Calgary Transit won’t hit full service again until 2023
Posted May 5, 2022 5:25 pm.
We won’t see pre-pandemic service levels at Calgary Transit until at least next year.
First, they have to hire close to 300 operators and ridership has to increase.
Manager of Service Design, Chris Jordan, says the number of transit riders is not nearly as high as it was back in March of 2020. So, Calgarians will have wait until ridership increases.
“We’re currently seeing just over 50 per cent of our ridership return, compared to pre-pandemic levels and we have approximately 80 to 85 per cent of our transit service on the line,” said Jordan.
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In the meantime, he says they have to hire and train more staff because many employees laid off during the pandemic have not returned to work.
“We have a skilled workforce that we need to grow and it’s a very skilled workforce, particularly our C-Train and bus operators. Not only that, but back-of-house staff as well and so all of that support staffing needs to grow corresponding with our service levels. And that will take time,” said Jordan.
He says they’re aiming to increase service during peak hours by September and they also plan to put four-car trains on the rails for Flames game nights and during Stampede.
However, getting back to where they were before the health crisis is going to take longer.
“We do hope to be returning to 90 to 100 per cent of our service levels, depending on where we are in the city, by 2023 but we’ll still have to focus on key corridors to make sure we’re trying to where people are actually returning to in-person activities the most,” said Jordan.
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Jordan says they are constantly monitoring ridership through automated passenger counters, reviewing video that shows the loading on platforms and vehicle loading in some cases.
Jordan adds they’re also able to do some in-person counts and visually monitor the system.
