The Green Line

Originally set to cost $5 Billion for the completed 46 kilometers, it is now starting at $4.6 Billion for the first one third.  With future funding having to be renegotiated, it could be decades before the greatly needed north portion gets built.

This first phase completion will have little impact on transit service as it takes as it replaces a portion of the Route 302 and a few Express Routes in the Southeast.  The actual result of the completion of Phase 1 is that The City will pay $4.6 Billion dollars to replace a couple of 24 passenger shuttle buses.  Think about this:  Calgary Transit has the Route 3 and Route 301 running service with 60 foot buses every 10 to 20 minutes during low peak periods, with rush hour service running at 5 to 10 minute service.  Those buses tend to run close to filled.  Along with that, there are a high number of express buses and school charter buses running down Centre Street justify building the north portion of the line over a line that leads to nowhere.  On the South East portion of the line, this portion will provide a 600 to 800 passenger train every ten to fifteen minutes to an are that can barely sustain one 24 passenger bus every 30 minutes during low peak service.  Councils decision not to build two proposed stations on the North Line shows a completed lack of understanding of the needs of the people of Calgary.