was driving a new bus and I think it wasn't configured yet. But I haven't heard an update as a driver yet (they don't really keep us in the loop though).