It’s called “activism”. Everyone needs to do their part to educate everyone about the issues. No, I do not drive to work. (Actually, I don’t currently live in Calgary, but I am returning in December. And yes, returning to public transit. So this remains an issue dear to me.) My, and everyone else’s concerns, is that Calgary is far too car-centric for public transit to be truly effective. Want public transit to work? Make dedicated lanes. Restrict car movements at certain places to the benefit of buses. Allow buses to have the legal right of way (rather than having to wait for cars to let buses back into traffic).

I will not shut my mouth. If you feel this blog is being ineffective, perhaps you should concentrate your efforts on opening your mouth to others and get them to speak out, too.

I’ve only been through the Crowfoot Station area three or four times so far, and so I’m not yet perceiving it very clearly. But what you say about cramming things in is absolutely correct. I have always wondered, though, if this “cramming” has something to do with national road design standards. It could ultimately depend on ways of assessing the value (in the broadest sense) of urban space. In the case of Dalhousie Station it is evident how hard the planners and developers worked to maximize the commercial space in the entire area. It resulted in some really shoddy design situations, especially from the pedestrian’s point of view.

Forget the Community Shuttle buses for a second. The question we should be asking is which genius designed the “new” Crowfoot bus loop where the 43/37, 58/158, 299/199, and 137/143 all share stops.

Why are they making buses share stops at a brand new station? It is not like there was any problem with space at this station.

This bus loop is built so tight that if say both the 43 and 37 are in the loop, the guy driving the 137 or 143 can’t get around them. 58 and 158 are never supposed to be at the station together, but in reality the 2-3 days have shown that they are almost in their together all the time parked back to back in the same spot, blocking the 174 (Tuscany) bus almost every trip due to the disaster that is known as the “Crowchild-Stoney Trail” intersection. All it would take to kill rush hour for feeder buses at Crowfoot bus loop is for one of the buses to have a mechanical problem and die. Everyone else would be stuck. Not even the tow trucks they use for buses would have enough space to get around in that loop.

There is also the traffic circle at Crowfoot Station that buses have to use each time they enter and leave the station. A few set of lights have worked better since 90% of the car population does not understand the sign with directions at the circle that say something to the effect of “Yield to vehicles in the circle on your left”. Then again do most of them even know what “Yield” really means?

The bus-only gates leading in and out of Scenic Acres have been stuck open for the most of the three days that they have been in operation. Why couldn’t they just have one gate in the middle for shuttles (or in case a car gets stuck in a bus trap) and have bus traps on each side similar to how the Queensland/Lake Bonavista bus trap is setup?

Did these out to lunch planners and schedulers not learn anything from Dalhousie or Brentwood?

More of my limited ire is now directed at my fellow passengers (especially between the ages of 12 and 20) than at Calgary Transit–particularly to the young woman who emptied a baggie of dog kibbles on the floor of the train one day last month. At least she had the sense to point out to the animal pieces he’d missed.

Question: is there some enlightened place in the world that has better jitneys than these so-called “community shuttles”? They were designed in hell if they were designed at all.

Unless CT managed to clean up a lot of problems in the last little while (which I doubt), I imagine the hatred still exists. Easy way to tell: how many traffic jams are there in the morning?

As for me, I moved to Costa Rica to get away from CT. (Joking, mostly.)

That being said, I have complained about two drivers. One was switching his sign to ‘Out of Service’ as he approached stops on Crowchild Trail towards MRC-Lakeview, and another was being very rude to people as they were getting off the bus. When people get off the bus and say ‘thank you’ to the driver, the driver should really just wave or say ‘you’re welcome’ (or nothing at all), not things like ‘yeah, whatever’. That guy was a jerk!

I’m also in full support of the parking fee. It’s always nice to get something for free, but really? If someone can find parking downtown for $60/month, please let us know!

Moreover, just as downtown parking gets cheaper in the evening and on weekends, so should Transit parking. Aside from the economic logic of the “market value” of a service or commodity, you’d think that public policy should support increased ridership when the system can easily support it, especially with respect to citizens getting out evenings and on weekends for commercial, cultural and social activities.

For me, Calgary Transit has worked slightly better in the past twelve months than it did in the year before, but I still have the impression that CT is not exactly gaining ground as an organization. But what organization in Alberta IS coping well, if it has to rely on our political monoculture for support?

In short, don’t fault your bus driver for being ten minutes late; fault your legislature for being two or three decades late.

I am one of those poor people who already have a busy morning which just got busier. I have to drop off my mother at work @ 7 then I and my wife go together and I drop her off at her work then park at McKnight station and go downtown.

Now since I can’t afford the $3/day fees and don’t really want to pay my lunch money (take lunch from home, so it’s about $3 or less). I have to drop off my wife at work and go back home to park my car and take bus to the station. On my way back I wait for the bus and then go home and take my car and pick up my wife…..

I hate transit and I hate how the city has become a blood-sucking leech by increasing property tax, downtown parking price, transit fare price, even increasing their own pay and what not… Can *&(*ing imagine that city is doing all this while we are in recession? My heart go to those people lost their jobs and city is just not helping.

This city has seen lots of money but unfortunately is still old backward motown bring run by few not-so-caring people.

There are, however, moments when I have to scratch my head at CT. I have to get out of work, every day half an hour early exactly, if I flub two minutes for example, I’m out of luck. If I’m late, I will miss my bus, and have to wait a half hour for the next one. Then I hit the traffic jam (see cause above) and get stuck waiting in traffic, getting home an hour later than I would have if I had caught my regular bus.

I’ll admit, I get frustrated when a bus I need doesn’t show up, or a driver doesn’t stop, or the bus is too full. These frustrations are only compounded when it’s -30 degrees celcius outside with blowing snow. No matter how warmly you dress, you can’t last long in weather like that. Everyone in Calgary knows how bitterly cold it gets sometimes. And with these other problems, it becomes extremely difficult to give CT the benefit of the doubt and justify putting up with it instead of becoming one of those people who just drive in a big, spacious car all by themselves. Hey, I’ll add to the traffic problem and get stuck on the roads but at least I’m not waiting outside, freezing as I watch another full bus zoom by.

Again, this is not the operator’s fault most of the time. They can’t help the weather, the poor scheduling, or the congested streets. It’s just that their customers eventually feel the sting from all three of these factors combined.