Calgary Transit makes history
Rider becomes 100 millionth passenger in 2012
Craig Hardy was having a bad week.
He’d gotten laid off from his construction job last Friday and hadn’t had much luck finding a new job. On top of that, he broke his laptop.
So the Calgary resident decided to take a bus trip downtown Thursday so he could have a stroll, grab some lunch and enjoy the nice weather.
But when Hardy stepped off his bus on 7th Avenue, he was met by Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who greeted him as the 100 millionth Calgary Transit rider of 2012 — a record for the 103-year-old department.
For Hardy, who received a year of free transit, it was some unexpected good news.
“It all was pretty random,” he said. “It was very generous. I’m grateful and it was nice for them to give me that.”
The fanfare capped off a big week for Calgary Transit.
The $1.4-billion west LRT opened Monday, and the city unveiled its 30year strategic transit plan Wednesday.
“This is a very special day for transit,” Nenshi said.
“Our ridership is at record levels so our job is to ensure that we continue to build this system so it can manage all this ridership and be the preferred choice for even more Calgarians.”
This year’s ridership has jumped over seven per cent from last year, said transit director Doug Morgan.
“We’ll certainly see expansion next year to try to support new riders,” Morgan said. “The peak hours are getting quite crowded so we’re working hard to make sure we can provide good customer service while we have busy buses.”
It might not be a new laptop, but Hardy said he’ll make good use of his free transit pass.
“I take transit regularly,” he said. “I’m actually really happy with the service.”