Calgary considers express transit bus linking airport to city core

CALGARY – The city is considering an express bus service linking the airport to downtown, as Calgary Transit gets ready to launch a new airport route next year.

Calgary Transit said Thursday that Route 100 will offer a service between the airport and the city core, using an express bus to connect the terminal to the nearest LRT station, which is McKnight-Westwinds on the northeast line.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi is pursuing a more ambitious plan, which would take the form of a terminal-to-downtown express line.

Council laid the groundwork Thursday by creating a $5-million innovation to look at various options. Transit has additional plans for either a bus or tram using Centre Street.

Route 100 service kicks in on April 3, when a 4.5-kilometre section of Barlow Trail N.E. closes for construction of a fourth runway.

Route 100 will access the terminal via Country Hills Boulevard. It will use 36th Street N.E. until the Metis Trail extension to Country Hills Boulevard opens next fall, said transit planning manager Neil McKendrick.

This will replace the little-used Route 57, which meanders through the airport services area and links to the Whitehorn LRT station.

Route 100 will run every 20 minutes during peak hours and every half-hour the rest of the time.

Nenshi has been talking about an airport-to-downtown express line since the election campaign.

It’s unclear when such a route would go into service, and whether buses would use Deerfoot Trail or Centre Street.

"If the Westwinds bus does the trick, then we don’t need to continue with the downtown one," Nenshi told reporters. "But let’s try a downtown one and see how it goes."

Calgary Transit has proposed a downtown airport express service to start in 2012, using Centre Street via 96th Avenue N.E. Long-range plans call for a tram on the same route.

Almoonir Dewji, who flies frequently, said he’d prefer the northeast option, even though he lives in the deep south.

"It is only a viable option if the bus is from a C-Train station and specifically one that is closest to the airport so that there are minimal delays in case of bad weather or traffic," said Dewji, a management consultant.

He likes the new Canada Line linking Vancouver’s airport to downtown. Dewji said rail service would be more reliable than buses in Calgary.

"In inclement weather, the (downtown) bus will be stuck like the rest of the traffic. At least with the train, there is a chance — fingers-crossed — that it will arrive at the station in a reasonable time."