Calgary lags globally in transit
Posted Mar 28, 2011 8:34 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Calgary’s transportation system rates high when compared to other Canadian cities, but on a global scale it’s lagging.
A new report by the Toronto Board of Trade gives Calgary a grade of “C” based on things like transit ridership, commute times, kilometres of tracks and the number of vehicles in the city per capita.
Calgary sits 13th out of 24 cities worldwide; one behind Montreal but well ahead of Toronto, Vancouver and Halifax.
Commuters in this city have an average round trip of 67 minutes.
The report says Calgary has a serious lack of CTrain track and the highest percentage of people who drive to work, at almost 77 per cent.
The study’s authors attribute much of that to an urban infrastructure deficit of $123-billion nationwide.
Board President and CEO Carol Wilding tells 660News Canada needs a national transportation strategy like that of most other industrialized nations.
Wilding says by securing long-term funding, Canadian cities would start to see an improvement in several key areas.
“Because infrastructure renewal is a long-term game, you have to get in it, you have to stay in it and it’s critical to advancing our economic foundation,” she says.
Wilding is hoping this issue will be front and centre during the current federal election campaign, saying this report should serve as a wake-up call.
