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It'd be nice if they explained it lol. My best guess is the frequency is 3 minutes downtown and 5 minutes out in the burbs so "3 or 4 or 5" minute frequency depending on which station you're at
Or there is a surge which ripples through the system, and it isn't 3 minutes for all 3 hours of peak, but surges which help clear any backlog which at least one is planned for peak of peak.
That's all such a weird level of detail to provide the public lol. If you told everyone 5 minute frequency on the network and the train showed up every 3 minutes sometimes randomly that's totally fine and not a level of detail that needs to be communicated. This is well within the frequency that commuters don't need to plan their trips anymore - just show up and the train will be there within 5 minutes.

Not to grind Calgary Transit's gears some more, but what does this mean below - did my service improve? What is a "block"? and is 1 AM "Peak"? Is this just a typo?
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Once again, I am forced to compare to Translink, top-in-class for communication and transit service in North America :) :
https://www.translink.ca/schedules-and-maps/service-changes
  • Drop-down menus to find your route
  • Every change categorized and explained for impact (e.g. service increase, service adjustment, network updates, seasonal changes etc.)
  • Everything defined (e.g. what does peak periods, weekend, late night mean? What are the cut offs?
 
CT's is a barebones changelog in comparison
Honestly. Is it that hard to hire like two people to come up with a proper easy to navigate website and plain English explanations for things like route changes? And not just the website, the twitter account feels like an unaffiliated amateur, completely devoid of official branding and service alerts are always typed out individually without following a format
 
I agree. 10 minutes off peak during the day, and 15 minutes for late evening is good. I've been at subway stations, late evening in places like New York/London/Paris/Munich, and many of the lines have similar frequencies.
Yeah 10-minute frequency is great backbone service improvement for much of the day and happy it drifts into the evening too. It's probably been since 2019 since the LRT ran that frequent mid-day. Frequency of every 10 minutes or less is widely seen as the line for useful transit - no pre-trip planning needed if the longest you'll ever wait is 10 minutes.

Next is taking that later evening and weekend LRT frequency to 10 minutes too. While doing that, start chipping away at better frequencies for the main line bus routes midday and evening and we are starting to get somewhere.

I would also love to see more stratification in CTs routes so users have a better idea of the level of service they will get. As good as Translink is, I think Toronto's route categories are the winner here, super easy to understand a route's service level with this legend:
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Toronto's secret to success is their incredible 10-minute skeletal network for their buses - as far as I know, probably the strongest suburban bus service network in North America. Essentially the arterial streets are all 10-minute frequency or better for the whole city, usually with an Express Network layered on top and an all-night 30 minute frequency after the service stops for the day. It's the most predictable bus service.

24 hours a day - walk to an arterial, get on the bus. Bus follows the arterial. Get off at your stop. Easy - and a good example of what's possible with a properly implemented network that prioritizes frequency over coverage, to earlier conversations in this thread.

Closest thing CT has to Toronto's arterial standard is the Centre Street corridor with Route 3 + Route 300/Route 301 layered, which combined offer something akin to 10 minute frequency for large parts of the day. But Centre Street is also messy and uncoordinated - sometimes stops are shared, sometimes they are not - bus stops are scattered all over with random shelters of varying quality, seating etc. There's also like 5 other community bus routes that use Centre Street partially too - so it's all a bit cluttered and confusing.

Baby steps though for Calgary - get the LRT and main line buses back to higher frequencies and build from there.
 
^ Yeah. A system of strategic aquisitions to straighten transit and walking routes would probably be one of the most cost-effective things we could do. But I bet it would be exceedingly controversial.
Agreed. It's too bad pathways weren't planned better right from the beginning. Tuscany, an area that actually has some decent pathways, is still quite a convoluted walk for many people to get to the train station. The epicenter of Tuscany is only 1.35km from the train station which is not really that far, but unless you live along the main drag leading to the station it's an awkward trek.
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This location is just over 1km from the station as a crow flies, but is an awkward walk with a significant increase.

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For those who don't feel comfortable walking through the wooded pathways that are less lit and less maintained the distance is almost double.
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It's just a shame that the overall Tuscany development wasn't designed to have the community epicenter near the station. I get that it's not in the geographical center of Tuscany, but it would have been so much better for those who use transit. At least we have seen some progress on this, with Saddletown LRT and planned stations like the one in Seton.
As much as it's nice that we've had rail transit for 40 years, I sometimes wish our system was built more recently as we could have planned it more to tie in TOD planning, etc.. The original plans for LRT were clearly meant for it to be more of a suburban commuter system to get people downtown.
 
Everyone, throw in your best guesses!

The CNRL Free Fare Zone! (probably not, i don't think Murray Edwards would give any money to the city, especially something that reduces gasoline consumption....)
The NEO Financial Free Fare Zone? Maybe?
 
Whatever it is I know I for one will be calling it by it's full sponsored name, just like I do when discussing the Scotiabank Saddledome, the Rogers Center or ...

[checks notes]

...The MNP Community & Sport Center
I like how Talisman seems whimsical enough that that is the name that really stuck for many.
 
What other sponsorships are for sale by the City of Calgary? I know they've sold some rec centre sponsorships... If someone wants to sign a long term deal why not sell more than just that? Hell the Montreal Canadiens have an RBC patch on their jersey, everything is for sale.
 

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