Calgary Public Transit - Discussion

[Wormius]

Yeah, I was hoping there might be some efficiencies if you just made the whole system free, like the KC model where you're not chasing down people not paying fares, ticket dispensing maintenance and repair costs, and then on top of that some of the intangibles like reduced cars on the road and accidents that need tending to, freeing up downtown parking, etc.. Obviously people still need to drive if the routes don't work out or time constraints don't make it possible. It seems like there are some resources that would be better utilized if less cars were on the roads, and money wasn't be spent on fare-related endeavors.


I still think it would be a good pilot project to see what kind of real adoption of public transit you would see if there was a free fare. Like maybe Free Fare Fridays / Weekends or something to gauge the uptake.

[powderjunkie]

$4 before 10am and 3-7pm M-F
$2 all other times (and always for youth)

Calgary's system of nickel and dime increases every year has been so stupid (especially considering lack of electronic purchase options).

http://www.calgarytransit.com/fares-passes

Revise ticket books to $2 increments (or halfway perforated $4 tickets).

Not sure how I even feel about charging for 6 year olds to take the bus. Maybe age 6-17 are $2 during peak times, and free during off times...

[You Need a Thneed]

For Calgary, investing money in improving the transit system would be better than simply making all transit free. Keep the low income subsidies though.

[81MC]

For those who regularly take transit - is it worth the savings, or is it more a necessity or environmental decision? How often do you find it messes up your schedule?
I have really only taken transit outside of a basic C-Train ride once in the last few years, and go figure the bus just never showed up.

I’m considering selling my daily, which would require transit to get to work in the winter months. This would add about 45min to the commute (according to the schedules anyhow). I really only ever hang out in the city centre, so it’s not a huge deal to not have a car otherwise, but I’m not sure how confident I can be regarding CT schedules?

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by 81MC

For those who regularly take transit - is it worth the savings, or is it more a necessity or environmental decision? How often do you find it messes up your schedule?
I have really only taken transit outside of a basic C-Train ride once in the last few years, and go figure the bus just never showed up.

I’m considering selling my daily, which would require transit to get to work in the winter months. This would add about 45min to the commute (according to the schedules anyhow). I really only ever hang out in the city centre, so it’s not a huge deal to not have a car otherwise, but I’m not sure how confident I can be regarding CT schedules?

I from time to time commute downtown from the west end. Mainly when its needed as we only have one parking spot downtown. I'd say its fairly reliable. The biggest time sink is waiting for a bus or c-train.

My preference 100/100 times is to drive in still though.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by 81MC

For those who regularly take transit - is it worth the savings, or is it more a necessity or environmental decision? How often do you find it messes up your schedule?
I have really only taken transit outside of a basic C-Train ride once in the last few years, and go figure the bus just never showed up.

I’m considering selling my daily, which would require transit to get to work in the winter months. This would add about 45min to the commute (according to the schedules anyhow). I really only ever hang out in the city centre, so it’s not a huge deal to not have a car otherwise, but I’m not sure how confident I can be regarding CT schedules?

It really depends on your schedule and where you are going. Are you a combination of CTrain / Bus, how many transfers, etc. I had good experiences most of the time during rush hour because the express routes were active to my community. It actually kind of sucked when I left work early because the express bus wasn’t there and I had to take a super slow route home.

Of course, we have a car also so for shopping and running errands we drive, but the home to work commute was by bus and it saved quite a bit of money on gas alone.

The CT app is pretty good, but there are a couple of websites that provide better live tracking or the buses.

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by 81MC

I’m considering selling my daily, which would require transit to get to work in the winter months. This would add about 45min to the commute (according to the schedules anyhow). I really only ever hang out in the city centre, so it’s not a huge deal to not have a car otherwise, but I’m not sure how confident I can be regarding CT schedules?

I thought owning a Harley Davidson was a requirement?

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by 81MC

For those who regularly take transit - is it worth the savings, or is it more a necessity or environmental decision? How often do you find it messes up your schedule?
I have really only taken transit outside of a basic C-Train ride once in the last few years, and go figure the bus just never showed up.

I’m considering selling my daily, which would require transit to get to work in the winter months. This would add about 45min to the commute (according to the schedules anyhow). I really only ever hang out in the city centre, so it’s not a huge deal to not have a car otherwise, but I’m not sure how confident I can be regarding CT schedules?

If you're selling your car, you'll probably come out ahead with transit because you won't be fuelling, insuring, or maintaining it anymore. That stuff alone should more than cover your monthly pass. But also factor in that you'll probably be taking Uber more often when transit isn't practical, depending on your lifestyle.

It will come at the expense of your time, obviously. And a bit more hassle. Are you looking at 45 minutes longer each way? Or your return trip each day?

I am admittedly only an occasional transit rider, and I live close to the train, but I don't mind a little bit of "me" time in the morning when I do have to take it. Read a book, watch a show, write an email, etc. But I could also see how the novelty would wear off if I did it daily.

The app called "Transit" is a good resource (they also designed the Calgary Transit app) as it also factors in your walking time and suggests connections that you may not have thought of by looking at maps.

I don't find Calgary Transit to be that unreliable, but I take the Red Line and the 20, both of which are very frequent. But you can never predict when a car will play chicken with a train, and lose, and that can throw your whole commute off.

[peter12]

The nice thing about Vancouver is with the EVO app and public transit I don't really need to own a daily commute car. The only time we use our newish car is for getting out of town. Otherwise it sits in a garage out back.

[81MC]

It’s about an extra 45 each way, and is one bus and one train. The plus side is it is only in the winter months when my other vehicles aren’t out.

It looks like with my early starts the morning ride could be nice, get a head start in emails or read a book or something, afternoons not so much.
Maybe I’ll try it out for a week before making and serious decisions. Just harder and harder to justify having this extra expense.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by 81MC

It’s about an extra 45 each way, and is one bus and one train. The plus side is it is only in the winter months when my other vehicles aren’t out.

It looks like with my early starts the morning ride could be nice, get a head start in emails or read a book or something, afternoons not so much.
Maybe I’ll try it out for a week before making and serious decisions. Just harder and harder to justify having this extra expense.

If your bus isn't too full, it should be fine. I hated standing and trying to juggle my coffee and phone and railing at the same time.

[Madman]

Originally Posted by Wormius

If your bus isn't too full, it should be fine. I hated standing and trying to juggle my coffee and phone and railing at the same time.

[Wormius]

I meant holding on to the railings, or those straps to prevent you from lunging forward when the bus driver brakes hard for some reason.

[Yoho]

Originally Posted by peter12

The nice thing about Vancouver is with the EVO app and public transit I don't really need to own a daily commute car. The only time we use our newish car is for getting out of town. Otherwise it sits in a garage out back.

Sounds like not a great investment.

[getbak]

The new plan for the Green Line through downtown...



Tunnel under 11th Ave and 2nd St., a bridge over the east side of Prince's Island, and surface tracks on Centre Street south of 16th.

The station at the new arena will be underground in this plan. With construction timelines lining up, you'd have to think they'll provide direct access between the arena and the station, which would be nice for the people who will use it.

[Fuzz]

Decent, but they should elevate it until 20th ave, at least. A surface crossing at 16th is going to be an unmitigated disaster.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Decent, but they should elevate it until 20th ave, at least. A surface crossing at 16th is going to be an unmitigated disaster.

Eh, 16th already is a disaster for cross traffic during rush hour. It can take a while to get past Centre Street at that time. If anything by reducing lanes on centre, this may make the light sequence a bit better for east-west travel since there isn't longer light sequence for north-south travel with the removal of HOV lanes.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by Joborule

Eh, 16th already is a disaster for cross traffic during rush hour. It can take a while to get past Centre Street at that time. If anything by reducing lanes on centre, this may make the light sequence a bit better for east-west travel since there isn't longer light sequence for north-south travel with the removal of HOV lanes.

You're probably still going to have the longer light sequences just for all the Centre Street buses, since the Green Line isn't going to replace any of them.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Joborule

Eh, 16th already is a disaster for cross traffic during rush hour. It can take a while to get past Centre Street at that time. If anything by reducing lanes on centre, this may make the light sequence a bit better for east-west travel since there isn't longer light sequence for north-south travel with the removal of HOV lanes.

There is the slim possibility east-west improves, but that would only happen if they removed turns. They elevated the west line, it can't be that much more to elevate 10 blocks. Vancouver did it in a way that isn't obtrusive to the road below.



Lets pretend they run it surface. That's going to me closing every cross street to left turns(alternative being disaster). There are no good alternatives from the bluff to, well, as far north as this goes, to make a left. For an example of how this will work, look at 36th st NE, remove some lanes, and add some traffic. This is not a good idea. Any financial savings by running it at surface are going to be lost in travel times.

[GGG]

They built overpasses on 14th ave for the BRT. They have to tunnel under or go over 16th.