Calgary\u2019s rapid growth has city council rethinking whether a 90\u2011minute transit ticket still gives riders enough time to get from one end of the city to the other. <\/p>\n
To put that question to the test Wednesday, CityNews reporter Phoenix Phillips set out on a full\u2011length journey, from Carrington in the far north to Somerset\u2011Bridlewood in the deep south with a single $4 fare.<\/p>\n
The trip began at 11 a.m. aboard bus 124, the first of several connections needed to cross Calgary\u2019s sprawl with a transfer valid until 12:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
A short nine\u2011minute ride led to the second bus, the MG route toward the city centre. That leg alone was scheduled for 34 minutes, offering plenty of time to hear from fellow riders about the proposed extension.<\/p>\n
Godwin, who has relied on transit for two years, didn\u2019t hesitate when asked whether a 90\u2011minute window is enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting from Tuscany to somewhere like McKenzie where I stay is (expletive),\u201d he said. \u201cI need to get a two\u2011way ticket.\u201d<\/p>\n
Owen, a six\u2011year transit user, pointed to rising fares as another pressure point. <\/p>\n
\u201cLast year it was $3.70, the year before that it was $3.50, now it\u2019s up to $4,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Godwin laughed at the idea of making it from one end of Calgary to the other on a single fare.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo way,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
By the time the trip reached the CTrain platform downtown, 45 minutes remained on the transfer, with a 35-minute train ride still ahead. A well\u2011timed Red Line train kept the journey alive.<\/p>\n
When the train arrived at the final stop at 12:18 p.m., only 12 minutes remained on the 90\u2011minute ticket. The cross\u2011city challenge had succeeded, but there was little time left for unforeseen delays.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were moments along the trip that were getting me a little nervous,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cKnowing that we could have an additional 30 minutes added to our transit pass, that would be something to consider.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ward 12 Coun. Mike Jamieson, who introduced the motion to extend transfers to 120 minutes, argues the current window doesn\u2019t reflect real\u2011world conditions. <\/p>\n
His notice of motion cites traffic congestion, weather, accessibility needs, and system complexity as reasons the city should give riders more time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Calgary\u2019s rapid growth has city council rethinking whether a 90\u2011minute transit ticket still gives riders enough time to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":500808,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194293],"tags":[49,2798,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-500807","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-calgary","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-calgary","10":"tag-canada"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500807","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=500807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}