Calgary Public Transit II

[MalcolmTucker]

It would be very hard to design a program that would include Vancouver but wouldn't include Calgary without explicitly saying in the programs guidlelines that only Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver are eligible. Even from a purely political point of view the government would benefit from mid sized cities like Quebec City, Waterloo Region, Winnipeg, and London being eligible.

[ByeByeBaby]

Originally Posted by mellbell416

The article seems to indicate that the Conservatives are using this initiative to chase electoral votes n strategic big cities - which doesn't bode well for Alberta, where it seems like a duck could get elected if it were running under the Conservative banner.....

See also the transit pass tax credit, which simultaneously sounds green, disproportionately benefits wealthier households, and disproportionately benefits households in the 905 without actually doing a single thing to increase transit usage.

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by ByeByeBaby

See also the transit pass tax credit, which simultaneously sounds green, disproportionately benefits wealthier households, and disproportionately benefits households in the 905 without actually doing a single thing to increase transit usage.

See also the early part of the last round of Building Canada Fund going to parking garages for GO Transit in the 905. That being said, the federal support was rather modest in total dollar value so to get to a reasonable cost share for individual projects they did those rather than be at 5% or less for larger projects. Sort of like how federal dollars didn't go to the West LRT but they did go to incremental fleet growth and supporting Kirby Station.

[elktamer]

Is the information about which type of bus is used for which trip(route at a particular time) published somewhere?

[lubicon]

$1 billion/yr wont add up to much for Alberta at all. Ballparking the numbers, we are about 10% or the population (slightly more really) so that puts our share at $100 million/yr. Divided between Edmonton and Calgary that amounts to about $50 million per year for each city. At the latest construction costs that would buy about 200-300m of LRT track. So better than nothing I suppose but certainly not nearly enough to kick start the big projects that we really need - Green Line, 8 Ave subway etc).

Then again, perhaps if Calgary actually had some projects that were 'shovel ready' and showed a commitment to going ahead with them it might be easier to get the Feds on board. It seems we have plenty of conceptual ideas but very few concrete plans to do anything. No wonder we cannot squeeze any funding out of the higher levels of government.

[MalcolmTucker]

Every incremental bit helps. $500 million over ten years helps a lot. Grant stack it with building Canada Fund and you have a 1/3rd share of the SE portion of the Green Line.

Not that it is an amazing amount, but every little bit helps.

And can't squeeze?

Come on. the only thing the city is guilty of is spreading our federal grants over so many projects it appears to be almost nothing, instead of pooling them all together for one big project like Ottawa, Vancouver, or Toronto has done.

Some of Calgary's entirely random projects, from a myriad of funds:

$8 million, Phase Two of Fort Calgary Master Plan Expansion, 2007 Building Canada Plan's Provincial-Territorial Base Fund
$25 million, Agrium Western Event Centre, Building Canada Fund – Major Infrastructure Component
$2.5 million, Tuscany CTrain Station, through the federal Gas Tax Fund
$40 million, Markin MacPhail Centre at WinSport Canada Olympic Park, Major Infrastructure Component of the 2007 Building Canada Fund
$166,667, upgrades to Olympic Plaza, Recreational Infrastructure Canada (RInC)
$1.9 million, Decidedly Jazz Society, Canada Cultural Spaces Fund
$34.5 million, 52nd Street SE, CPR grade separation, Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative
$48.4 Million, CNG Bus Storage & Transit Facility, P3 Canada

Calgary is getting our fair share. What is fair is small, because proportional to provincial investment federal investment is small. It doesn't help that we then dilute federal contributions over all sorts of projects.

[mersar]

Originally Posted by elktamer

Is the information about which type of bus is used for which trip(route at a particular time) published somewhere?

Not officially. The most that ever was published was if the bus was low floor or high floor, but since the entire high floor fleet was retired that is no more. You may find some insider knowledge at cptdb.ca which has numerous CT employees and transit fans on, as well as a number of posters from SSP as well.

What route(s) are you interested in finding out about?

[milomilo]

Originally Posted by lubicon

$1 billion/yr wont add up to much for Alberta at all. Ballparking the numbers, we are about 10% or the population (slightly more really) so that puts our share at $100 million/yr. Divided between Edmonton and Calgary that amounts to about $50 million per year for each city. At the latest construction costs that would buy about 200-300m of LRT track. So better than nothing I suppose but certainly not nearly enough to kick start the big projects that we really need - Green Line, 8 Ave subway etc).

Then again, perhaps if Calgary actually had some projects that were 'shovel ready' and showed a commitment to going ahead with them it might be easier to get the Feds on board. It seems we have plenty of conceptual ideas but very few concrete plans to do anything. No wonder we cannot squeeze any funding out of the higher levels of government.

To be fair, there is definitely work going into the Green Line planning - much has been revealed in the last few months with regards to the NCLRT alignment.

[suburbia]

Originally Posted by lubicon

$1 billion/yr wont add up to much for Alberta at all. Ballparking the numbers, we are about 10% or the population (slightly more really) so that puts our share at $100 million/yr. Divided between Edmonton and Calgary that amounts to about $50 million per year for each city. At the latest construction costs that would buy about 200-300m of LRT track. So better than nothing I suppose but certainly not nearly enough to kick start the big projects that we really need - Green Line, 8 Ave subway etc).

Then again, perhaps if Calgary actually had some projects that were 'shovel ready' and showed a commitment to going ahead with them it might be easier to get the Feds on board. It seems we have plenty of conceptual ideas but very few concrete plans to do anything. No wonder we cannot squeeze any funding out of the higher levels of government.

I'm looking forward to the gondola in the NW!

[lubicon]

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

Every incremental bit helps. $500 million over ten years helps a lot. Grant stack it with building Canada Fund and you have a 1/3rd share of the SE portion of the Green Line.

Not that it is an amazing amount, but every little bit helps.

And can't squeeze?

Come on. the only thing the city is guilty of is spreading our federal grants over so many projects it appears to be almost nothing, instead of pooling them all together for one big project like Ottawa, Vancouver, or Toronto has done.

Some of Calgary's entirely random projects, from a myriad of funds:


Calgary is getting our fair share. What is fair is small, because proportional to provincial investment federal investment is small. It doesn't help that we then dilute federal contributions over all sorts of projects.

Fair enough. There rarely seems to be any major projects that see significant funding but if it is spread out then it will not be noticed.

Originally Posted by milomilo

To be fair, there is definitely work going into the Green Line planning - much has been revealed in the last few months with regards to the NCLRT alignment.

If the Feds came to Calgary tomorrow and offered a huge chunk of money for the Green Line provided construction could start immediately we would have to turn it down. Hell, the route isn't even settled on. Studies are one thing, and I realize that is needed but we cannot even decide on routes, timelines or anything it seems. Everything is still 20 years out and we started 'planning' 20 years ago.

It's frustrating when you see Vancouver receive $450 million for the Canada Line or $415 for the Evergreen Line and zilch going here.

[suburbia]

In today's budget:

$48.4 million to support the construction of the Stoney Compressed Natural Gas Bus
Storage and Transit Facility in Calgary, Alberta. This project will support the storage
and maintenance of the city’s new fleet of Compressed Natural Gas buses, which will
have a lower environmental impact and be less expensive to operate than traditional
diesel fuel buses.

[EDIT] I believe this section was a re-cap of previously committed funds.

[MalcolmTucker]

Here is the real announcement:

Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to provide PPP Canada Inc. with new funding of $750 million over two years, starting in 2017–18, and $1 billion per year ongoing thereafter for a new Public Transit Fund.

The big difference from current funds is PPP Canada only funds up to 25% of a project's cost.

$250 million 2017-18
$750 million 2018-19
$1 billion 2019-20 and on wards.

Not insignificant, but not massive either.

[joe498]

Jason Markusoff ‏@markusoff

Nenshi: for green line LRT feds need to pony up $1B-$2b

Jason Markusoff @markusoff

Nenshi: maybe this transit funding will let us go for the "Big Bang" -- LRT UP Centre and to southeast

I'm slightly skeptical about this budget in regards to transit funding.

[DizzyEdge]

Does CT still own any of the buses which look like this?


http://www.blogto.com/city/2011/02/toronto_in_photos_from_the_1850s_to_the_1990s/

[VIce]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

Does CT still own any of the buses which look like this?


http://www.blogto.com/city/2011/02/toronto_in_photos_from_the_1850s_to_the_1990s/

Own yes, but I don't think any of them are operated. They sold a handful to Quebec, and I think they're trying to get rid of the rest.

[DizzyEdge]

It would be nice to keep one, similar to how the TTC has kept an example of some of their older streetcars.

[Riise]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

It would be nice to keep one, similar to how the TTC has kept an example of some of their older streetcars.

Definitely!

The Transportation for London Museum is one of my favourities in London. While Calgary Transit's collection would be much smaller, it would still be very interesting.

[ClaytonA]

4 car trains start rolling this summer right? It'll be interesting to see how much passenger trips will jump with stories about crowding in the newspapers.


Oh - is Calgary not participating in the APTA surveys anymore?

[fusili]

Originally Posted by ClaytonA

4 car trains start rolling this summer right? It'll be interesting to see how much passenger trips will jump with stories about crowding in the newspapers.


Oh - is Calgary not participating in the APTA surveys anymore?

Yeah, I see they weren't in the 2014 year end report. But I remember reports from earlier in the year. Anyone know?

[Socguy]

Originally Posted by ClaytonA

4 car trains start rolling this summer right? It'll be interesting to see how much passenger trips will jump with stories about crowding in the newspapers.


Oh - is Calgary not participating in the APTA surveys anymore?

Last info I saw was December for 4 car trains. Hopefully they move that up, but who knows...