Park n' Ride Fees

For the past thirty years, the City of Calgary has been doing almost everything to encourage transit ridership. For the most part, this plan has been very successful, giving Calgary one of the highest per-capita transit ridership rates in North America. However, this was all put into jeopardy last year, when the City decided to begin charging three dollars to use the many Park n’ Ride lots scattered throughout Calgary.

The goal of the new fee was said to be increased safety for transit users, by funding security cameras and better lighting. The fee would also fund better maintenance of the lots as well, including paving of gravel lots. However, for the most part, the only change that has been made to any of the City’s many Park n’ Ride lots, is the addition of park plus machines, which conveniently collect Calgarians’ money via cash, debit or credit.

The debate as to what should be done with this three dollar fee is interesting. I see three options to avoid what appears to currently be a mere tax grab. First off, the fee can be scrapped entirely, returning the lots to a free service provided to encourage transit use and ease congestion on the City’s roads. The second option is to reduce the rate from the current three dollars, to one dollar. The idea is that there would still be some revenue flowing in from parking, allowing for routine upkeep of the facilities, while still keeping the price of parking and two transit trips to under seven dollars. The final option is to keep the current three dollar fee. This of course would seem to be the least popular at first glance, but perhaps could win over some critics if there were actual improvements made to the Park n’ Ride lots. This would need to include not only enhanced security features, but also improved infrastructure, including paved lots, plug-ins for those cold winter days, and perhaps even the option to upgrade to reserved spots.

At the end of the day, it would seem that increased transit ridership is perhaps the most important part of the LRT. Not only does increased train use decrease the air pollution in our City, but it also eases the congestion on City streets, making getting around a little easier for everybody. In light of these benefits, maybe it is in the best interests of all Calgarians that the three dollar fee is scrapped altogether.


- The Butcher

www.billythebutcher.com
http://www.facebook.com/
www.twitter.com/billtummonds

To Tunnel or not to Tunnel?

The previous City council has decided not to go ahead with building a tunnel to the airport to replace the eventual closure of Barlow Trail.

The airport is a vital piece to Calgary’s economy, and its importance to the city will only continue to grow. Building a tunnel under the future East runway, would have ensured future access to this vital city link. The issue with not building it now is that it will only become more expensive in the future. Instead of spending the money today, the City will end up spending double or triple in the future. This might not have been the wisest decision for a growing city like Calgary.

The Calgary International Airport Authority has been planning a new runway for several years, and all of these plans have included closing Barlow Trail, but City Council did not start to react until the airport began the project. Why was this not in the planning stages five or ten years ago? City Council is not sure if the tunnel is actually needed or not, and nobody seems to have any idea of how much it will cost. Figures have been thrown around ranging from $40 million to $500 million. That’s a pretty big price window, and excellent proof that with regards to this project, and many others throughout the city, that City Council simply hasn’t done its homework.

Transportation issues in Calgary, are vital and require a comprehensive timetable with regards to which projects need to be completed and how they should be done. It appears that this process is done ad hoc, as money becomes available or as the need becomes too dire to be ignored.

While there are future LRT lines planned for Calgary in the coming decades, they appear to be, at best, vague. A potential North Central line has no fixed route, nor any timetable for completion. The South east LRT line has five different potential routes coming out of downtown. Currently the City is conducting a study as to how, where and when to build a subway line through downtown, to ease congestion on an already over-crowded 7th Avenue. This should have been completed years earlier, as it has been widely known the subway will have to be built one day. It is nearly impossible to have an excellent transportation system, when there are no timetables or plans to have any of these projects done.


- The Butcher

www.billythebutcher.com
www.twitter.com/billtummonds
www.facebook.com/billtummonds