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Transitways and the Route Ahead for Calgary Transit

Abstract

This paper outlines the findings of the RouteAhead project, Calgary Transit’s 30-year strategic plan, with a focus on bus rapid transit (BRT) service. RouteAhead includes the following areas of focus: • Capital infrastructure plans (e.g. rapid transit projects, fleet, facilities) • Service delivery objectives (e.g. frequency, span of service, networks) • Fiscal strategy (e.g. costs, revenues, fare structure, projected funding sources) • Customer service objectives (e.g. satisfaction and reducing barriers to use) • Organizational structure and governance (e.g. staffing, resourcing, oversight) RouteAhead’s public engagement provided Calgary Transit with feedback on all of its services, including bus rapid transit (BRT). Calgary Transit evaluated the effectiveness of BRT and transitways (busways) in the future context. This paper describes the results of evaluation of recent infrastructure investments and the findings of the RouteAhead project, including: • Current role of BRT in Calgary – BRT is a cost-effective approach to increase mobility on key corridors. BRT has been implemented in Calgary as limited stop service with articulated buses and transit priority measures to address bottlenecks. The paper highlights the success of BRT in Calgary based on key performance measures, including customer satisfaction. • Future role of BRT under RouteAhead – BRT is a key tool on new cross-town corridors that connect smart growth areas and major trip generators outside the downtown. The paper demonstrates the logical progression of these services on several of these major transportation corridors. • Future role of transitways – the plan includes enhanced BRT facilities that will include long transit-only lanes and/or busways, high-quality stations, real-time arrival information displays, off-board fare payment, and other customer service technologies. The paper demonstrates the customer service and operational improvements associated with transitways through a case study analysis of the Southeast Transitway (SETWAY) corridor in Calgary. 

Conference Paper Details

Session title:
TRANSPORTATION PLANNING (A)
Author(s):
Chris Jordan
Jen Malzer
Topics:
Transportation planning
Year:
2013