Calgary Transit sees ridership return to pre-pandemic levels
Posted Oct 19, 2023 1:34 pm.
Calgarians are starting to hop on a bus or a train to get where they need to be once again.
Calgary Transit says that as of last month, ridership levels have increased “beyond expectations” at more than 92 per cent of pre-pandemic numbers.
The CTrain network, it adds, has completely rebounded from dire levels of pandemic-era ridership — seeing ridership recovery of 100 per cent.
In September, transit saw 14 million individual boardings on all vehicles, a 30 per cent increase compared to the same time last year.
Calgary Transit says early data from October shows bus ridership is on par with October 2019 numbers.
Read more: Calgary Transit looks to recruit 800 transit operators
“Our CTrain network now operates at 100 per cent of 2019 service levels on weekdays, and a remarkable 138 per cent on weekends. This aligns with trends seen in other Canadian cities,” Sharon Fleming, Director of Calgary Transit said in a statement. “As of September, the Red Line operates at service intervals of 10 minutes or better between approximately 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. daily, achieving Primary Transit Network service targets – a significant milestone in our transit service recovery.”
The Blue Line, on the other hand, operates every 13-minutes, according to Calgary Transit, which is an improvement from 2019.
The city says it wants to increase resources throughout the next year to thave the service level of the Blue Line match that of the Red Line.
It adds that it’s also on track to meet the goal of hiring 800 new bus drivers by the end of this year.
Despite ridership being up, Calgary Transit revenue is lower than it was before the pandemic.
The city says fare revenues for September 2023 were 82 per cent of September 2019 figures.
