The Regional Transit Symposium took place in Calgary the past February 27th. The auditorium of the Sheraton Cavalier was full. Among the attendees there were representatives from the City of Calgary, adjacent municipalities and cities, transportation firms, the provincial government, and members of UrbanCSA.

GO Transit, Ontario (Jonathan Bjerg Moller/Toronto Star)

The Symposium started submerged in a tense environment. That same morning, the Government of Alberta announced the reduction of the “Green” trip budget allocations from $ 2.0 billion, to merely $ 50 million (a 97.5 % reduction in the budget). Honourable Ted Morton (PC), Minister of Sustainable Resource Development, opened the Symposium outlaying the official position of the provincial government in support of sustainable and economically viable development. Surprisingly, while joking about his lack of technological skills, the minister avoided to mention the magnitude of the reductions, describing a science fiction future in Alberta, full of sustainable initiatives which won’t be funded by the proposed budget. After the political speeches, the conference turned into the success stories of Transit Systems around Canada, ranging from small scale solutions implemented in Lethbridge, Alberta, to the CPR Regional Long Range Transit and Governance Plan. One of the most interesting findings was the West Coast Express story. The system, connecting Vancouver with Mission, British Columbia, made an effective use of the current infrastructure, allocating a passenger train in the unused capacity of the CPR infrastructure. In order to accommodate for the commuter rail, new platforms were introduced, as well as a coordination system with the CPR activities. The West Coast Express has eight stations, extends for 65 km, and has experienced an increase in ridership over five times bigger than the actual demographic growth in a period of 15 years.

Moreover, the GO transit system, implemented in the GTA since 1967 constitutes a successful transit development model for Alberta. The system made, once again, effective use of the current infrastructure, implementing Bus Rapid Lines, connecting communities and generating the demand for the later implementation of rail lines. The Province of Ontario, worked systematically to increase the capacity of the placed infrastructure. Double-level trains were introduced, as well as parallel rail lines to enhance the frequency and level of service.

The Symposium later presented some of the flashes of how a regional transit system in the Calgary region would look like. Using Calgary as the center hub, BRT (bus rapid transit) would connect satellite cities as Cochrane, Airdrie, Okotoks and Chestermere. These bus lines would count with a high frequency and would provide a reliable and rapid access to the city centre. Later, once the minimum demand is in place, commuter rail would connect this satellite cities, and the BRTs would now expand to other urban centers in the Calgary region such as High River, Strathmore, and Turner Valley.

More highways: the provincial answer to transportation problems.

A Regional Transit System as the described, would easily accommodate for the transportation needs of the region, reducing the demand of our roads, increasing the safety and, very important in time of economical downturns, reduce the infrastructure costs in the region. Moreover, transit systems have repeatedly proved to reduce the ecological footprint, becoming an important alternative to the current expansion trends.

Unfortunately, at the present, the mentioned system is no more than a pleasant dream. A proposed provincial budget would not even cover the capital costs of a single train. A metropolitan transit system would require more than pretty words. It would require strong provincial political will. The world is currently facing a mayor challenge: it is not possible to keep growing with the levels of consumption and expansion we have experienced in the last fifty years. Infrastructure costs have systematically increased hand in hand with our urban sprawl. Densification and a more effective use of land, not to mention a conscious reduction in our ecological footprint, is urgently needed. In this context, the Alberta Government is allocating $ 2.0 billion dollars for Carbon Sequestration, $10.0 billion dollars capital cost for a ring road around Calgary, and $0.05 billion for regional transit. Let’s let the numbers speak for themselves.

Guillermo Guglietti

President – UrbanCSA