At the time, it was hailed as a way to generate non-fare revenue for Calgary Transit, though terms were never disclosed to the public.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s announcement is a big step forward for downtown and it is a big step forward for our city, as well as everyone who uses transit,\u201d former Mayor Jyoti Gondek said at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis sponsorship agreement will provide TD a prominent footprint in the Downtown Core, while bringing in additional non-fare revenue for Calgary Transit.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Calgary Transit, the original agreement included an option for early termination, and TD Bank followed the appropriate process as outlined in the agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cTD Bank conducted a review of its sponsorship strategy and chose to end the TD Free Fare Zone agreement to focus on other partnerships that align with their changing priorities,\u201d read a statement from Calgary Transit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe agreement formally ended on November 14, and the removal of signage referencing to the TD Free Fare Zone will be removed over the next few weeks, depending on weather.\u201d<\/p>\n
LWC contacted TD Bank on Friday afternoon for a response, but one hasn\u2019t yet been provided. The story will be updated once a response is received.<\/p>\n
Review of Calgary\u2019s fare structure is underway<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a review of Calgary Transit fare structure has begun, and riders are being asked questions about the free fare zone. \u00a0Staff are interviewing commuters on platforms in the free fare zone between Nov. 15 and 30, according to Calgary Transit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe intention of this is to give us a snapshot of customer use of the CTrain downtown, including the free fare zone,\u201d read a statement from Calgary Transit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re speaking with riders on weekends, evenings, peak times, and non-peak times. This is one of the inputs we\u2019ll be using to confirm whether our fare structure is working, or if it needs changes.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s part of a larger review that will be done over the next few months as Calgary Transit examines the fare system as a whole. It will include information on how Calgarians use transit, the factors they consider, patterns of use, and what does or doesn\u2019t work for them when using transit. The review will also look at other payment systems available in Canadian cities. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur review will include engagement with our broader network of transit customers, Calgarians who don\u2019t use transit, businesses, and other groups that are impacted by or interested in our products and services,\u201d Calgary Transit said.<\/p>\n
They were clear that this is very early in the review process, and there are no plans for changes to products or services until they have a deeper understanding of customer needs.<\/p>\n
Ward 7 Coun. Myke Atkinson said that Calgary\u2019s free fare zone is something that\u2019s unique and special about the Calgary Transit system. Still, with the withdrawal of the TD Bank sponsorship, he understands why questions about the free fare zone\u2019s future are coming up.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut maintaining the fare free zone, I think, is incredibly important,\u201d he told LWC. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe free fare zone along Seventh Avenue is a conduit that has always encouraged economic vitality in the downtown core. It allows people to meet. It allows people to travel around. It keeps cars out of our downtown and keeps things much more pedestrian-focused.\u201d<\/p>\n
Atkinson said that as the City continues its pursuit of a more vibrant downtown, adding more people and businesses, the free fare zone will play an important role in moving people around.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople now living in the downtown, people not having vehicles in the downtown, right as we have more people move into East Village, the west end, throughout the commercial core, making sure that we\u2019re not just adding to the glut of car dependency in this area is really, really important,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Liked it? Take a second to support Darren Krause on Patreon!<\/p>\n
![\"Become](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1763983876_772_become_a_patron_button.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Calgary\u2019s downtown free fare zone is under scrutiny with two separate developments on the area transit corridor. LWC…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303644,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[45,49,2798,53595,48,133449,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-303643","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-calgary","11":"tag-calgary-transit","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-city-hall","14":"tag-featured"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}