Rail For Alberta

The bike rack at the east end of the ship and anchor has disappeared behind a construction fence.
Very visible indication of how many people use bikes to get to 17th Ave!

Deerfoot construction: Added lanes, new bridges promise traffic relief Calgary drivers making the daily crawl along Deerfoot Trail are watching a years-long construction project transform the road in real time.

"Dreeshen did not indicate whether the province explored induced demand during the planning process"

What an idiot.

Imagine how much better traffic on the Deerfoot would be if they had invested $600 million into transit instead. calgaryherald.com/news/deerfoo...

Hey, Sonya Sharp and Communities First, Calgary’s Climate Strategy isn’t a “costly political stunt”, it’s necessary policy. Ignoring this isn’t going to make these smoke days go away.

Sincerely, every Calgarian struggling because of air quality advisories due to wildfire smoke.

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#yyc #yyccc

Sustainable Calgary's Executive Director, @celiaravenlee.bsky.social speaks about our work with kids to make healthier, safer communities. With your help we can turn prototype projects into best practices to make school streets safer across Calgary!

Graphic showing a 9 m wide track for metros can move as many people as a 175 m road for cars.

To carry 50,000 people per hour in each direction, a city needs a 175m wide road for cars.

Even if those cars are electric.

And then there’s all the parking.

OR a city can move A LOT MORE people in a lot less space, with A LOT LESS public money, emissions, pollution, noise etc.

Choices.

Simple.

Opinion: Walking the walk(shed) on transit-oriented development in Calgary Majority of land near C-Train stations zoned only for low-density housing. This should change to medium and high-density.

Calgary has long under-utilized its transit stations and regulated them to parking lots. So why, at a time when everybody is saying build housing near transit, we don't appear to be making progress on this?

calgaryherald.com/opinion/colu...

This is what attempted murder looks like.

ANALYSIS | Alberta minister threatens to axe bike lanes. Can he make his case? | CBC News Province claims urban bike lanes worsen congestion. Ontario said the same thing — then a judge found they lacked evidence to back up their point.

"Whether it's dubbed ending the 'war on cars' or fighting for 'common sense,' the fight over which road users get asphalt space has sounded similar across the country."

Cycle track through central Copenhagen

“While Mayor, I was often asked ‘how have you been able to afford bike-lanes in #Copenhagen?’ I’d reply, ‘how have you been able to NOT afford it? 25 years ago we were a few days away from going bankrupt. So the city invested in the cheapest infrastructure… bicycling.’” — @mortenkabell.bsky.social

if mark carney wanted a big project in the national interest that would set us up for a better future, he could pour billions into expanding the transit networks in cities across the country and build dense public housing around transit stops. but that won’t directly enrich private investors!

Have you noticed how many people are riding bikes these days? It a really nice way to get around!

Some important added context on the current #yycbike lane debate the UCP has decided to stir up. Once it again, it appears "the feels" trumps the facts.

DYK that despite the population of #yyc growing by over 400,000 people between 2015 & 2023, downtown traffic volume has actually gone done? It's obvious the UCP & Minister Devin Dreeshen don't know that, but less traffic is what investing in alternatives like #yycbike lanes & transit is all about

Every 10 min - 5:00 AM to 9:30 PM Every 15 min - 9:30 PM to 12:00 AM Every 20-30 min - 12:00 AM to 5:00 AM

24 hour C-train service is back during Stampede. It ends the morning of Monday, July 14.

Every 10 min - 5:00 AM to 9:30 PM
Every 15 min - 9:30 PM to 12:00 AM
Every 20-30 min - 12:00 AM to 5:00 AM

www.calgarytransit.com/news/stamped...

#Calgary #CalgaryStampede #CalgaryTransit

Commuter rail or HSR will never be successful without multi-modal options. Europe and Asia should be the examples to follow...

Is it 2014? For a province that wants to create a passenger rail system, they sure seem deadset on making sure nobody will use it and just continue driving. This type of attitude is anti-train and will hurt rail use in the long run, making it dead in the water.

A wild fact is that the 1974(!!) AASHTO bike guide had a great deal of what is now considered modern bikeway guidance, which was then lost for 50 years.

Master rail plan comes with lofty ambitions, major questions The provincial government is exploring how to bring back regional rail service to Calgary—something that left our city decades ago.

There's challenges with bringing passenger rail back to Calgary and other cities. But Albertans have shown time and time again we're here to ride the rails when they're built. Let's build.

www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/vide...

Alberta is gearing up to build their own passenger rail network, and this is a serious lesson learned moment. When hiring experts to help you with what you don't know, you should probably listen to those experts.

What happened in Ontario is entirely avoidable in Alberta.

It feels temporary

Both Columbus, OH and Mittersill, Austria at the same scale next to each other

A rural Austrian village of 8,000 people gets 31 trains per day, while Columbus, Ohio, with a population of 913,000, receives none.

We don't need a perfect rail system, but we deserve better than this.

Alberta is on the verge of creating one of the largest infrastructure projects in provincial history, a regional rail transportation network. Let's not squander this opportunity by only discussing pipelines as infrastructure.

Calgary Transit is running 20-minute headways during one of the largest attended single day events in Calgary. It's not a serious transit service.
#lilacfest2025 #yyc #yyccc

Most cities in Canada: “our housing strategy is for everyone to move to Alberta”

Road pricing works and we should do it anywhere with regular traffic.

Alberta is now officially over 5 million people as of this morning. These people need affordable homes and efficient transportation. Fortunately, trains and transit can help facilitate both of those needs.
#ableg #alberta

Here Is Everything That Has Changed Since Congestion Pricing Started in New York Fewer cars. Faster travel. Less honking. And some questions we still can’t answer.

New York’s (de)congestion pricing is one of the most successful public policies imaginable. Just no downside, except a few entitled motorists honking on social media about how only they represent working people.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Opinion: Canada’s real comparative advantage is public transit. That should be our trade-war strategy This country stands head-and-shoulders above the United States when it comes to urban transportation, and the trade war offers a powerful opportunity

Really proud to have written a piece in the Globe and Mail with @wklumpen.bsky.social about why investing in transit is a great approach to soften the blow of the trade war!

www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...

Photo of an old Calgary Transit fare sheet. It lists "downtown shuttle" as being free.

Wonder what the downtown Shuttle was.

#Calgary #CalgaryTransit