Calgary city council's infrastructure and planning committee has endorsed scrapping the downtown free fare zone in a 7-4 vote on Thursday, despite pleas from downtown-area stakeholders, business groups, and transit users to keep the service. The final decision will be made by the full council on May 26.
Around a dozen people representing downtown businesses and tourism spoke against eliminating the free fare zone during the meeting. The free fare zone has been a fixture of Calgary's public transit system since the CTrain began operations in 1981, allowing passengers to hop on and off the LRT along 7th Avenue in the downtown, from the City Hall/Bow Valley College station to the Downtown West/Kerby station, without needing to purchase a fare.
Safety concerns drive recommendation
Calgary Transit director Sharon Fleming said the free-to-ride zone has made it difficult for transit peace officers to enforce fare compliance and has contributed to heightening public concerns around social disorder along the network. "Ultimately, safety is the driving factor behind administration's recommendation to remove the free fare zone," she said, adding that safety continues to be a priority concern in citywide surveys and among transit users, particularly in the downtown.
"Ridership gains from expanded transit service, fare pricing or messaging, are limited unless safety issues downtown are addressed first," Fleming said. Removing the free fare zone is expected to increase Calgary Transit's revenue by $5 million a year, according to Fleming, who said administration recommends council reallocate any funding infusion that comes with the zone's removal toward safety-related enhancements.
Council divided on the issue
Eleven of the 15 person council voted on the issue Thursday. Councillors who voted against the recommendation to remove the zone included Ward 7 Coun. Myke Atkinson, Ward 8 Coun. Nathaniel Schmidt, Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal, and Ward 3 Coun. Andrew Yule. Atkinson, the downtown-area councillor, said: "I don't believe there is any justification for eliminating the free fare zone."
"We've been making massive investments to make sure the tax productivity of our downtown core rebounds from the bottoming out that we had a couple years ago. Something like this potentially means we have less people moving around, less people visiting businesses within the downtown," Atkinson added.
During debate, Ward 6 Coun. John Pantazopoulos sought to amend the motion by implementing an alternative rate structure for the LRT downtown that would see single-trip tickets priced at half the current rate, and for transfer times to be cut in half. He called it a middle ground. However, council rejected the amendment 1-9.
Yule also brought an amendment, to defer the motion until next year's fare strategy review is completed, in order to conduct additional engagement with downtown stakeholders. "I think with a decision (like this) after four decades, I'd rather it not be a yes-no answer but an innovative answer that Calgarians can get on board," he said.
The final decision on the free fare zone will be made by the full city council on May 26.
