LRT riders in Calgary will get a little more elbow room next week.
Calgary Transit has announced that it will add one car to Red Line trains effective Dec. 19 as part of the winter schedule changes.
“They, for the most part, only include small changes in scheduling to just improve our schedule adherence and improve connections. We will also return four car trains to the Red Line for a.m. and p.m. rush hours,” Amanda Bradley, Calgary Transit, told Global News said.
Communities adjacent to Macleod Trail south of Fish Creek will also see changes to bus routes to improve coverage and efficiency.
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Calgary Transit to focus on frequency over coverage in proposed strategy update
Bradley said this was in response to an increase in transit use, as transit ridership returned to about 80 percent of pre-pandemic levels.
“We’re seeing an increase in ridership, which is great. We’re also seeing some increases in our resources and as those resources increase, we can continue to make improvements to our service levels.”
Bradley said during morning and evening rush hours, trains are scheduled to run every three to five minutes.
One transportation expert said the increased capacity along the Red Line during rush hour is a good sign.
“It’s a very positive change, I think,” said Willem Klumpenhouwer, a transit researcher at the University of Toronto. “And that’s something that we know is going to further drive ridership and further drive usage.”
Klumpenhouwer said going from three-car to four-car trains will have a payoff in rider experience.
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“Adding a car back into operation is not that expensive. And to really have that space to use the car and not feel overcrowded when the pandemic and all these viruses are obviously still going on and people may be very aware of it – it can really add a lot of pleasantness,” the U of T postdoctoral fellow said.
“So the less pressure you can make a vehicle, the better people experience their journey.”
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said the return of four-car trains to an LRT line is “very good news” for the city.
“I think that any time we see a return to pre-pandemic activity levels, especially on public transport, it’s a confidence booster for the city. This is an indication that people are moving around the city and that they are busy again with all the things they have to do on a regular basis,” said the mayor.
Klumpenhouwer was disappointed that only the LRT system received noticeable improvements, pointing to the Max BRT system and saying that it should be treated as a primary transport network.
He also said Calgary is beginning to show a turnaround in political will to proactively change transit service levels to help generate demand, rather than react to overcrowded trains and buses. It’s an approach that has helped transit networks in other cities recover from the worst pandemic-related declines in ridership.
“The rate of return that we see at different transit agencies around the world, but even in North America, is kind of a function of how much they embrace it,” Kulmpenhouwer said.
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
