Farkas floats shuttle buses to temporarily bridge Green Line downtown gap
Posted Jun 11, 2026 12:03 pm.
Last Updated Jun 11, 2026 12:33 pm.
Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas is pitching the idea of using shuttle buses to move riders into the downtown core while the city continues to wrestle with where the Green Line LRT should run through the centre of the city.
The proposal came Wednesday after council directed administration to look for alternative downtown alignment options, a process now headed to a full council vote.
The mayor argues a temporary bus link could save money and allow the city to extend the Green Line further north and south while long‑term decisions about the downtown segment are made.
Farkas says the approach could help maintain momentum on the project. He also suggested the city and federal government could partner on an underground alignment downtown as part of future extensions.
“This is about moving people, but also about the financial viability of the project,” Farkas said, “Stopping at Sheppard provides some great disadvantages right now because you are not getting to where the population mass is.”
But the potential change is drawing pushback from some councillors.
Ward 3 Coun. Andrew Yule said council already has an approved alignment and should stick to it.
“We’re spit balling… We have an alignment and we need to follow it,” he says. “That’s all this is, it’s a delay tactic that will eventually kill the north leg.”
Ward 7 Coun. Myke Atkinson said breaking the line would undermine the system’s usefulness.
“Breaking the line is not the right way to go,” he said. “We’ve seen what having these long lines connecting northwest Calgary down to the south, and having a west line connecting up to the northeast, the kind of mobility that has allowed people to take.”
Public transit consultant Willem Klumpenhouwer said any change that forces transfers risks eroding trust and convenience.
“It comes down to if the service is useful,” he says. “Does it respect my time, can I trust it. Those things will be affected by having to transfer, by having to navigate a more complicated system.”
The province had previously tied its funding to an elevated downtown alignment, but Farkas said this week the province has shown flexibility and even indicated an elevated line may not be possible.
When asked for comment, the province said “a downtown tunnel is not on the table,” though it remains open to “discussing refinements.”
A city survey found 71 per cent of businesses along the proposed elevated route opposed the plan, while two‑thirds of Calgarians surveyed supported it.
City hall expects to present alternative downtown alignment options to council by September 2026.
