Calgary Sun (I'm surprised too): Calgary Transit Growth Stalled

http://www.calgarysun.com/2011/07/25/calgary-transit-growth-stalled-report

Take a look at this article outlining that Calgary Transit's ridership increased the least amongst Canada's largest cities last year. I'll bet that the bigger heads at CT are hoping that the West LRT will change all that.

Wayy too long for an update, but: Slugging it is!

Hello,

Came across this! Around the D.C. area, they've got those High Occupancy Vehicle lanes, and the citizens have really put them to use! In short, drivers need passengers in order to get into the HOV lanes, and passengers like cheaper and quicker alternatives to the bus! There is a whole list of rules and etiquette, and the whole thing seems like a great idea with a weird name! Check out the link for more information. Do you think that this would be a workable solution in Calgary? I'm a little wary only because none of Calgary's major roads actually go downtown or to transportation hubs. HOV lanes would have to be added to roads like Bow Trail, Memorial Drive, McLeod Trail & 14 street, and even then, these roads don't particularly lead anywhere useful train or bus-wise.

http://www.slug-lines.com/

Secondary Suites in Calgary

Hello Some!

As a former resident of quite a few houses with secondary suites, some legal, others dubious. Mayor Nenshi makes a strong argument on leasing secondary suites in Calgary.




This seems to me to be a good idea. Rental prices in Calgary are already high, and landlords are a pretty shady bunch (how many times did you ask your landlord to fix your furnace/toilet/stove/sink/window etc before you fixed it yourself?)Legalizing secondary suite rentals with an application process protects us renters in a few ways based on the criteria set out:

1. Suite must meet fire and safety code - I have definitely seen a lot of rental houses where fire codes were obviously not met, ensuring that suites are up to snuff will make us a lot safer. No more windows screwed shut, faulty/questionable wiring, or lack of smoke detectors!
2. Off street parking - I don't agree as much with this sentiment because I would estimate that a sizable portion of the demographic renting secondary suites would not have cars anyways, and the rest that do would only have 1 vehicle ergo not cluttering the streets too much. The concession is made however, that if the suite is close to transit that this could be waved. I would include suites within 1 km of at least 3 different bus routes, which is probably a lot less stringent than Nenshi is planning, but I aim to try and encourage more transit use.
3. The owner must live in the dwelling - While personally I don't think I would ever like to live with my landlord, this does address an issue that is going to be very prevalent in the coming years. Our populace is getting older, and this does offer a much cheaper alternative to assisted living. My grandparents, for example, could probably use a lot of help around the house and I've got cousins that could a)help them out with chores and such and b)enjoy a cheaper alternative to renting a full house to themselves.

So there you go. What are your comments on this issue? leave a reply here, or get me on twitter at @willcwf

Came accross a great link! SW Ring Road Analysis

Check out this plan for the SW Ring Road, it basically has the same thing as you've been thinking (Glenmore to 14 street), but also throws a couple of other options out there, and given how much this ring road is costing anyways, I say we spend what is required to make it work for the city without having to revamp it every few years!

Awesome Link! Community Growth Simulator

Hey All (or none!)

I wanted to share a link my Dad sent my way. It is a "Community Growth Simulator" for Albertan cities.

http://www.alces.ca/aref/

There are some really neat features listed here and some very cool visualizations of our cities consuming land at a very alarming rate. It tracks the growth from 1951-2007 and projects the future based on that data set. It looks like Calgary and Airdrie will be starting a tickle fight in about 2033, and by 2045 (the year man becomes immortal) Calgary will begin to consume Okotoks and Cochrane. I'm not sure about you, but I don't want my kids to have to suffer rush hour traffic all the way from Okotoks to Balzaac. Stopping Calgary's growth at the ring road makes sense to me. Land-wise we're already quite large with a measly population density of about 1200 people/sq. km. Increasing Calgary's land size will only lead to increased traffic on an already stressed system.

LRT Station Availability to Walkers

Hello nobody (I'm waiting to advertise until I have some content built up so you get a worthwhile visit!)

Today I've done a little doodling on the Calgary Transit system map (all credit to them for the original map). I've done two maps, The first of which has each LRT station highlighted in black with 2 radius' around it. The purpose of this map is really to get people to see if they should be taking the train. The

red radius represents 1 km and the blue 1.5 km. If you live inside of one of these bubbles, and your destination is also within one of these bubbles, you should probably give the roads a break and take the train. These are strictly distance and do not reflect obstacles and other things that may force you to take a detour. To compensate for this, I've added time on top of a 5km/hour walking rate to give a more realistic expectation of time spent walking.

The other map that I've drawn overlays the 1km radius while comparing it to the total city size. This allows us to see how effective the train is at covering Calgary. The wikipedia entry for Calgary notes that the city area is 726.50 km sq. but the crude measurements that I did in photoshop make the city out to be only 301 km sq. There is a discrepancy somewhere there, and I'm accounting it to city owned land (726.5 km sq.) compared with my outlined city inhabited land (301 km sq.) Anyways, my measurements make Calgary Transit look better, and for that purpose, I opted for them. The C-train currently only covers about 20% of Calgary. A transit oriented development would probably want to see that number somewhere near 50-60% with the minority of people having to resort to cars/buses.

The Name

Hello,

I would like to write the first post about the aim, and direction I would like to take this blog, along with the reason for the name. It was a eureka moment (even if they don't actually exist.) I intend the double entendre of "The Fix" and "Fix Calgary" at the same time. I would like to be able to use this blog to give snippets and opinions of; news, especially, but not limited to politics, and my ideas and ramblings of how to make Calgary a truly world class city.

I love this city and this province, and my only aims are to help make it better.