Commuting To Downtown Calgary - December 3rd 2006

THE C TRAIN SYSTEM JUST DOES NOT WORK

I don’t go downtown very often. I do have a contract with a company with offices in downtown Calgary and I spend a day in their offices every week or two to catch up with what’s happening, attend meetings, etc. So on occasion I do have to commute with the lemmings.

Normally, I simply drive into the city and park in the Impark lot on 11th Avenue, just a few meters from the office. However, a few weeks ago when I arrived at my normal seven thirtyish, I was surprised to find the lot only one third full. Normally at that time of the morning there are maybe 10 spaces left. I soon found out why the regulars had deserted. The cost of parking there for the day had been increased from twelve dollars to eighteen. Whilst eighteen dollars isn’t too much to pay once in a while, I certainly wouldn’t want to have to fork out that much every day. Anyway, in the interests of saving a few dollars and simultaneously increasing my green credentials I decided that for my next day in town I would take the C Train into the city centre.

Not surprisingly there are no bus routes out here in the foothills so I still had to get in the car and drive to the nearest C Train station which for me happens to be Somerset/Bridlewood at the southern extremity of the line. I figured I’d probably have to get there reasonably early so I drove up to the car park entrance at about ten to seven. It was immediately obvious that there was no chance of parking anywhere near the station. Judging by the number of cars fruitlessly patrolling the lanes looking for a space I reckoned I was at least thirty minutes too late. So, what to do? I could have parked in the High School parking lot just across the road from the station but the fact that it was empty suggested it might be asking to get towed if I dared to park there for the day. The next possible alternative was to park somewhere in Shawnessy in spaces intended for shoppers. I didn’t actually investigate that possibility since I assumed it would be similar to the situation at Dalhousie station where there are dire warnings about using shopper’s slots and riding the C Train. The last possibility therefore was to park on one of the residential streets on the western side of 6th St. I rejected that too on the combined bases that it was rather cold to walk that far and that if I lived in that area I wouldn’t want commuters parking there. So, left with no sensible alternative, I drove into town and parked on 11th as usual.

It is interesting to note that over the next couple of weeks, the 11th Avenue parking lot returned to its previous levels of occupancy. Clearly other commuters had decided that the extra cost was insignificant in comparison with the tribulations and extra time spent trying to employ a cheaper, greener alternative. This is just basic economic theory in action. You increase the cost of some essential service, everyone protests for a while until they realize that the alternatives are more expensive or too inconvenient and things then return to the previous situation. The only thing that changes in the medium term is the revenue of the recipient of the increased charges.

According to Calgary Transit, there are 913 parking spaces at Somerset/Bridlewood and a combined total of 13,177 at all the C Train stations throughout the city. Calgary Transit’s strategic plan is to increase the number of parking slots to 22,000 although the plan is not entirely clear on when that would happen. My reading of the plan is that this would not be accomplished until 2022 when the city is projected to have 1.5 million inhabitants, 50% more than now.

It seems from my experience, which I know is not unique, that the current population needs at least double the current number of park and ride slots right now, not in 15 years time. So, let’s say 25,000 spaces would not be unreasonable for today’s city size. By 2022, the plan is to double the size of the C Train network. Since that will double the areas that are C Train commutable it is reasonable to expect that twice as many people will want to use the C Train and therefore that double the current proportion of citizens will want to park and ride. I suspect these numbers are conservative since usage of public transport is good for greenness amongst those of us with some concern for the environment. On that basis, and taking into account the projected 50% increase in the number of people living in Calgary, then at least 75,000 park and ride spaces will be required by 2022. This is nearly three times the number planned.

So, what’s the solution to these problems? Of course, no single measure is going to succeed, so here are a few ideas in no particular order.

• Build large, temporary, park and ride locations at a few of the projected new C Train stations and bus commuters to the current termini. Extend the C Train network to these new locations as the highest priority, before the communities to be serviced by these new stations are built.
• Convert all existing park and ride lots into multi storey parkades at least five levels high (or low if underground parking is justifiable). Use the temporary parkades for load shedding whilst the existing parking is fixed.
• Provide secure bicycle parking at all C Train stations so there is a sensible alternative to car or bus for locally based commuters.

And how should this be paid for?

• Privatize Calgary Transit. It’s absurd for a city the size of Calgary to have a transport system run by politicians. Make it run on a proper commercial basis and reduce the cost.
• Charge for parking at park and ride locations. Ration the limited availability using tried and trusted capitalist methods.
• Add to the existing fare zones so that people are charged for the distance they travel instead of having a flat rate outside the 7th Ave free zone. Oh and scrap the free zone too.
• Increase the cost of parking downtown by upping the meter rates and imposing a tax on the parking companies. Use this extra revenue to finance public transport.

There’s an awful lot wrong with Calgary’s transport planning and with the C Train in particular. This is a subject to which I’ll return in later posts...