CALGARY – Beginning at 4:40 a.m. Monday, Calgarians will finally be able to do what people in other cities have done for years: take the bus from downtown to the airport.
The No. 300 bus will leave from the core on its maiden voyage, part of a six-month pilot project that transit officials hope will ferry 1,200 people a day to and from the airport.
It may seem like a straightforward concept to provide direct transit from downtown to the international airport, but this hasn’t been the case in Calgary, until now.
“We’ve, surprisingly, never had a direct downtown link to the airport before,” Mayor Naheed Nenshi said Sunday, adding he will take the bus when he uses the airport.
The bus will leave the core and the airport every half-hour.
It does a loop in the downtown, along 4th and 9th avenues, before heading up Centre Street, then east on 64th Avenue to Deerfoot Trail and on to the airport.
It will cost $8 to ride from the airport. A regular transit fare of $2.75 will be charged for travelling in the other direction, to the airport.
“We feel that $8 for a traveller coming in, in comparison to the alternatives, is a very good deal,” said Doug Morgan, manager of service design for Calgary Transit.
Monthly passes, senior passes, low income passes, day passes and U-Passes will also be valid for passengers heading in either direction.
The route is designed to cater to business travellers on a budget, young people and employees commuting to the airport.
The pilot project has a net cost of $330,000, Morgan said.
The buses will not be outfitted with special luggage racks. The mayor and transit officials said they want to wait to get a better idea of the need before spending the money.
“It’s not going to work well if you are a family of five with two little babies and a ton of baggage,” Nenshi said of the bus service.
“But if you’re a business person with your rollaway bag, it should be fine. And that’s the experience in most other cities that have launched this kind of direct bus service.”
Check the Calgary Transit website for route details.
Calgary Herald
- Posters promoting ‘Steal From Loblaws Day’ are circulating. How did we get here?
- Video shows Ontario police sharing Trudeau’s location with protester, investigation launched
- Canadian food banks are on the brink: ‘This is not a sustainable situation’
- Solar eclipse eye damage: More than 160 cases reported in Ontario, Quebec
Comments