Public Transport in Calgary
 

Hi

How easy (or difficult) is it to get around using public transport in Calgary?

Thanks

Re: Public Transport in Calgary
 

The c-train is very good, I'd recommend living within walking distance of a station as the buses can be pretty dire.

Unlike UK commuter trains, the c-train runs in all weathers ... the only times I've known the service to be disrupted have been when someone's crashed into a barrier at a level crossing.

Re: Public Transport in Calgary
 

We dont live near a station, but there is a bus stop right opposite us that goes to a station. Good thing about buses is you can call a central number and plug in your bus stop number and it will tell you when the next bus is. Saves freezing your butt off waiting for one in the winter!

And a pass is about $65 a month. that covers all buses and C-trains... definitely beats the £300 a month i used to pay to get into London from Hertfordshire!

Re: Public Transport in Calgary
 

Or you can also do park and ride. You park your car at the station and jump onto the train. You do not pay for parking.

Re: Public Transport in Calgary
 

Depends which station ... some of the southern stations have pay parking now.

Re: Public Transport in Calgary
 

We found it easy to use. You don't really need to live near a C-train station, just find a place near a bus stop. If you live in the NW for example and want to shopping at the Chinook mall, you'll need to take the bus to the C-train station and then hop on to the train to Chinook. You do not pay extra for the bus ride. Many bus stops have glass walls, that give some protection from the cold winds.


C-train is an above ground train. Found it easier to use than the London underground.......then offcourse public transport here is not as extensive as London's.

Re: Public Transport in Calgary
 

You need to be there by 0720 in the NW or else they're full.

Re: Public Transport in Calgary
 

At -35C, bus stops are very cold places to stand around ....

Re: Public Transport in Calgary
 

That feature is brilliant. My wife and I shared one car, so I often used public transit. It runs on time and you can check the times by internet or phone. You can try it out here: http://www.calgarytransit.com/cgi-bin/sched_index (My old bus route was 77, stop number 7083 -- use that as an example).

As Glaswegian says, is not fun standing in the cold. And it is nice to have a car for things like groceries. But if you're a public transport pro. then you live with that by buying groceries daily instead of weekly.

If you work it out though, let's say insurance costs you $4,000. And a Chevy Impala (a big car) costs $40 a day to rent. Then that's 100 days renting. And the rental car companies do have lots of suburban locations, so you jump on the bus, down to the rental place, pick up your car and you're on your way. So really, you could ditch the car on a daily basis, and rent whenever you need one. A pay-as-you-go approach really, saves the pain of the monthly car insurance bill.

Nice to have a car, but you can get by without one.

Re: Public Transport in Calgary
 

We were literally just discussing that the other day... whether we could survive without one for the time being. Our mini-van helped us with our road trip from Quebec and through the states to here.. but as i type, its currently gone for repairs for the out of province inspection - a total of $630! i think thats quite dear, but my aunt informs me thats not so bad. its also a bit of a gas guzzler so we were thinking of selling it and not buying another until absolutely necessary... downside is getting groceries tho. but i suppose one could always cab it in those situations - say once a week! that would save on insurance and gas. methinks this needs a lot more thought!

plus i need to find out what our bus stop number is :D

Re: Public Transport in Calgary
 

I would say you could probably ditch the car if you travel the same route every day from a to b. If you need a lot of daily flexibility, you'll miss the car very quickly.

Re: Public Transport in Calgary
 

My job requires me to visit client sites ... they require me to have a vehicle available at all times ... I've tried doing the same thing without a car and it was near impossible ... the downtown clients were fine, but if I had to be up near Nosehill or somewhere else in the north, it was next to impossible on public transport.

Re: Public Transport in Calgary
 

i just managed to find out our bus stop number without going outside! sweet :D

i agree with you. i think it takes a lot of getting used to and might really be worth it in the end. we're lucky because we're right by (i think they call it the bus trap?) the cut between ranchlands and dalhousie.... so we have a few buses that stop here. spoiled for choice really!