Service cut on bus routes despite $4M budget boost
Calgarians will have to wait longer for certain transit buses beginning next week, despite a recent $4-million budget boost from city council.
Schedule adjustments to more than five dozen transit routes will go into effect on Christmas Day, including chopping weekend service (Route 174 Tuscany), cutting latenight trips (Route 27 Willowglen, Route 33 Vista Heights/Rundle and Route 146 Beddington) and adding anywhere from two to 30 minutes to bus frequencies, depending on the route.
The winter service changes come less than a month after city council voted during budget deliberations to put the brakes on a 46,800-service-hour reduction at Calgary Transit, slated to save $6.8 million while affecting 56,000 weekly users on 27 different routes.
On Nov. 29, council voted 8-7 in favour of spending $4 million to restore the proposed service cuts at transit “and/or invest in additional services to optimize the system.” At the time, Mayor Naheed Nenshi cautioned some of the route adjustments would still be going ahead.
“Council voted to continue investments in Calgary Transit service, which allows us to maintain most transit service levels and invest in other routes to optimize the transit network,” states a note on the Calgary Transit website concerning the winter service changes.
But more than half of the proposed service cuts municipal politicians got a glimpse of during budget week are either still going ahead as proposed or close to what was planned, while a host of other reductions not discussed during budget week will also begin Dec. 25.
Acting director of Calgary Transit Chris Jordan said cuts are going ahead “where they made sense on low-performing routes at lowperforming times of the day,” while expanded transit service will be unveiled in some communities in the new year.
“The service investments in new communities that have no service will be realized later in 2018,” Jordan said.
“Now that council has given us that direction, it takes time for us to do the work plan, schedule and deploy the service efficiently.”
Ward 3 Coun. Jyoti Gondek, who brought forward the successful amendment during budget week to restore $4 million to transit, said it appears Calgary Transit is focusing on optimization rather than restoration — a model she agrees with.
“Certainly in Ward 3, I can see that a couple of the adjustments they made are based on low ridership on one route and high demand on a non-existent route that is now in place,” she said.
Next week’s adjustments will include a new route in Cityscape and changes to the Route 100 that will now provide a direct connection to the airport from the North Pointe bus terminal and McKnight-Westwinds CTrain station.