CALGARY – Chronic delays in the province’s regional transit funding haven’t stopped Airdrie, which will start its first public bus service with Calgary this fall.
The community of 38,000 will use the Intercity Express, with three $700,000 long buses Airdrie council has purchased.
The Stelmach government’s 2008 pledge of $2 billion toward regional buses or trains had Calgary and its neighbours plot a long-term transit system featuring express buses and eventually commuter trains.
The deficit-plagued Tories haven’t rolled out the "green trip" dollars yet, but Airdrie had held off on its long-standing transit expansion plans long enough and decided to go it alone.
"We just really couldn’t wait any longer — we had to meet the needs of our communities," Mayor Linda Bruce said.
Airdrie residents have long ranked bus service to the big city to its south as a key service that was lacking. A private company offers morning and afternoon commuter coaches, but only to Calgary’s core.
Airdrie’s public transit service will roll down Calgary’s Harvest Hills Boulevard and Centre Street N. with stops at North Pointe — becoming a bigger Calgary Transit hub this fall — and elsewhere before its downtown terminus.
It will start only in peak weekday hours like the private service, but it will also carry reverse commuters who want to get to Airdrie in the morning or back to Calgary in the afternoon.
"It’s a transit system, as opposed to a commuter bus," Bruce said.
Nobody from private carrier First Canada was available for comment Friday. It runs six daily coaches that serve Airdrie commuters, and Bruce predicted it will still be popular among downtown workers.
But Airdrie residents who commute to another part of Calgary, such as the universities, may prefer the city-run bus service that links into Calgary Transit service, the mayor said.
"Students can have an option of taking the bus instead of having to get a car and pay for parking," she said. The city is eyeing a $7 fare each way, she said.
Instead of relying on provincial funds, Airdrie had $1.3 million from a federal transit trust to pay for the buses. Calgary Transit was contracted to help them purchase the accordion-style "articulated" buses and offer expertise, but is contributing no funding to the service, spokesperson Theresa Keddy said.
With only three buses, nobody expects the Intercity Express to make a huge dent in the thousands of daily car commuters taking Deerfoot Trail from Airdrie. But some residents are intrigued by the option.
"Being able to connect to the Calgary bus system would be a benefit for many of us," said Janice Harrington, who works in northeast Calgary for an accountants’ association.
Sarah Seibert, who works in advertising in downtown Calgary, was doubtful it would benefit her because of her unpredictable hours.
"I wouldn’t really be able to follow the schedule," she said.
The intercity buses will offer all-day rides if the service proves successful, Bruce said. Eventually, the city hopes to connect to Calgary via LRT or a long-discussed heavy rail commuter network.
But this fall’s first buses to Calgary mark a huge step in the expansion of Airdrie public transit, which currently offers three local routes with smaller shuttles.
jmarkusoff@theherald.canwest.com
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